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Urgent prayer request for a friend's daughter; updated 1/26

MercyA

By MercyA,
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MercyA

MercyA

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We have friends who have been missionaries in Japan for over 30 years. Their youngest daughter, who is in her early 20's and living in the U.S., has been in a serious accident. A horse that was loose ran across the road and hit her side of the car.  She is in intensive care in critical condition. Please pray for the bleeding to stop in her brain and that her brain pressure will stabilize. She is under sedation and on a ventilator. 

 

Her parents are currently in Japan, but I am sure they will be traveling back to the U.S. to be with her. Please pray for them and for everyone caring for their daughter. 

 

Thank you all.

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TranquilMind

TranquilMind

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We have friends who have been missionaries in Japan for over 30 years. Their youngest daughter, who is in her early 20's and living in the U.S., has been in a serious accident. A horse that was loose ran across the road and hit her side of the car.  She is in intensive care in critical condition. Please pray for the bleeding to stop in her brain and that her brain pressure will stabilize. She is under sedation and on a ventilator. 

 

Her parents are currently in Japan, but I am sure they will be traveling back to the U.S. to be with her. Please pray for them and for everyone caring for their daughter. 

 

Thank you all.

 

Lord, please miraculously heal this young lady.  And we pray for safe travel for her parents. 

 

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mamiof5

mamiof5

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Dear Lord, please hold this young lady in your loving arms. Guide and help the doctors and nurses responsible for her care, and please give strength, peace and serenity to her family and friends. I ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen!!

 

May the Lord watch her, help her and protect her. What an unfortunate accident :(

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Denise in IN

Denise in IN

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Thanks for praying, everyone!  I have just a small update.  She is stable, but they are still concerned about the inter cranial pressure (swelling and pressure in the brain). She will be closely monitored through the next 48-72 hours, which is crucial in her healing process. 

 

Also, please pray for her friend who was driving and sustained only minor injuries.  That is a huge praise, but there is a lot of guilt that she is uninjured and her friend is so badly injured.

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MercyA

MercyA

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Thank you all again for praying. Here is an update from her dad:

 

No real new news today. The CT scan showed no real major increase in bleeding or swelling so that is encouraging. When she was getting some treatments as well as re-bandaged, she really started kicking around and pulling at her arm straps so that is kind of encouraging in a way since it means she has strength in those extremities. She is a little fighter. :) and stubborn as always! All the nursing staff loves her and we really have a great team of care providers. No attempt to lower her sedation today, they were keeping her pretty well under so that her brain just has time to rest. I will keep updating you. They may try to decrease the sedation again tonight we will see.

 

ETA: The parents homeschooled all of their children and often speak at homeschooling conferences in Japan.

 

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MercyA

MercyA

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Thank you, Denise in IN, for passing along an update to me!

 

Here is more information on the accident, written by her family and edited by me (MercyA) for her privacy: On October 5, she and a friend were involved in a severe car accident with a Clydesdale horse on a country road. We praise God that her friend only received minor injuries!

 

She received a larger portion of the impact as the horse fell into the passenger side. She is currently in the ICU battling some serious damage. The wounds to the liver, spleen, and chest are healing quickly and are not a concern at this point. However, her brain was severely injured in the impact. As the brain is struggling to heal, she is in an induced coma to keep swelling controlled and to avoid further damage. This induced coma could last for weeks depending on how her body responds to the injury.

 

It is with heavy hearts and fervent prayers that we are all processing what the future holds for our sweet [girl]. The frontal lobe is the portion of the brain showing the most damage, and that is scary for all of us because it could mean alteration in personality, emotional control, memory, and language. We know prayer is powerful and are overwhelmingly thankful for the love and support poured over her already. As we move forward and in the months to come, she will need extensive therapy and continued prayer. We are praying that God will be glorified through all of this!

 

Current prayer needs from October 10: Her intracranial pressure (ICP) is still fluctuating between healthy and unhealthy levels (0 mmHg up to about 40-50 mmHg with occasional spikes to 60 mmHg). Whenever her sedation levels are decreased, her ICP rapidly moves back to a dangerous state. Please pray that her brain swelling continues to naturally heal while on sedation and that surgery will not be required. Until her swelling and ICP diminishes, she will not be able to come out of the induced comma (sedation) since high ICP is a large contributor to further brain damage.

 

Thank you all for continuing to pray!

 

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MercyA

MercyA

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Update from her dad: 

 

She is in surgery right now.  The intracranial pressures have stabilized, so the doctors are doing two procedures: a tracheostomy and a peg feeding tube placement since they feel that she will finally be able to tolerate them.

 

She is getting the tracheostomy placed to help transition her from the ventilator. The doctors think that part of what is causing her agitation when the sedation is decreased could be the ventilator tube down her throat. They feel that the tracheostomy would be much less traumatic for her during the process of lowering the sedation in the upcoming days or week. The peg tube placement would be for her nutrition, replacing the tube going through her nose making her transition from sedation less agitating for her. 

Thanks again for your prayers, We are so humbled by the prayers and support that we have received!  We serve a mighty Creator and nothing is impossible for Him!  Please continue to pray for her brain swelling to decrease and for her body to heal.

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TranquilMind

TranquilMind

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Update from her dad: 

 

She is in surgery right now.  The intracranial pressures have stabilized, so the doctors are doing two procedures: a tracheostomy and a peg feeding tube placement since they feel that she will finally be able to tolerate them.

 

She is getting the tracheostomy placed to help transition her from the ventilator. The doctors think that part of what is causing her agitation when the sedation is decreased could be the ventilator tube down her throat. They feel that the tracheostomy would be much less traumatic for her during the process of lowering the sedation in the upcoming days or week. The peg tube placement would be for her nutrition, replacing the tube going through her nose making her transition from sedation less agitating for her. 

 

Thanks again for your prayers, We are so humbled by the prayers and support that we have received!  We serve a mighty Creator and nothing is impossible for Him!  Please continue to pray for her brain swelling to decrease and for her body to heal.

Wow, that is some serious stuff.  I'm so sorry. Praying she is miraculously healed and remembers none of it! 

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MercyA

MercyA

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Update: Thank you everyone for your continued prayers. Her tracheostomy the other day went well; she now has that in place, as well as a peg feeding tube (directly to her stomach). Over the past 24 hours, they have been slowly weaning her to lower doses of sedation and pain medication, and she is showing encouraging signs of responsiveness. Please keep her in your prayers today, as they are attempting to get her to breathe on her own, apart from the ventilator. So far, it's been very difficult and tiring for her to take her own breaths whenever they have attempted to take her off of the ventilator machine. Pray that God would strengthen her lungs, and enable her to breathe on her own.

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MercyA

MercyA

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Update: Thank you all for your continued prayers for [...]. She was successfully taken off the ventilator today, and is breathing on her own (with oxygen). She has been showing lots of encouraging signs, including eye-tracking, responding to simple commands, and responding to other stimulations. She has not yet been able to speak, so this is a prayer request for her to be able to verbalize things she is thinking or feeling. She is in intensive care, and since this was a brain-trauma injury, the doctors and therapists have emphasized her need for a lot of rest, calm, and limited stimuli. She is still being visited by family only, for the duration of her time in ICU. Pray for peace, safety, and continued healing in her mind, spirit, and body as she is transitioning out of sedation over the coming days.

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MercyA

MercyA

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Just received another update! 

 

Thank you all for your continued prayers for [...]. Today the sedation ended, but the peg feeding tube to her stomach was left in. The trach is still in her throat, even though she has been able to breathe without a ventilator. The trach prevents her from talking, and when her cousin said, "[...], I wish you could talk", [she] wrote on paper, "Me, too!". (She tried to write other words, and draw something, but no one could figure it out.) Because she was weaned off of sedation and pain medication, she is showing encouraging signs of responsiveness and obedience to requests from the nurses. Today she also stood up, and sat in a wheel chair, and everyone thought that she gained a real sense of accomplishment. Sally is staying with her tonight, so we are all excited about what new accomplishments she will do tomorrow!

 
Since she has not yet been able to speak (She mouthed the words, "I love you."), so please pray for her to be able to verbalize things she is thinking or feeling. She still needs a lot of rest, calm, and limited stimuli. The twinkle in her eyes has not yet returned.  Please pray for peace and continued healing in her mind, spirit, and body.
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