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Open Forum => Prayer Central => Topic started by: Sean on October 16, 2008, 05:12:40 PM
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Please keep my friend and mentor Bill in your prayers. His daughter, Adah, has been diagnosed with a chronic heart disease. The following is his note that he posted on facebook.
A father's heart is shattered right now.
Adah showed signs of a cold about a month ago, and it was treated as that...a cold. Time progressed and it never got better, in fact, she was worse. After many doctor visits we found ourselves in the emergency room yesterday. One test after another led to the discovery of a restricted cardiac myapothy. This is a chronic heart disease that can be terminal if not properly treated. Essentially, her heart doesn't have the ability to relax; it's constantly working at a high rate (as if you were jogging every minute, of every day, your entire life). Her exrays showed that her heart was about four times it's normal size, pressing on her lungs and stomach. Further, the hurt is pumping a fluid into her lungs and stomach, causing a massive swelling of her body.
The first step is to manage the symptoms (cough, liquid, swelling, etc). After which, they will do an examination of the heart. Best case scenario is that she they can remove a film from the exterior of the heart. Worse case scenario is a heart transplant. We honestly don't know that much at this point. The doctors keep saying over and over that this is a very rare case (less than 2% of children experience this). We don't know if it's genetic or caused by a virus. Because it's so rare, very little is known about it. In fact, there are only 2 or 3 doctors in the US that know anything about it.
The doctors keep telling us that we are at the right place at the right time.
No words can describe the devastation that we are feeling right now. No parent should have to wonder if every kiss, hug or "I love you" will be the last. I wish with all that is in me that I could say that my faith is getting me through this, but I feel very weak right now. We can not even wrap our heads around this...she went in for a cold and now we're facing life or death. I want to walk in there and claim the name of Jesus over her, but I feel like I have no emotional or mental strength to gather such faith. These feels like a compete nightmare.
So, friends and family, we welcome your prayers and support. We will not be able to respond to every email or phone call, but don't hesitate sending the messages and words of encouragement. We have been DEEPLY blessed by our friends and family from North Central University. They have gone above and beyond to take care of us in every possible way. When this all hit last night, we felt so desperately alone because we're so far from 'home'. One email was sent out and we had NCU people at our door first thing in the morning.
We are working on a CaringBridge website to keep everyone posted. I will provide updates as soon as I get any.
Again, thank you for all the love, support and encouragement. Your prayers are being received.
Thanks,
Sean
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I'm terribly sorry. I'm praying. :prayer:
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Praying.
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An update for those who were/are praying can be found at the following web address.
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/adahtibbetts (http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/adahtibbetts)
Sean
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praying
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Update: Everything is going well considering the circumstances. A heart transplant is eminent but they are being moved to a better facility.
Sean
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Adah is being moved down to St Louis Childrens' Hospital. There she will have the heart transplant. They will have to move down there, so prayers for an easy move are coveted. She has A type blood and apparently that moves her up on the list so the doctors are thinking that it will be less than two months wait time for a heart. Continued prayers are very much appreciated.
Sean
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I'll be praying. :prayer: :prayer: :prayer:
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Praying.
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Adah is now on the waiting list to receive the heart transplant and I believe she is at the top already because the doctors had a heart available but they turned it down because it didn't meet their standard. Family is in a Ronald McDonald house apartment in St.Louis area. Think twice about putting your change into the bins at McDonalds, this is the kind situations it goes to.
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Keep us updated.
Ronald McDonald House also does fundraisers in public schools. My school right now collects those little tabs on top of aluminum cans. Those little things that just take a second of your time can prove so valuable to those in need.
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:prayer: :prayer: :prayer:
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Adah is in surgery right now. Doctors expect success and it should take about 4 hours.
Bill and Natalie are in a waiting room that has a phone line to the operating room and receive updates periodically. I think Bill is going to be updating the caring bridge site posted above if you are interested in following it.
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The new heart is in. Prayer needed that her body accepts it and that there is no bleeding.
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Praying!
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The newly implanted heart is having difficulty in one of the ventricles. Specific prayer for that is appreciated. Adah's temperature has also been too high.
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Adah is now doing well. She is able to eat ice and drink water now. Still some recovery left to go but it seems like she is going to make it out of surgery and recovery in good condition.
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she did't have a baby musican it was a heart tasnplant.
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Adah has made her way out of the ICU and into the recovery wing.
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Adah has made her way out of the ICU and into the recovery wing.
Praise God! We will continue praying, but any improvement is wonderful with this delicate of a situation.
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The baby getting the transplant.
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Adah is four years old so she's not really a baby in the sense that you all are thinking.
As a bit of information that I found interesting, she will have to take medication for the rest of her life that will try to prevent her body from rejecting the newly implanted heart. This is because her body will always see the heart as a foreign object because, well, it is. As a result of this medication her immune system will be weakened so she will likely suffer from colds and such things more than the average person. However, some extra colds is much better than not having her around at all.
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oh, well then who is Adah?
[/quote]musican read the THEAD!
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oh, well then who is Adah?
musican read the THEAD!
[/quote]lolz... A. you spelled his wrongly spelled name wrong... it's "Musicain" and B. it's a thread.
sorry, I couldn't resist a correction of someone counteracting Musicain... please don't correct this post.
Adah has made her way out of the ICU and into the recovery wing.
Praise God!