FROM: Barb
July 22 @ 6:56 AM – Day 7

Just wanted to let you know you are in all our prayers. Hope you will be able to read this soon as that will mean you are getting lots better. We love you.

FROM: Barb
July 22 @ 10:15 AM

Hi! News has it you are doing much better! Great! Know the recovery will be a long one but know you are one strong lady and will make a complete one. Love ya and thinking about you. Your in all our prayers

FROM: Link
July 22 @ 10:59 AM

God is good! We were blessed many times and many ways through the night last night. Your prayers are working and very much felt (even by the nursing staff) – Please keep them up! We had a crazy day yesterday, but in the end have a deeper understanding of our faith and our love for Mom.

Mom was moved to the 9th floor late yesterday afternoon to begin her renal dialysis. The fluid in her body was increasing to the point it was pooling on the exterior of her skin at her joints. The 9th floor is one of the surgery floors and they wanted her around the surgeons in case there were any complications with the procedure because the fluid swelling was not only external, but also internal. Mom had a CT scan in the morning as well to determine the level of damage to her pancreas.

We did not know it, but the chief surgeon had been keeping his eye on Mom. When he inspected her and the CT scan results before the dialysis was started, he recommended surgery immediately to relieve the pressure on her vital organs along with the removal of some dead tissue surrounding her pancreas. We were told at the time the survival rate was 40% and the surgery could last up to 4 hours… The prayers and tears began to unfold. We had eleven in the family together and spent the evening together laughing, crying, and praying. It was a time of great reflection and sharing.

Mom’s surgeon and the chief surgeon met with us around 10:30 or 11:00 pm to let us know that Mom had successfully made it through the surgery and that her survival chances from here are good. However, he did iterate that she is still very, very sick and has a condition called SIRS (Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome) which can negatively affect all her vital organs. I don’t think they anticipated the group hug, but we laid it on them. Mom’s incision will be left open for the next couple of days and they will continue to inspect her vital organs and repack her abdominal area to help remove the fluid.

We visited Mom this morning and her color is very good and the dialysis is hooked up and running. Dad saw the chief surgeon who told him that if we had not agreed to the surgery when we did, Mom probably would not have made it through the night. She is scheduled back into surgery in the next couple of hours. We will keep everyone posted as we know more and appreciate your continued prayers.

With the move to the 9th floor, Mom’s voice mail update information has changed. This information is updated twice per day, with the first update done this morning. Thank you all again for your prayers and kind words. We are very grateful for each of you!

FROM: Barb
July 22 @ 12:56 PM

Just wanted to let you know you are in all our prayers. Hope you will be able to read this soon as that will mean you are getting lots better. We love you.

FROM: April
July 22 @ 12:20 PM

Link,

Thanks again for all the updates. We have been constantly thinking and praying for Lea and the family. We are not only Lea’s employees, but we have come to love her as a friend. We miss her smile and laughter. We will continue to pray and hope for the best. I also wanted to let Larry know if there is anything we could do to let us know.

FROM: Karen
July 22 @ 2:23 PM

Hi, Link. Thanks so much for the update, these ups and downs are very difficult to go thru, but the good Lord does give us unbeliveable strength. I have passed all of this information on to my friends and family here in Illinois and they are keeping the prayer chain going and I tell them it’s working for everyone. How is Dad doing? You boys to? Take time to relax the best you can and just enjoy all of the good memories you have made over the years and you will be able to laugh thru the tears also. You have a super mom there and she is a fighter, so I know that she won’t let anybody down one way or the other. Take Care and Love you guys lots.

FROM: Shana
July 22 @ 3:50 PM

Hi Link,

I just want you to know that all of us in Payment Processing are keeping Lea in our prayers. Several of us have worked with Lea for many years, and I have had the pleasure of working along side her for over 10 years. We are all very close and think of Lea as part of our family. We have wanted to call and let you all know we are thinking of you, but realize this is a critical time and don’t want to bother you. Please know we are thinking of you all and keeping all of you in our prayers. We love Lea and hope she will be able to come bouncing back in here soon! God is great and definitely believe in His healing powers. Please let Larry know we have everything covered here at work and he just needs to concentrate on Lea and his family. We will all continue to keep Lea and your family in our prayers! God Bless you all!