Some prayer requests – UPDATED

A few weeks ago, we talked about an Anchoress reader (Joseph) who is facing a frightening deterioration of his brain function, and many offered to pray for him (for which I know he is touched and grateful.)

Now reader Sarah, who has been a longtime friend of this blog (she is our resident Lutheran who loves Catholic saints but was unhappy, indeed, when I brought up St. Thomas More!) and she is a very kind, very sweet Southern Belle of a lady (she calls me “Miss A.”) has emailed:

Over the last 2 weeks I have had a problem with dissociation for the first time in a couple of years. I have been “gone away” maybe a third of my waking time. Obviously, it is impossible to function in any kind of meaningful way in this situation. I have been asking Teresa of Avila, my chosen [patron] saint, for help. Please join me in this.

It wouldn’t upset me, at all, if you could ask your readers for their prayers as well. Its not like I have cancer or something; but spending much of your life starring at the wall isn’t much of a life. I hope that’s what I’ve been doing, anyway. I have had periods where I only discover I have been going around doing things weeks after it actually happens.

I’m too scared to drive. The last time this happened, I had 13 car wrecks in 18 months.

I get goosebumps thinking about how frightening this must be. Hopefully this can be brought under control, again.

Also, do you remember Heather, the young pregnant woman who was dealing with cancer of the mouth and jaw? We’ve updated on her condition a few times, including the healthy deliverance of her son, Heath. Things were looking very good in April:

Today, she went back to begin her third week of radiation. The technicians opened her mouth to position the equipment relative to the tumor. Only…this time…there was nothing there. No tumor. No cancer. Nothing anywhere on her tongue, jaw, throat, mouth…nothing. The only evidence that she ever had that cancer was a small cancerous patch on her lymphnode which the doctors expect to respond well to radiation.

This week the news is rather grim:

Heather is now unable to speak. Her health is failing quickly from the cancer. The doctors have called the family to the hospital to make some very difficult decisions. Please pray for Ken and Paige and the entire extended family. As you may recall, Heather has an infant son (Heath) and a daughter getting ready to enter 4th grade.

She was between rounds of chemo for that last lymph node and we all expected her to get better. I talked to her dad yesterday and he didn’t mention that she was even feeling bad. Then this morning, they got this call out of the blue that she can’t talk and is being admitted to the hospital. I am assuming that she woke up unable to talk this morning, but I don’t know that for sure. I do know that this particular form of oral cancer can be very aggressive, but from all the news we’ve had things were going well except for pain and anemia during the chemo. Thanks for praying…I know that God isn’t finished with this situation yet.

Heather and her family have been through an enormous roller coaster ride, and they really need prayers to strengthen and sustain them at this time.

Also, please remember Jim in your prayers. He has been taking care of his aged mom, Dorothy, for the last 8 years. She has suffered a serious heart attack and is now dying.

I remain convinced that nothing we can do in our lives, no matter how great, can be matched by the good that is done by praying for the welfare of others, particularly when we are in anxiety about our own situations. Praying for others helps the world, and it helps the self, as well. The more you love, the more love you get. All of it comes back.

UPDATE: One more, from reader Mila:

My youngest son, Rodrigo, who is 32, has been diagnosed with a recurrence of a rare cancer he suffered from as a child, a synovial saracoma. Although it seems contained, the fact that it has shown up again after 23 years of being cancer-free is enough of a worry. At present he is undergoing tests to find out if the diagnosis is correct and if the cancer has spread anywhere. Once that is determined, he will have to undergo extensive surgery and most likely some radiation in order to kill off any stray cells. This should all be happening within the next couple of weeks. I’d appreciate it if you and your kind readers say a prayer for him.