A little hope for Lauren

I took Lauren to see her neurologist yesterday and he has introduced a new medicine that he said "could help her to be seizure free"(she has been averaging 20+ seizures per day). It seems too good to be true, but we know that God can use medicine to answer our prayers. So , as you pray for Lauren please pray that the medicine will work, and that she will not suffer any bad side effects.

Update on Lauren

Thank you to everyone who has prayed for Lauren!

I have not written much about her lately, but her recovery has been very slow and there has not been much to tell. However, in the past couple of weeks she has really seemed to be her old self, minus the hip displacement. She is eating well and I think maybe even gaining some weight. Her hips are still somewhat tender, or sensitive, but over all she is doing really well. She has returned to her therapy schedule (minus the horseback riding for now) and she is making marked improvement in many ways.

We remain hopeful that she will be able to walk, or at the very least have some level of mobility in the future.

Please continue to pray for Lauren and her complete healing. Praise God for so many answered prayers so far. Pray too for Lana as she continues to try to balance all of her responsibilities while she battles UC.

Yours in Christ,
Patrick

Lauren is recovering!

The cast covers her from her chest to her toes, but she is tolerating it very well. Lauren continues to be joyful and seems not to be in pain at all. She has four weeks left in the cast, then months of therapy to follow. Thank you for your continued prayers!

Going Home Today!

Thank you again to everyone who has been praying for Lauren. She will be allowed to go home today from the hospital. She slept through the night last night and seems to be almost back to normal.

Rough night, but better morning

Lauren had a fairly rough night last night, but this morning she has perked up and even eaten most of her breakfast.

She has smiled a couple of times this morning and even laughed once, so we are definately seeing improvement.

Lauren has been moved to a regular hospital room.

Thank you again to everyone who has been praying!

We arrived at the hospital at 8am on Monday morning for Lauren's double hip replacement surgery. Twelve hours after our arrival, after six hours of surgery, she was moved to ICU for observation. Today, after eighteen long hours in ICU, we were moved to a normal hospital room.

Lauren has begun eating some, and has longer periods of being awake. Lana and I think she is having quite a bit of pain, but she still has an epidural (also known as a "spinal block") to help manage it.

We have received cards, calls and email from around the world. We are very grateful for the family of God that has joined with us in praying for Lauren.

If all goes well Lauren should be going home by Friday. Still she will have six weeks in a body cast and months of therapy. However, the surgery should keep her hip in socket and we are hopeful she will be riding horses again within six months or so. Who knows -- she might even walk with her walker again one day (a skill among many that she had lost because of her chronic hip problems).

God bless you for caring!

Surgery Went Well

Thank you to everyone who has sent word, greetings and prayers!

Lauren was in surgery for 6 hours today and she is now in intensive care. The doctors expect to move her to a regular room if all goes well through the night.

She is exhausted as you can imagine. Lana and I too are exhausted. But, we give thanks that all went well up until the very end of the surgery.

Lauren's vital signs continued to look great throughout the day and the doctor felt good about going ahead and performing the surgery on both hips. Toward the end of the surgery there was some concern about her blood ph levels, and a UT issue. They did end up having to give Lauren a blood transfusion.

We have visited with Lauren and she seems more than a little disoriented and weepy. But, so far she seems like she is doing as well as can be expected after such an intense day of surgery.

"We are not out of the woods yet," said her doctor. "But, it looks very promising."

Thank you for your continued prayers. Six weeks in a body cast holds the possibility of more problems, but we have a great peace tonight. Praise God.

Surgery on Monday

Thank you to everyone who has prayed so far! We have received word from Ukraine, Germany, Ethiopia, England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Brazil and all over America from people who have joined in prayer for Lauren.

Her surgery will be this Monday, June 16 at 8:15am. She is scheduled to have both hips replaced, her leg bones reshaped and muscle "lengthening". It will be major surgery followed by six weeks in a body cast.

God has answered many of your prayers so far and we have an amazing amount of peace about this surgery.

While we were at Vanderbilt Hospital for the pre-op we met a lady and her son that we had met three years before. Three years ago the boy had the same surgery that Lauren is scheduled to have and after his recovery we lost touch with the family. They were in Nashville for a routine appointment on Wednesday and it was definitely a "God thing" that we saw each other after all this time. The boy is doing great, and the mother was very encouraging.

Thank you again for all your prayers!

Mid-day of Day of Prayer for Lauren

We have received email and messages from Cambodia, Ethiopia, England, Ireland, Brazil and across the USA as people have been lifting up prayers for Lauren for the past 13 hours.

It is so encouraging to hear from brothers and sisters around the world who are united in prayer for one little girl in Jackson, Tennessee.

"LORD, may you hear the prayers of your children. Although we speak in many languages we speak with one heart in one Body and pray that would would be glorified as your mercy flows from the Throne of Grace."

Day of Prayer for Lauren

Many of you know Lauren personally and you know of her struggles with CP.

She is scheduled for major surgery on June 16 for double hip replacement and reformation of both femur bones.Our brothers and sisters in Ethiopia have set aside Thursday, May 29 as a special day of prayer and fasting for Lauren.

We invite you to join us in prayer.