Tag Archives: MCchild

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… … other worry is her weight – she really needs to put on a few pounds!

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Thank you for your continued support and prayers for Caitlin and our entire family. We cannot thank you enough and hope that you know just how appreciative we are for all your kindnesses and thoughtfulness. Happy Easter!

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[JR: While a long way from out of the woods, it appears that the requested "colon" prayers have been effective. (No need to give God's credit to the docs. They are His instruments.) Now we need some "gain weight" prayers. (Another problem I've never had!) Your kind attention please. Let's get the little girl the prayers that she needs. As requested.]

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UPDATE FROM CARING BRIDGE Caitlin’s Chronicles

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There is still something amiss from a GI perspective, but MUCH better than before.

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We started the oral chemos at home, and thankfully they are going over OK.

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please pray for continued remission!

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[JR: OK, Jaspers, we need some "GI" and "remission" prayers for one little girl.

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FROM CAITLIN’S CARING BRIDGE SITE

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The good news is that Caitlin seems a bit better today. She still has a nasty cough, expecially when trying to rest, and a touch of a fever, but is in much better spirits today. She hasn’t thrown up again since early this morning. We are still working on eating and drinking, but she managed to have something in the early evening. Naturally, she still has her colon and gas pains, but they seem to be a little bit less frequent which is good.

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I would also like to request prayers for a family whose daughter earned her wings on Friday. We had the honor of getting to spend a good deal of time with Wendy and her beautiful daughter Madisyn at Sloan. The most disturbing part of the whole thing is that it was not Madi’s cancer, but a bacterial infection that ultimately claimed Madi’s short life here on Earth. Unfathomable. Please lift this family up in prayer.

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[JR: My observations: (1) Caitlin’s far from out of the woods as evidenced by her little friend succumbing. (2) While in hell’s handbasket, our fellow alum asks for prayers. Not for herself. But, for another family in distress. That’s a Jasper. (3) How lucky are we to have what I’d call “minor problems” in comparison. IMHO.]

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but please pray for Caitlin’s colon!! Thanks so much for all your prayers and support.

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[JR: Never had such a specific request, but if I could pray for snow before a test back in grade school, I can pray for this little girl’s colon. OK, fellow Jaspers. let’s see if we can petition for this little child to catch a break. ]

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UPDATE:

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Thanks for all the colon prayers – keep them up as they seem to be helping. Thanks also for all your kind words of support – they really do help.

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[JR: Maybe there is something to “colon prayers”. The little girl sounds like she’s doing better. But still “in the woods”. Keep up the good work.]

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UPDATE:

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In fact it showed so much that Dr. LaQuaglia agreed to send us HOME TODAY!!

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[JR: Looks like our work is done here! Mozel Tov. A nice way to end a week!]

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http://www.caringbridge.org/

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We also received a tentative date for Caitlin’s reversal surgery!! It was sooner than we thought it would be: February 25th. The wonderful Dr. LaQuaglia will be her surgeon. I have told some of you this story about him, but for the others out there, it is quite beautiful. It was Christmas Eve 2007 – a week since Caitlin’s diagnosis – and I couldn’t sleep. I met another insomniac mom, Carlina, in the hospital pantry in the wee hours of the morning, we exchanged stories, and she was able to tell me where the closest Catholic Church was so I could attend services. She also told me that she came to Sloan all the way from Texas with her 1-year-old child because of Dr. LaQuaglia, the chief pediatric surgeon. At the time, I had never heard of him (and obviously didn’t know how well I would get to know him when Caitlin required emergency surgery a couple of weeks later!) She told me that she often went to pray and saw Dr. LaQuaglia there early one morning with the priest after mass. She questioned the priest afterwards and he confirmed that it was indeed Dr. LaQuaglia and that he came each morning to get his hands blessed before going to work to perform surgery on the children. I caught my breath at the thought – how beautiful. As the weeks went by, Caitlin suddenly needed emergency surgery. It didn’t even dawn on me at the time that the man explaining all the risks to Mike & I was the same doctor. It wasn’t until after everything was over and we were thanking him profusely, that he raised his hands up and said ‘Hey, it’s not me’ and looked up to the heavens. Suddenly, the pieces connected and I exclaimed, ‘You’re the doctor that gets his hands blessed every morning, aren’t you?’ He just looked at me and one of the nurses said to him, ‘They’re on to you! They heard about you.’ Since then, I have heard time and time again about families who come specifically to Sloan so that Dr. LaQuaglia can be the surgeon who operates on their child. I was told of a family from Costa Rica (I think….) who didn’t speak much English, but could communicate that they were in NY for ‘God’s Surgeon’. Talk about pressure. But we can’t think of anyone else that we would want operating on Caitlin, can you?!?

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[JR: One of our fellow Jasper’s child can use our collective prayers on or about 2/25!]

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[JR: Confirmed "the date of Caitlin's reversal surgery for February 25th - Ash Wednesday". Your prayers would be appreciated.]

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fjohn68 reports from the Caring Bridge website.

Warm up the rosary bead, prayer books, and the old remembered prayers. That other Jasper child, the baby, the premie, needs a few prayers.

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One problem we did have this week is that he has in fact caught the RSV virus (effects the lungs of preemie babies)

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He’s not out of the woods yet. While not a great risk, in comparison to what he’s been through, this is no time for us to go lax. So we have to do our part and send a few prayers in his direction. Everyone knows how powerful prayers are. Jasper prayers more so; they are so rare.

“Bon courage a vous tous”

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