The River Church Community

 

[Post contains 5 updates]

Dearest Loving Angel Helpers,

I just got a message from Rod. He is having trouble posting at the hospital and wanted me to send an urgent udpate asking for your prayers.

Rod and Shannon were told this morning that there may be a billing issue that would delay the surgery.

Rod has Kaiser and Shannon has Medi-Care. Due to Hannah Jane's special needs, they decided not to add her to the Kaiser plan but instead to add her to her mother's coverage, so she could have the opportunity to be treated at Stanford and by Dr. Edwards. 

Now, there is a dispute about billing/coverage and if it is not resolved very soon (and with a favorable outcome), Hannah Jane's surgery may be delayed!

It's so sad to me that getting timely and excellent care for a precious innocent baby would be a matter of money. I hope and pray that these people get their act together and do what is right for Hannah Jane!

Your urgent prayers are needed today! Please pray that the financial complications are swiftly resolved in favor of giving Hannah Jane the best possible care without any delays. 

Thank you and God bless,

Stacy

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9/16/08

Dear Loving Angel Helpers,

I’m posting this update because Shannon and Rod are so tired tonight after a long day, that they need to rest. Rod will post a more thorough update tomorrow. 

Here’s the summarized version:

Hannah Jane is doing well and Shannon and Rod are enjoying the precious time they can spend with her. 

Shannon and Rod met with the team of doctors today and they’ve decided on a treatment plan. Hannah Jane will have surgery at 11 am on Friday morning. The surgery should last approximately 8 hours. Rod will post all the details about the surgery tomorrow.

Shannon has been released from her own hospitalization and as of tonight, they are staying with Tony and Mai. 

The weariness came through in their voices as they shared the long day’s updates with me on the phone just now; it is clear they are very much in need of some sleep and restoration tonight, so they can continue to be strong and optimistic for Hannah Jane. They asked me to post this to let you know they are thinking of you all and sending their heartfelt thanks for the prayers, love, and support they continue to receive. 

Best,

Stacy

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9/15/08

Greetings, Loving Angel Helpers,

Dr. Edwards came by with his team and spoke with Shannon and Rod.  Tomorrow, at a time yet to be determined, they will gather all of Hannah Jane’s MRIs and other test results, and assemble a round table of all doctors involved with Hannah Jane’s care (radiologist, pediatrician, neurosurgeon, etc); as group, they will review slides of Hannah Jane’s brain, explore all treatment options, and make a decision on how to proceed as a team. Shannon and Rod will also attend that conference and be able to hear the options/risks/benefits of the different options and weigh in on what will ultimately be chosen. 

We do know for certain that Hannah Jane will have brain surgery this week (either Wednesday or Friday); we just don’t know yet what surgical option will be chosen. At present, Hannah Jane’s head is an ideal size, which is a very good thing, but that could change at any minute and the surgeons must act as soon as possible before her head size changes.

After that conference tomorrow, Shannon or Rod will update us all with the plan of action.

The doctor has extended Shannon’s hospitalization; she is experiencing carpal tunnel, edema, and nausea/vomiting. She will remain admitted until at least tomorrow. 

Pastor Brad came to the hospital on Friday September 12th to give Hannah Jane her blessing. Pastor Brad is the only person besides Shannon and Rod that has held Hannah Jane yet. As Pastor Brad held Hannah Jane and blessed her, she was extremely quiet and attentive to him. She was awake, alert, calm, and looking up at him during the blessing. Very impressive for a newborn! In fact, she held her pinky to her mouth, as if she was considering what he was saying! Coincidence? No; Shannon and Rod know that is the Holy Spirit working through Hannah Jane. Shannon and Rod think that Pastor Brad has a special gifted angel touch with Hannah Jane.

I want to send my heartfelt gratitude to everyone for all their generosity of spirit. A special thanks so far go to the Hinke family, Polly Claasen, and the Legates family for their amazingly generous donations to the PayPal account for hospital meals! I sit behind a desk all day and can easily write these updates; you may say that is generous of me, but in fact, it’s just a small piece of this puzzle. It gives me such an incredibly feeling of pride to know that I’m able to help Shannon and Rod through this amazing yet challenging time. But the fact that there are such kind-hearted and caring people on the other end of these email updates, who take the time to make a donation, or send an email, or say a prayer, is really what makes what I’m doing worth anything at all. I sincerely thank you for allowing me to be a part of such a giving community. 

Best,

Stacy

P.S. I’m posting a picture of Pastor Brad blessing Hannah Jane on the front page of the site. 

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9/14/08

Dear Loving Angel Helpers for Hannah Jane,

Greetings! I hope this email finds you well.

I'm writing to give you the latest update on Shannon, Rod, and Hannah Jane. 

Hannah Jane had her second MRI (this time, a contrast MRI) to investigate more about why her ventricles are enlarged. Tomorrow, Hannah Jane's neurosurgeon will evualuate the images and make the plan; most like Hannah Jane will have brain surgery Wednesday or Friday of this week. The details will come tomorrow night after Shannon and Rod have a chance to meet with the doctor. 

Shannon will be discharged tomorrow from her own hospital stay. She is experiencing some excess swelling in her hands and feet and they are medicating her for that but don't feel that it should merrit further hospitalization. 

At that time, Shannon and Rod hope to transition to a parent's room at the hospital where they can sleep and have a "home base" as they will be spending all their waking hours at the hospital with Hannah Jane. If a parent's room is not available tomorrow for them, Tony and Mai have very generously offered them a room to sleep in and use at their home nearby in Palo Alto. 

Polly Claasen has generously offered to lend Rod and Shannon a WiFi capable laptop, which they can use to provide more medically accurate updates from the hospital.

Rod and Shannon will not be going home to Santa Clara in the evenings; it is too far away and they will want to focus their attentions on their new daughter. For this reason, coordinating meals this week (and possibly beyond) will not be necessary. 

HOWEVER, we all know how expensive eating on the go can be! If you are able to donate a gift card to a local restauarant or some funds that I can turn into a pre-paid Visa to be used at the hospital cafeteria, I know that would be very dearly appreciated by the Geoghegans right now. 

If you want to donate funds, please go to my PayPal account: http://paypal.com/stacydow. If you need help with the technical aspects of this, please let me know and I'll do what I can to help.

Shannon and Rod thank you over and over again for your continued love and prayers. They are indeed very fortunate to have such an amazing and caring community!

Best,

Stacy

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9/12/08

Dear Loving Angel Helpers,

I need to make some corrections to my previous update. Please forgive my mistakes and any resulting confusion I may have created. 

Medical correction: I misstated a few things in my last post. Hannah Jane’s neurosurgeon’s name is Dr. Edwards (not Dr. Burns, as I said before!) As for the blockage, they know there is a blockage, but so far they don’t know how large it is or what is causing it. I was mistaken when I said that it was a small tissue mass (although we hope that is all it is). The doctors will continue to assess things and put their heads together. Someone will post when more information is available. 

Silly explanation: Posting updates on medical results is a bit like playing a game of “Telephone.” First, the doctors inundate Shannon and Rod with medical information. They process it all, ask as many questions as possible, explore all treatment options, and do their best to advocate for Hannah Jane. Once the doctors leave, they put their own two heads together to recap what they just learned to make sure they are of the same understanding. Then, one of them calls me and shares the information for posting. I do my best to understand it all, but by the time I post, the information has been through the ‘Stacy filter’! So, to minimize confusion, Rod and Shannon are hoping to post medical updates directly. The Hinkes have so kindly and generously offered to lend Shannon and Rod a laptop, but they aren’t sure yet whether it has WiFi capability, which would be necessary in order to post. If it turns out that it doesn’t have WiFi capability, Shannon and Rod would be ver  y appreciative if anyone else has a WiFi capable laptop they could lend for a short while. If so, please let me know. If not, we’ll continue to do our best, and I will step up my efforts to convey all the details accurately when I post to you all!

Regarding their location: Shannon and Rod are in Area F2, Room 233. I’m mainly sharing this in case you feel compelled to send them a card or something. (Special thanks to Kate Hinke for her thoughtful card and beautiful blooms!)

As I mentioned in my previous email, unplanned visits to the Geoghegan family are not recommended right now. Hannah Jane is in NICU and it’s important that she and her parents have as little contact with potential outside germs as possible. Soon enough, once things have had a chance to progress, there will be plenty of opportunities to meet Hannah Jane and celebrate with Shannon and Rod. I hope you all understand.

Also, our poor Shannon has had less than 7 hours of sleep total (combined) in the past several days! With all the medical consultations, testing, spending time bonding with her new daughter, and receiving her own post-operative medical care, she just hasn’t had any time left for sleeping! So she’s understandably exhausted and needs to force herself to take some down time to truly heal and recover and build up her strength for the next phase of challenges. For this reason, please limit phone calls to the room. If she is actually able to get some sleep, we want her to capitalize on it and sleep uninterrupted!

Shannon and Rod dearly appreciate everyone’s continued prayers. 

Best,

Stacy