Well, we knew they were going to discuss mom's case today, but we really thought we wouldn't know anything until Thursday or Friday. Then this afternoon, mom received a call from Duke... She was able to record some of it so that I could hear it. The one resounding phrase was "you should go ahead and get started on the fund raising." She must have said it five or six times, and every time she said it, my heart rang with joy!!!

She has a few more tests to endure, and they are expecting her to do well through those. As soon as they are complete and the required money is in place, she will be asked to relocate. At that point it could go very fast.

So... if you're like me, I want to know the bottom line... Well... the required money is $15,000 for relocation and two years of medications. We are hoping to raise a total of $20K-25K to cover the required money and to help with the medical bills over those two years. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you all for praying!!!! ...this is just the beginning!!!

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR COMMITMENT TO PRAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mom wants me to relay a message to everyone....
“This is the first time that I’ve gone through intense testing with the full peace of God. Of course I was nervous, but the deep fear that has always been there before, was not there. I knew it was because of prayer. Thank you so much for you prayers. They are greatly appreciated. Keep prayin’”



Okay, here’s what we’ve learned today... The coronary doctor told us that as far as he is concerned there is no cardiac reason for her to be declined. Of course there are other doctors that will be in the discussion that we have not heard from, but she has at least passed this one. It went well... The test was relatively easy. She told me that if she ever needed to have another cath done, she would not be worried about it anymore.

It has been a long week!!! Mom is a real trooper. I was trying to get her to rest and let me wheel her around in a wheelchair, but her response every time was, “we’ve gotten this far, and I’ve gotta keep it up to get those lungs.” But she is definitely tired and will most likely be “catching up” for a while.

The next day for prayer is May 26th. A group will be committing to fasting... if you'd like to join us (fasting however you feel led), that would be awesome... They will be discussing mom’s case that day. Then they will call us on either the 28th or 29th with either “yes”, “no” or “you need more tests”.

One thing that stands out in my mind today... I brought a book with me that I had bought years ago. In fact, I had started reading it years ago but only got about a chapter into it. It is The Prayer That Changes Things by Stormie Omartian. I wasn’t able to read it as much as I had hoped, but what I was able to read reminded me about how much God responds to praise. WOW!!!! I woke up this morning with the verse “He inhabits the praise of His people” on my mind. I was able to listen to a little worship this morning and on the way to the hospital, and you know, there’s no way to describe how God comes into a situation when you praise!!! Anyway... When they took mom back, I got my trusty iPod out, and I had A New Hallelujah, Michael W. Smith, in my videos, as well as Hillsong’s Savior King (www.hillsongmusic.com). I started off with Shout Unto God (Michael W. Smith’s version, www.michaelwsmith.com)... Then it went into Deep In Love With You ... Then Healing Rain / Let It Rain!!!!!! WOAH.... I mean if God didn’t order those songs..... His peace swept over me...unexplainable. So when I got back to the hotel, I was looking through my emails and a sweet friend sent a newsletter from a minister to me. Guess what it was about... Praise! “Praise catches God´s attention. He inhabits the praises of His people. And when God shows up on the scene, every enemy must flee!” WHAT!!!! That’s right... I just read that earlier this week. Oh wait, I’m not done... I open another email. The newsletter from my pastor... What’s it about? PRAISE!!!!! “As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men.... who were invading Judah and they were defeated.” 2 Chronicles 20:22 Good ole Jehoshaphat!!!!!!! I LOVE that story!!!!!

He definitely inhabits the praise of His people. You know what... Last Sunday, my pastor was talking about how much music plays a part on our lives. He told us about the statistics of how we remember things set to music so much more... For example that’s why you teach the ABC song to children instead of making them monotonously say them. You know what... Praise and Worship is the key! I’ve known it for years... I just love it when God reminds me of something with multiple people from different places that have no idea what I’ve read or heard!!!

God is GOOD!!!! All the time... We know that no matter what, we have gotten out of the way, and all of this is in His hands. We are just along for the ride. Of course we look at the bills and wonder how He’ll do it, but I can honestly look my mom in the eyes and say, “God’s got this! He didn’t get us this far just to let it fail over money...” (Now ya’ll remind me of this in a month... LOL)

Thank you so much for your prayers....

Today was a relatively short day, but it was packed. Mom had a day in radiology, from CT scan to barium swallow (which she did not like) to an ultrasound of her neck looking at the carotid artery. I don’t know when we will hear those results. The ultrasound of the artery would confirm or deny what the doctor heard yesterday in mom’s neck.

We also met with the social worker, and I’m really glad I was here this week. She was very happy to see both dad and I. In terms of relocation, she said prepare for the worst. It could be 4-6 months, but she wants them to settle into thinking it’s 6 and be pleasantly surprised.

We are in the middle of a full lung transplant evaluation at Duke University!

She is having a very, very busy week, but her spirits are up.

She has walked and walked and walked the halls for different appointments. There have been a few times that her oxygen ran out while we were trying to find things, and those times have been hard for her.

Monday, they did a blood gas test, where they go very deep in her wrist to find an artery and do tests on the blood in relation to with O2 and without. She also had thirty-something viles of blood drawn for the lab work. Mom’s veins have always been scared...they run and hide when someone shows up with a needle. It took a few times of trying, but at least it wasn’t as bad as it has been before. They did a Manometry... This is a test that they put a tube down her nose and run tests on her esophagus and check for reflux, and we also had a few consultations.

Yesterday, she had the tube removed and a VQ scan in radiology. They had to stick her again, and thankfully the lady trying it asked someone else to help her once she didn’t get it on the second try. I’m not sure what they were looking for in that test... We also had the pre-catherization consultation today. The doctor was very nice, and after mom described a catherization that she had in the 80s and what happened, she was even nicer. Mom had a real bad experience with this test back then, and we believe that the blood clot that occurred from that test is what cause her stroke when I was 14. So, the doctor assured her that things have progressed allot and that they would take care of her. She is also concerned about starting to cough while the procedure is going on, and thankfully they work with lung patients allot, so they are supposedly real good with that too. The meeting with the surgeon was cancelled today, but we were told that that is normal. They are really busy with like transplants and stuff....

Today, mom had to go to the Center for Living where she completed a 6 minute walk. She had to walk at least 1000 feet. She walked 1246 feet. She’s really tired. She also has a meeting with the Financial Coordinator. We found out that if the transplant team says yes, we will need to come up with $15,000 before they will place her on the list. This is not all they will need. This is just what they need to get to the surgery (if we get a "yes"). (Pray for a miracle in finances.) Just the lab work this week (that is possible that Medicare won’t pay for) is over $1000. She will most likely have to relocate to Durham, if she makes the list. They say it is an average of 4-6 months (including the time after the transplant). We will also met with the Pulmonologist, Dr. Zaas. He answered most, of our medical questions (at least what we could think of at the time). He did hear a sound in her neck that made him think there might be a blockage there, but said that they would see it on Friday, if its there.

Okay... Now the good news...
We were told at orientation that the full 5 day evaluation is only given to patients that they believe are a possibility because of the extremity of the tests. There were some patients in the same orientation that were only here for a 2 day test. Most of them were not bad enough yet. We were told today that mom is early in the window of opportunity (bad enough to need it and healthy enough to survive it).

If she makes the list... The wait has drastically decreased over the years and evidently the wait is closer to 19 days. Of course all of that is determined by where on the list she is placed. She will receive a score from the tests this week, and from that score they will determine where on the list she will land. So...that being said, if she makes the list, it could potentially go very fast!!! We met a lady yesterday that had her lung transplant about 2 1/2 years ago, and she was doing great!!!!! It was super encouraging for mom.

I believe that she has passed the psychological part (including if she has a support team). Now she has to pass medical and financial.

Mom sends her most sincere thanks to all of you for your prayers!!!! ...and I do too!!!!