Hoping God Has Big Ears...

Today, I'm thinking...I sure hope God has big ears. 
More important than my "blog roll" these days is my "prayer roll." Of course, I'm always praying for Elise and for my own family, but also, through this experience, I have become friends with so many other "liver families," all of whom need lots of prayers.  This past week has been especially rough in "Liverland." Thankfully, I believe in miracles and the power of prayer.

Sometimes I start to get down, and I think we just have bad luck; I wonder why we got this hand that we are dealt. Well, let's put things in perspective...

One of my fellow "liver moms," Jenny, lives in Dallas, TX, is married, and has 3 beautiful kids. The middle child, Tank, has the same liver disease as Elise- Biliary Atresia- and is currently awaiting a liver transplant. A couple of weeks ago, Jenny traveled to Kansas to take care of her mother who suffered a stroke. While there, Jenny became acutely ill, was admitted to the hospital there, and was found to be in liver and kidney failure. She is also now in respiratory failure and on a ventilator. She desperately needs a multi-organ transplant, but she is currently being denied the life-saving transplant. I won't discuss the details of her denial, as it would be second-hand information, but things are not looking good for her at all. I'm praying so intently for Jenny and her family. That's all I can do....

I hope God has big ears.

And then we have little Claire, who received her new liver last week. She is currently experiencing a "bump in the road"- an infection related to her central line- but I pray that her treatment team will make the right decisions at the right times, so Claire will be better very soon!  

I hope God has big ears. 

Luke is also post-transplant and is undergoing surgery today to have a lymph node removed. The doctors apparently suspect PTLD (Post-Transplant Lymphoproliferative Disorder), a type of cancer which rarely affects post-transplant patients. I can't even wrap my brain around the words "cancer" and "liver disease" at the same time...so I can only imagine what Luke's family is experiencing at this time.  Oh, how I pray for this little boy and his family.

I hope God has big ears. 

Storm is a 19 year old young man, also diagnosed with Biliary Atresia, who is currently Kasai-only. His liver enzymes have quadrupled since last Monday. The doctors initially ran tests for Mono, which could have explained the sudden jump in his numbers, but the test was negative. Storm has really had no significant problems since 1993, according to his mother, so his current labs are obviously very scary and concerning for his family, as well as the rest of us here in Liverland. I pray that this is maybe just some sort of virus that will resolve. I just pray for him and for his family. 

I hope God has big ears. 

As I mentioned earlier, I have befriended so many other "liver families" in the past two months since Elise's diagnosis. Each and every one of these kids, and their families, also need our prayers every day.  I'd like for everyone reading this to take a moment to pray for our little friends, including Fatima, Abby, Coltyn, Landon, Loralei, Eleanor, Tayden, Luke, Bubby, Gracie, Kayla, Marissa, Millie, Sebastian, Sydney, Ember, Fiona, Lillian, Robin, Maggie, Ember, Robert, Tyler, Harris, Trey, Zane, Clarissa, Joshua, Noah, Rachel, Evan, Hadley, Lizzy, Emerson, Analiese, Brooke, Daniel, Daniel T, Addison, Ashlee, Jordon, Derek, Christopher, Audrick, Madeline, Claire, Thomas, Lottie, Benjamin, Julian, Mason, Bryanna, Martim, Sam, Denim, Harlee, and Grant.

I hope know God has big ears.