Prayer Request

I'm not much of an organized religion kind of person.... but I have my beliefs. One of which is the power of prayer. When I was near death, there were many people praying for me. Complete strangers even. I truly believe those prayers are a big part of why I survived. Along with the love and support of my family and friends, of course. And the excellent care I received from the ICU staff (as opposed to the crappy care that got me there in the first place... but that's another story.)

So I'm asking for some prayers for my Aunt Norma. I haven't mentioned this here as of yet because I was still hoping things would turn around. But she continues to hit one road block after another. It's a long and complicated story. Some of the medical things I don't even understand.

But in short, she's in ICU and has undergone 8 surgeries in the last 12 days. She was on a ventilator but now the doctors have given her a tracheotomy. She's had complications which caused the removal of her small intestine. This means she'll require IV nutrition for the rest of her life through a PICC line. Right now the doctors need the swelling in her large intestine to go down so they can reattach all the other things...liver, bile duct, stomach, etc. If the swelling doesn't go down, she'll be closed with a drain in her liver and one in her stomach. I'm not clear on whether these are permanent or not.

But suffice it to say, she's battling right now. My heart goes out to her because I know what she's going through after having been through a very similar ordeal myself. I know the challenges she faces to heal and recover. Her suffering has brought back a lot of memories for me this week. Bad stuff I try not to think about. It's a really scary time for her and our family.

So if you're the praying kind and I know that a lot of you out there are, I'm asking that you send some up. Because you can never have too many people praying, right? Please ask that the swelling go down in her large intestine so the doctors can reattach the organs they need to. Pray for healing. Pray for strength. Pray for her immediate family who are practically living at the hospital now. Just pray for my Aunt Norma to get through this. I thank you. And I hope to pass along good news soon.