Become a part of Team Jess

Lisa Thomas, my friend an co-worker needs you. She's being completely open about everything she's going through right now, so it is with her permission that I relay this info. On one condition of course; you must pray your heart out for her!

A few weeks ago I got a call from our boss 45 minutes before Lisa's midday show was to begin, saying that she was having a medical emergency and asked if I could fill in for her. Of course, I was happy to drop everything and go. She was about seven months pregnant, and the doctors had just discovered a tumor on the baby's brain. Since then, Lisa and her husband Rudy have been to the doctor several times in search of more info, better news, a birth plan, etc. and the waiting has been understandably tough. The tumor is the result of two blood vessels fusing together and forming a mass during development. The good news is, the tumor is not cancerous.

It's a baby boy named Jesse, and he's scheduled to arrive at the end of January. The only way I know how to help until then, is to ask you to join "team Jess" in prayer. The list of people praying for Lisa, Rudy, and Jesse is extensive, but we need you too.

Lisa has shown an unbelievable amount of strength and faith since finding out the news. We'll all continue to rally around her.

She said I could post her most recent email sent just a little while ago.

Well, we're back from Dr. Weprin's office. I'm just gonna dive right in and trust that God will not give us anymore than we can take. What Dr Weprin believes is that Jess has an AV Malformation that is a clotted fistula. He can tell from the MRI that it didn't bleed or hemmorrage and has clotted off. This is good news. It is on the occipital part of his little brain.....and this is responsible for his peripheral vision. Dr. Weprin did say that parts of Jess' brain do not look normal....such as his cerebullum....which looks small. He did say that babies brains are constantly changing though so he has ordered another fetal MRI in 3 weeks. We'll let you know the date and time of the appointment when we get it. Jess's case is one of 6 in the last 6 years here in Dallas. Of those cases, there were two operations .....1 resulted in "issues" and the other in death. The others were left alone and the children are living relatively normal lives. I pressed him on this and he couldn't give me any more specifics at this time due to HIPA rules (I hope I'm spelling this right). Neurosurgeons for Children WILL be writing Jess up as a case study as this has not been done in the past...so our son will be helping others down the road. Our birth plan is still a big unknown. We are still looking at the end of January at Presbyterian Dallas via c-section. We DO know that Jess will be a NICU baby so we need to look into all THAT involves. If anyone has any experience, holla back please!! We're newbies at this! There will also be a special doctor in the room with us that will help assess any special needs Jess may have at birth. I forget what this doctor is called but it's a neo-natal specialist I think. Sorry, still a little in shock. Dr. Weprin did say that Jess will have surgery immedately if the following occur 1) the bleed grows and starts pushing parts of the brain out of the way 2) the spinal fluid in the brain is not flowing 3) the bleed is stealing blood from other organs such as the heart 4) hydrocephalus occurs (and Jess will have to have a shunt put in immedately in this case). Dr. Reinhart will be watching our sonograms and can tell if any of the above start to happen. I feel pretty powerless at this point in that we just really can't plan for anything. Oh wait, Dr. Weprin did say we can plan on MRI's, brain scans, and sonograms from the moment he is born and for the first two years of his little life. I'd rather plan for things such as the finishing touches on the nursey...his first pediatrician's visit...his first car trip home....but okay, God, we're listening. Not a lot of answers to share with you. Sorry! I asked Dr. Weprin for a worst case....and I'm sure you know what the answer to that was....and for a best case...and that's for Jess's tumor to completely go away and for him to be able to live a normal, healthy life. Please keep the prayers up as today as I'm feeling very small. I ran into someone that I knew from the Children's Miracle Network (Mix did the Radiothon for 5 years for Children's and Cook) in the lobby as we were leaving....and she asked what I was doing there. I had to tell her that I guess it was our turn now and just broke down in tears. It really feels like a nightmare. I hold fast today to the quote that my friend Paul sent me from Florida yesterday ...."Faith is not believing that God can. It is knowing that God will."

LT