How You Can Help

Rebekah's surgeon, Dr. B., called at the end of last week to discuss his thoughts on the surgery that has been proposed for Rebekah.  It was a long, intense conversation, and the bottom line is that Rebekah needs some type of intervention.  Her heart is beginning to enlarge, and that puts her on a course that none of us want to see. As far as the doctors involved can tell, there is only one option available:  the surgery to attempt connecting the large collateral artery branching off her right subclavian artery to her pulmonary artery to create some pulmonary blood flow to her right lung.  There are pros and cons to this surgery, and it is bordering on experimental.  No one has ever had Rebekah's anatomy, so this is an "educated-guess" type surgery to hopefully give Rebekah's heart some relief.  If it does not work, we are basically out of options.

We are still waiting for the surgeon's office to finalize a date, but it looks like the surgery will be taking place about a week before Christmas.  Many of you have asked for specific ways that you can help, so I thought I would try to list some things that would be helpful to our family.

First, and most importantly, please hold us up in prayer!  This surgery will be long and intense, and we are told the recovery will be harder than any of Rebekah's previous surgeries.  Please begin to pray for Dr. B and the cardiology team as they prepare for Rebekah's surgery.  We are praying specifically for wisdom for Dr. B as he will be setting a course for proceeding as he is in surgery.  There are no surgical notes from a previous procedure that he can consult to give him an idea of how to proceed.

Also, please pray for our family's health.  The next few weeks are so, so important for keeping Rebekah healthy.  Any sickness or decline in Rebekah's health has the potential for creating more complications and a longer recovery period.  Please pray for Drew and I and the boys to remain healthy, as well, so we don't pass anything to Rebekah.

As you can imagine, this surgery and recovery time in Charleston will not be without expense.  If you feel led, there are several ways to help that would be a huge encouragement to us.

1) Ride for Mike 2011: Jonathan will be riding from Greenville to Charleston in honor of Rebekah Grace in just two!! weeks!  We are so excited to see how God is blessing Jonathan's project and using it to provide funds for Rebekah's needs.  Ride for Mike is partnering with Helping Hands Ministries to distribute all funds received for specific needs.  These funds will be used for the "big" things such as a hotel and/or bills that will need to be paid.
2) Restaurant Gift Cards: As you might imagine, cafeteria food can get very old, very quickly!!  There is very little opportunity to make or keep our own purchased food anywhere at the hospital, so we have to purchase almost every meal.  Some of the restaurants in the hospital or nearby are Subway (lunches!!), Olive Garden, On the Border, Longhorn, O'Charley's, Moe's, Applebee's and McDonald's.
3) Gift Cards: Generic gift cards (such as Visa gift cards) or Wal-mart or Target gift cards are also very helpful for smaller expenses such as gas and things that Rebekah needs.  We have found in the past that no matter how many things we try to pack and think of before we leave, there is always something that we learn in the hospital that would make things easier/more comfortable for Rebekah.  It is nice to be able to run to the store to get those little things that are a comfort for her.

Another blog friend of mine recently posted about some wonderful ways to help those who have a medically fragile child.  If you have a few minutes to spare, read through Kate's post here.  She very neatly sums up the answers to our most frequently asked questions.  :)

Thank you all for praying for us.  I will be posting more details about what Rebekah's surgery will involve when I can think more coherently.  Right now I'm going to do a little reading and hopefully get some sleep.  Rebekah has been restless the last couple of nights, so I'm hoping to get a little more sleep in tonight!

Nancy