Anna Update

Hi everyone,

First of all, thank you for your prayers, phone calls, and e-mails for Anna (who is on the right in the picture). It is a blessing to know that we can call on you all to lift us up in prayer and the peace that we have experienced is a direct result, we are sure, of the prayers that have been spoken on our behalf over the last week!

Anna does have ITP, which is what Tully thought. Most children outgrow it on their own, and the fantastic news is that she does not need any treatment as of now. From what I understand, they don't know what causes it, but after contracting a virus, for whatever reason, the patient's body attacks not just the virus cells, but their own platelets as well. It is usually over in three months, but it sometimes lingers for six months or more. There is no way to tell where she is in that cycle. We will go back next week for more blood work, and her doctor will evaluate her need for further treatment then. I discussed our plans for the mission field with her doctor and he said, "By all means, press ahead with your plans, this should not limit you!" Praise God! He was quick to reassure me from the beginning, "First of all, this is not cancer, nor is it a precursor to cancer."

The plan is to draw more blood work next week, compare it to this week, and if her platelet levels drop more, we will discuss her having a treatment of IVIG--this will usually knock it completely out by boosting her immune system. Our prayer is that she is on the upswing of recovery from ITP and will not need further treatment.

My heart was broken again for people who are going through health crises as I waited with Anna for labwork in a tiny area filled with bright lights and colors, cool toys, and quiet,sick children. Not sick as in coughing or throwing up, but sick as in dark circles under their eyes, no hair, sick as in very quiet and very still--I waited with one very tired, but still smiling mom who had spent her weekend in the hospital with her 2 year old son who had a fever--and must be hospitalized each and every time he gets sick. I thank God for my family's and my good health and I ask him, "Why? Why must they suffer?" He reminded me in His gentle way that the answer is not for me to know. He only wants me to do what He has called me to do.

Thank you again for praying with us and for little Anna!

In Christ, Dawn