OT: Prayers needed

I am praying! Keep us posted! I know how bad Lupus can be. God bless!

Karen in Ohio

Tell her to hang in there -- and in the meantime I'll add my prayers to all others.

Concentrating on sending thoughts for better health for her.

Prayers are on their way for your cousin and her kids. ((((((((((((Brenda and rest of your family)))))))))))))

Joan

Done! added to the ever growing list.

Check out the health section at YahooGroups. There are a number of lupus groups. It's highly possible that in some other part of the world, they are using some different therapy that will work for your cousin. In fact, different doctors in the same state may be using different therapies.

Have they tried Procrit?

Our doctor was in favor of building up red blood cells with a steady diet of liver, spinach, red meat, red wine.... It can't hurt to try it. Just give her enough wine that she doesn't realize she's eating liver. :) Seriously, I've had it pureed in spaghetti sauce and you can't tell it's there. Mom makes liverburgers (get the butcher to grind it for you) with enough spices that, covered in ketchup, you can almost convince yourself this is a regular burger. Or mix it half and half into meatloaf. And Mom had some special vitamins, Hema-something; ask the pharmacist.

See what you can google up, too. Granted, there's a lot of medical bunkum on the Net, so you'll have to rely on her doctors to say if something won't work and why, but you may find something valid that they haven't heard about.

She has been in the hospital for most of the last two months and off-and-on since she was diagnosed in November so she doesn't have the freedom to try anything with diet or supplements. Procrit hasn't been tested for her condition and might cause more problems than help. Her doctors already have consulted with other specialists since she is one of the rare cases that hasn't responded to any of the "normal" treatments. Prednisone in ordinary doses did work for our grandmother so this is just more proof that lupus is a strange condition. The whole situation is made even more difficult since they have to extensively match her blood out to some of the finer antigens to avoid complications. I have suggested that her living close relatives get typed to see if they would be a close enough match to help although since two of the five are under 17 they might not be allowed to donate blood.

Surgery was scheduled to beg> Check out the health section at YahooGroups. There are a number of

Thank you (everyone) for all your prayers.

Her spleen was more than twice the size it should have been. After the surgery her kidneys shut down and she didn't start breathing on her own again. She died a little after 6 this morning. The hospital is going to do an autopsy to see if they can find out why her lupus and anemia weren't responding to any standard treatments.

I erred the other day when I said her oldest child was 17. She will turn 17 next month. The other two are 15 and 12.

This is still very much a shock since she was such a strong and vital person. Over the years she had run a bar, worked road construction, received a degree in accounting, passed the CPA with flying colors on her first attempt, run her own software business writing customized code for clients, and was in the process of doing a vast remodeling of her house. Always working hard and always believing she could do anything...until the lupus brought her down last fall.

That said, we are heading out to Iowa tomorrow and don't know when we'll be back so I'll be offline for a bit. Behave while I'm gone.

I'm sooo sorry to hear this, Brenda. Even more ((((((((((Brenda and family)))))))))))

Joan

I'm so sorry to hear such sad news. If hugs will comfort you, please accept a big bunch of hugs from me.

Lucille ((((((((H))))))))

{{{{{{{{{{BRENDA}}}}}}}}}}}

It's amazing how a medical problem can bring even "strong and vital" people to a screeching halt. Unfortunately, Modern Medical Science doesn't have a magic pill for every disease yet.

We've had a couple instances locally where the oldest child was barely of age, and became guardian to the younger ones. Is this eldest responsible enough that the family could consider rotating adults through the house for the next 13 months, and then leaving her in charge after she turns 18? Might be less stressful on the younger kids than totally uprooting them.

Brenda, i will light some candles and say several prays. let her to be better and good luck.