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Post by MIRIAM JACOB on Sept 5, 2007 7:01:16 GMT -5
PRAY FOR THE TWINS
A young couple, John and Shelly, are going to be blessed with TWINS! Shelly’s due date is around the end of January. Shelly went for a routine sonogram last Tuesday (28 Aug), and was sent to a Specialist on Thursday (30 Aug) because of something the sonogram technician and her regular OB saw. The Specialist confirmed that the babies (girls) have TTTS (Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome). With this condition, Baby B becomes a donor and Baby A becomes a recipient of blood, nutrition, and amnionic fluid because the umbilical cord has not divided evenly. Baby A is at a risk of death and serious organ problems, due to the strain of too much fluid. Baby B is a risk of death due to not enough fluid and nutrition. Thankfully there is a procedure that can correct this problem. There are only 5 doctors in the United States who perform this surgery. John and Shelly will be traveling to Cincinnati Ohio today. They will be seeing a team of doctors tomorrow and the surgery will be Thursday or Friday. The success rate is around 85 percent. John and Shelly are very optimistic. They are asking that we all pray that God’s will be done. They will be in Cincinnati for at least 5 days after the procedure, to monitor Shelly and the girls. Please help us pray that God will be with Shelly the Girls and John and that God’s will be done.
- PRAYER TEAM
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burtrand
New Member
TREASURED FRIEND
Posts: 23
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Post by burtrand on Sept 5, 2007 10:22:03 GMT -5
I will add this to my prayers. I just pray that the surgery will fix the problem, and that God will be very near to Shelly and John, and these dear little girls. As a twin myself, (I have a twin sister), I am very interested in the dear parents, and the twins. God grant a complete healing.
As the results of a difficult birth I was born with Cerebral Palsy. My life walk has been one of one victory after another, because I walk with the King of Kings. Praise His wonderful name.
My twin and I are very close.
All because of Him, Gracey
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Post by MIRIAM JACOB on Sept 5, 2007 10:35:21 GMT -5
Dear Gracey,
Thank you for telling us about your amazing life. We are so proud of you. Please do share your life's experiences with us. We will be greatly blessed by it. Most of us have gone through suffering in different forms. But your experience is of course unique, by its very nature. We thank God for you, our sweet sister. You are a living witness to God's grace and mercy. Bless your dear heart. Thank you so much for praying for the twins and their parents. May God save their lives for His glory. Amen.
Love in Christ,
Miriam.
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Post by MIRIAM JACOB on Sept 5, 2007 23:27:51 GMT -5
I will be praying for the twins today at my hour of prayer.
May the healing power of the Lord Jesus Christ be upon them now.
Your friend in Christ,
William.
(PRAYER TEAM)
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Post by MIRIAM JACOB on Sept 5, 2007 23:29:16 GMT -5
The twin babies and the parents will be in my prayers.
I pray that the procedure is a complete success
and the babies are healthy and live long healthy lives.
I pray that our loving God gives them the strength
they all need to get through this.
Love,
Vickie
(PRAYER TEAM)
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Post by MIRIAM JACOB on Sept 5, 2007 23:30:51 GMT -5
Oh goodness! I will pray right now, thanks!
God bless,
Lis.
(PRAYER TEAM)
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Post by MIRIAM JACOB on Sept 5, 2007 23:35:47 GMT -5
I WILL LIFT THEM UP AND GO INTO PRAYER TODAY FOR THEM.
THEY WILL HAVE FAVOR AND VICTORY
IN THIS CIRCUMSTANCE IN JESUS NAME .
GOD'S FIRM HAND IS UPON THE FAMILY,
AND THROUGH THIS A BEAUTIFUL TESTIMONY
WILL BE BROUGHT FORTH AND THEIR FAITH LEVEL
WILL BE EVEN HIGHER, PRAISE GOD......
IN JESUS NAME, LORD, IN JESUS NAME!
YOUR SISTER,
JEANNIE.
(PRAYER TEAM)
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Post by MIRIAM JACOB on Sept 5, 2007 23:44:08 GMT -5
My prayers will be going up.
Please keep me updated,
as you hear updates.
I will also pass this on,
so others can be praying.
Thanks, Miriam.
God Bless,
Tammy.
(PRAYER TEAM)
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Post by MIRIAM JACOB on Sept 5, 2007 23:53:22 GMT -5
Hello Miriam,
I will be praying for this dear mother and two twins,
Gods little angels. I know the Lord's Will shall be done,
and they will be okay. I love you all.
I know we serve a mighty God. I love Him so.
Well, God bless. I will send this out to other prayer warriors.
In the sweet name of Jesus,
the Name above all names.
Love in Christ.
Lisa.
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Post by MIRIAM JACOB on Sept 7, 2007 6:20:55 GMT -5
UPDATE BY JOHN & SHELLY.
Hey everyone,
As many of you know, Shelly and I flew here to Cincinnati yesterday. Shelly had her battery of exams today on the twins. The short of it is that we qualify for the laser treatment to solve the TTTS, will have the surgery on Friday, be released from the hospital on Saturday, check the babies hearts on Tuesday and, as long as everything is good, fly home next Wednesday.
The medical team went over all the tests that had been done in the morning. There is a 27% size difference between the babies. The recipient (the one getting too much blood) is 9 oz. and the donor is 7 oz. (the one getting too little blood). The recipient's heart has a minor leak and the heart walls are a little thicker. Also, the recipient's blood flow is moderately abnormal. The donor baby has a slightly larger head due to the Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS) probably because the available blood supply is not enough for the whole body so the body chooses to direct blood to the brain. Finally, the amniotic fluid surrounding the recipient is almost 3 times normal and the fluid surrounding the donor is about 1/5th normal.
The severity of TTTS is on a scale from 1 to 5. One is very minor and just monitored and 5 is death of both babies. Level 3 is then broken down into a, b and c where a is minor and may not meet the threshold for surgery, b is moderate and c is severe and both meet the threshold for laser surgery.
But, because of the recipient's blood flow problem, the slightly larger head on the donor and the discrepancy in amniotic fluid, we are candidates for the laser surgery . . . where they go in and cauterize the veins and arteries that are shared between the two babies. At the same time they reduce the amniotic fluid surrounding the recipient. With the laser treatment, the probability of one or both babies surviving is 91.7% with this team. The success of both babies surviving this procedure is 64%. The reason for the difference is due to the fact that if the placenta isn't shared 50/50 (or somewhere around that) then the baby that gets the smaller placenta after the laser surgery will then not have a good chance. We're told that as long as the baby with the smaller placenta gets at least 20% of the placenta then her chances are good. We don't know what percentage of the placenta our girls will end up with until after the doctors go in and do the surgery. If we end up with a 50/50 or 60/40 split then we can look at the survival rate of 91.7% for survival of both girls.
The strict bed rest was quite a shock for Shelly to hear. All she is allowed to do is to get up for bathroom breaks, showers, getting (not making) her meals & to travel to doctor's appointments. We are still working on all of the details this will take to make it work but our priorities are straight and it will be done.
The average gestation is 40 weeks. Average gestation for twins is 36 weeks. Average gestation for twins with TTTS is 32 weeks. There are two benchmarks they look at. One is at 28 weeks. Babies born after 28 weeks have a much higher ... they didn't give numbers ... survival rate. After 32 weeks, the babies have much fewer problems. So, the longer the girls can stay in Shelly's belly, the better.
If anyone doubts God's involvement in our lives, just call me. In the last three weeks, we have looked for and bought a house for a great price. We put our house on the market and sold it in 5 days. Shelly's condition was recognized early. We got in to see the medical team that does more of these laser treatments than any other center in the country. By the way, the head of the team is going out of the country for business on Saturday so the condition was diagnosed in time for him to do our case before he leaves. My schedule was covered by another UPS 747 captain and I had three others willing to cover it all within 24 hours of finding out that I had to be here. My request to trade my trip next week for a week later was approved so I am free until next Friday. I don't believe in coincidences. We are trusting Him to take care of our girls.
I want to thank everyone for their help, support and prayers.
God bless,
John and Shelly.
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Post by MIRIAM JACOB on Sept 7, 2007 22:47:12 GMT -5
UPDATE BY JOHN & SHELLY.
Because we are an add on surgery, we didn't know when it would take place until tonight. We are scheduled for 2 PM tomorrow afternoon. We will go to the hospital at noon and sign in. About an hour before the procedure they will take Shelly back and begin the anesthesia process. The procedure is a three hour process so she will be in recovery about 5 PM. There will be 12 to 15 people involved. Four of those are doctors. The rest are nurses, technicians and possibly a photographer. The operation is done by making a small ... about a quarter of an inch ... incision in Shelly's belly and placing an endoscope into the uterus. Through that endoscope are three instruments ... a scope so the doctor can see, a laser to cut the veins/arteries and a tube to take some of the amniotic fluid out. They will keep her over night and we will be released Saturday. For now, that is all we know. Tomorrow after the procedure we should know how the surgery went and approximately how much of the placenta each girl gets.
Thank you to everyone who has helped and is supporting us. Words can not say how much we appreciate you all, and there is no way to ever repay your kindness.
God bless,
John and Shelly.
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Post by MIRIAM JACOB on Sept 9, 2007 8:10:16 GMT -5
UPDATE FROM JOHN & SHELLY
The doctor could see the entire vascular equator very well. There were only 5 vascular connections (the veins/arteries shared between the twins). I asked him how that compared to others. He said that they have seen as few as 1 and as many as 30. So, we were on the low side of the curve which is good. He cauterized all of them. He thenmade 5 very tiny ... much smaller than a hair ... holes in the membrane separating the twins to let the amniotic fluid balance out. That should take from five to ten days. Then they took 2.5 liters of fluid out of Shelly. Imagine a 2 liter coke and ad another 25%. Shelly's belly is much smaller than when she went in. Finally, the babies share the placenta 60/40 with the small baby getting the larger share. They said that this is very rare and that the larger baby usually gets the larger share. But, because of this, the smaller baby might catch up to the larger baby by the time they are born.
We then went up to the recovery room where we will spend the night. All the doctors came in to check on Shelly and tell us how things went. Every one had a good report. We are in the Fetal Care Center ... the only ones on the floor ... in a private room with two nurses monitoring only us. I can't tell you how good our care has been. Shelly has been having some contractions because of the procedure so they put magnesium sulfate in her IV to stop them. They weren't very strong but occurring pretty frequently ... about 90 seconds apart ... which concerned us. The nurses assured us that they were fine and now the contractions are very far apart ... about every 12 minutes and not always ... and very light. Shelly is sleeping and trying to stay comfortable with all the wires attached to her to monitor her vitals.
The doctor could see the entire vascular equator very well. There were only 5 vascular connections (the veins/arteries shared between the twins). I asked him how that compared to others. He said that they have seen as few as 1 and as many as 30. So, we were on the low side of the curve which is good. He cauterized all of them. He thenmade 5 very tiny ... much smaller than a hair ... holes in the membrane separating the twins to let the amniotic fluid balance out. That should take from five to ten days. Then they took 2.5 liters of fluid out of Shelly. Imagine a 2 liter coke and ad another 25%. Shelly's belly is much smaller than when she went in. Finally, the babies share the placenta 60/40 with the small baby getting the larger share. They said that this is very rare and that the larger baby usually gets the larger share. But, because of this, the smaller baby might catch up to the larger baby by the time they are born. We then went up to the recovery room where we will spend the night. All the doctors came in to check on Shelly and tell us how things went. Every one had a good report. We are in the Fetal Care Center ... the only ones on the floor ... in a private room with two nurses monitoring only us. I can't tell you how good our care has been. Shelly has been having some contractions because of the procedure so they put magnesium sulfate in her IV to stop them. They weren't very strong but occurring pretty frequently ... about 90 seconds apart ... which concerned us. The nurses assured us that they were fine and now the contractions are very far apart ... about every 12 minutes and not always ... and very light. Shelly is sleeping and trying to stay comfortable with all the wires attached to her to monitor her vitals.
Tomorrow morning the Maternal Fetal Medicine (MFM) doctor will come up and do a sonogram on Shelly. As long as everything is ok, he will release us. We will spend the weekend in the hotel then come back for an ECHO sonogram where they look at the girls' hearts on Monday. That was the one that took an hour and ten minutes on Wednesday. We then see the MFM doctor one more time and are released. Shelly's ticket home is Wednesday so we will stay in the hotel on Tuesday then drive to Columbus Wednesday morning to go home.
Everything looks great at this point. We came here cautiously optimistic and we will leave here cautiously optimistic. We want to thank everyone again for all the support we have gotten and especially for your prayers. Please continue to pray that the girls will do well. I think I said before that average gestation for twins with TTTS is only 32 weeks. Pray that we make it at least that far and hopefully to 36 weeks or more.
John and Shelly
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Post by MIRIAM JACOB on Sept 13, 2007 11:53:22 GMT -5
Here is a new update I received from my friend Patsy this morning on Shelly and the TTTS twins. Her friend Karla is the one who originated this prayer request in John and Shelly's behalf. I sent all the notes that have come to my mailbox from myspace to Shelly through Patsy and Karla last weekend.
Thank you all for your interest and your continued prayers.
Tammy Lou.
Karla is thrilled that you and all your friends around the world have been praying for Shelly, John, and the twins. As we all know the power of prayer is awesome!!!
God Bless all of your friends.
Patsy
I just wanted to give everyone an update on Shelly and the girls.
They arrived home on Tuesday the 11th of September. This was the day before we were expecting them. Shelly went for a sonogram and an echocardiogram on Monday the 10th of September. The news was so good that they decided to come on home Tuesday instead of waiting until Wednesday.
Both girls have a strong heart beat and the hearts are functioning properly for both girls. Also, the holes appear to be closing as hoped. The news was so good, that Shelly’s bed rest will not be as restricted as originally feared. The doctors do want her laying down as much as possible and she has been instructed not to assist with packing or unpacking of their home. Fortunately, God has already answered that prayer. Shelly’s best friends Mom will be packing and unpacking for them. She will be with Shelly all day Monday through Friday from 8:00am – 5:00pm. Shelly’s Mom works, but she is moving in and will be with Shelly in the evening to help Shelly and to help take care of Nicole (10 years old).
Shelly and the girls are not out of the woods yet. She is at 20 weeks. We are praying that she can make it to 36 weeks, but the doctors are saying that she will do good to make it to 32 weeks. Please continue to pray that God will take care of Shelly and the girls, that he will help Shelly while she is on bed rest and that the girls are healthy when they are delivered.
God is showing more and more everyday how he is truly in control and how He will take care of all of our needs, if we will just let Him.
Karla.
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Post by MIRIAM JACOB on Sept 14, 2007 10:51:35 GMT -5
Here is an update I just received.
TammyLou.
Hello everyone,
Yesterday Shelly and John had a BIG scare. Shelly woke up early with a wet bed. They contacted her Maternal Foetal Medicine Doctor and went straight to his office. As said before, God does answer prayers! The girls are fine. The fluid has increased, the placentas have increased, and the girls have grown in length and weight. The doctor was very encouraged. They believe that one of the holes, from the surgery, has increased due to traveling home from Cincinnati and that when Shelly went to bed she laid in the wrong position. As a result, some of the Amniotic Fluid leaked out. Her movements are being restricted a little more. She will be going to her high risk OB every Tuesday and to her regular OB every Friday. Please pray that the holes will continue to close and that the girls will continue to grow. They are not out of the woods by any means. Shelly started week 20 on Thursday the 13th of September. We are confident that Shelly can carry the girls to 36 weeks with Gods help and our prayers. The next 16 weeks will be very long and difficult.
Thank you,
Karla.
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faith88
Full Member
PRAYER TEAM
Posts: 129
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Post by faith88 on Sept 14, 2007 14:23:35 GMT -5
I will also pray that Shelly will go to 36 weeks.
I have just caught up with this news and my heart is touched by
the concerns of this dear couple and their precious babies.
I pray that everything will continue to go well and that John and Shelly will continue to feel God's loving presence with them and will be strengthened by our prayers.
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