24 April 2010 - Special Prayer Request

Carl, Susanne Barrett’s dad, had chest pains while visiting Hawaii.  They found his arteries so badly blocked that a stent procedure was not successful.  On Friday, he underwent a successful double by-pass, just after noon Pacific Time, with no complications.  Although the surgery went well, all was not yet well.  There were post surgical complications, which required a second mid-night surgery.  It seems that went well, so in the end all is well.  Well enough that Carl was able to call home today and talk to Susanne.  Please give thanks for the successful surgery and for a full and rapid recovery. Pray for peace of mind for Carl and his wife Judy.  Carl believes he is self-made man who thinks he has always been able to do everything himself. Perhaps even more important, please pray for Carl to see the Hand of God in his life


Michelle Cannariato (a former student of Susanne Barrett) has what appears to be a benign tumor in her heart.  Michelle married Nick Cannariato this past Saturday; that evening, after they arrived at their hotel, Michelle had a stroke. She had a stroke, in a deep part of her brain, affecting her right side.  The doctor termed the size of the stroke as "medium." As you may imagine, as much as a stroke for a 20 year old is very unusual, so the golf ball sized tumor in the heart is also unusual.  Anyway, as soon as Michelle recovers from the stroke, they will do open heart surgery at Scripps-La Jolla.  Right now she seems to be doing very well.  She can move her right side, but not yet her left.  They are waiting for the left side to show signs of movement before they do the surgery.  Please pray for peace of mind for Michelle and Nick and guidance for the medical team.


Caroline (12 year old whose leukemia returned two years ago) is still really struggling with the Graft Vs. Host Disease (GVHD),

From Caroline's mom, Carmen:

            It has been a whirlwind the last ten days.  Just as we thought we were going to get in here [City of Hope] and get Caroline better, her situation has actually become much, much worse.  After she stopped breathing on Tuesday, she ended up in the ICU for several days, but we are now back in a regular room.  We have not seen the response we wanted/needed to see from the changes in medication. As Dr. Rosenthal said, this GVHD is relentless.   Dr. Rosenthal is now giving her everything he knows about in the hopes of getting some relief.  All the doctors are shocked by the rapidness of the progression of GVHD.  She is putting everything she has into recovery, and we know she has incredible strength; however, this GVHD is like no other.  Dr. Rosenthal said that in the 500 pediatric cases that have gone through City of Hope in the last 30 years, there has only been one other case that he has seen similar to Caroline's....

        Dr. Rosenthal said he was going to try to get approval for more frequent photopheresis treatments.  He had always said we had to stick to 4 treatments a month, and now he is supporting 12 a month! 

           We are trying to keep her in optimal strength for her situation while the treatments kick in.  Just as Dr. Rosenthal has never seen such aggressive GVHD, I have never known anyone to respond as much to prayer as Caroline does.  We truly appreciate your prayers for her. Carmen

          Please keep Caroline, her sister Jane, and her parents Carmen and Jeff in your prayers--they so appreciate your dedication to praying for Caroline over the years.