6 December 2017 - news from our visit

We promised an update after our visit to the Lollars in Alabama, so here we are, asking you again for your prayers for the family and thanking you for your ongoing interest and support.

We thoroughly enjoyed our first ever visit to USA; it was great to be able to share in Lollar family life, be with them for Thanksgiving with Matt’s extended (and extensive!) family, visit the children for lunch at school etc.  We accompanied them to Memphis for 3 days where Phoebe underwent all sorts of tests at St Jude Children’s Research Hospital which has taken over her care from Sheffield Children’s Hospital.  Her serious illness shortly after arriving in USA had delayed this.  Wonderfully, the scans showed that she remains clear of cancer which is a great cause for thankfulness.

But her damaged brain and body give her many challenges every day, and Rachel and Matt need great reserves of wisdom, patience and resilience to help her with them.  The biggest challenge is her almost complete lack of appetite and consequent unwillingness to eat very much at all; she seems to exist mostly on chocolate milk, small bowls of cereal and bites of apple dipped in peanut butter.  Even the smell of some family meals makes her want to leave the table.  She is very thin and frail as a result, crying out when she bumps into things or has her nightly injection of growth hormone.  Since our return home we’ve been delighted to hear that Phoebe has had 5 consecutive days without vomiting and has had a better appetite, so please pray that this improvement will continue!!

Given her lack of energy, poor memory and short concentration span, school work is a real challenge. We’d be grateful for your prayers for her class teacher to understand and be able to allow for her needs. 

On 13^th December Phoebe and Rachel will be in Memphis again for Phoebe to undergo a day of psychological testing.  The flights and accommodation are provided and organised by St Jude’s, a wonderful provision.

Christmas follows hot on the heels of Thanksgiving, hence an appropriate photo of Phoebe and Reuben in front of the Christmas tree!

Thank you for your prayers for Phoebe, Rachel, Matt & Reuben. 
We wish you God's rich blessings as you celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus.

Marcus and Jen

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We know that our journey with Phoebe is being repeated again and again in other families around the world, and that other people and situations may become your new focus and concern. If you no longer wish to receive these updates, simply click on the 'unsubscribe now' link at the foot of this email. Thank you.

23 September 2017 - Update on Phoebe

It is now a month since we last gave an update about Phoebe. We have received several enquiries about her so feel the need to write again.

Phoebe in her school uniform

We rejoice that Phoebe is no longer in hospital and is able to attend school and take part in family life. However, the seizures and the treatment continue to have an impact on how Phoebe is able to function and cope with life.

Phoebe has little interest in her food, doesn't yet have a friend at school, and has lost her 'sparkle of joy'.

So Rachel and Matt ask, please pray for:

• patience for us as parents – everything from dressing to eating to reading to simple conversation takes way longer for Phoebe than it does for Reuben. It already feels like he is her older brother, not younger.
• for Phoebe to make a few good friends at school
• for us all to cultivate a spirit of gratitude
• for us to adapt well to a new culture and new systems
• for Phoebe to get the right support in class so that she can enjoy learning
• for Aubreigh Nicholas, a little girl in Mobile who has been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour and has a slim chance of survival, and her family.

Thanks y’all! 

We are making plans to go and visit Rachel, Matt, Phoebe and Reuben - and so be able to give them all big hugs!! Please pray that we would be a blessing and encouragement to them all.

Thank you and blessings

Marcus and Jen

PS. We do not expect to make another posting until December.

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We know that our journey with Phoebe is being repeated again and again in other families around the world, and that other people and situations may become your new focus and concern. If you no longer wish to receive these updates, simply click on the 'unsubscribe now' link at the foot of this email. Thank you.

Monday 21st August - Back to school

Last Wednesday Phoebe started her new school in Mobile, Alabama! Her return to school is gradual, doing two hours for each of the first three days, then home for a nap. 

It is wonderful that she has been able to return to a more normal routine.

Once the medical staff were clear about the problem and able to treat her, Phoebe is more like her old self, and when we spoke with her on Saturday she was able to chatter away.

We are so grateful to all who have asked about Phoebe's progress and more of you who have prayed for her recovery and healing.

"Praise be to the LORD for he has heard my cry for mercy. The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him." (Psalm 28 6,7 NIV).

We pray that Phoebe will continue to gain strength and attend school for longer periods each day. This will probably take several week or months. As life settles back to normal we hope there will no longer be a need for frequent updates to this blog.

Thank you and blessings

Marcus and Jen
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We know that our journey with Phoebe is being repeated again and again in other families around the world, and that other people and situations may become your new focus and concern. If you no longer wish to receive these updates, simply click on the 'unsubscribe now' link at the foot of this email. Thank you.

Monday 14th August - back home!!

Last Thursday we wrote about Phoebe being out of ICU, and were rejoicing in that news.

Phoebe playing just before leaving the UK!

Yesterday (Sunday 13th) Phoebe was finally discharged from hospital and arrived back home!! 
She, Matt, Rachel and Reuben were so pleased. After all the scares, air lift, pain and confusion of the past two weeks a sense of normality has returned!

For those of you with access to Facebook, there is another lovely video of Phoebe and Matt in the hospital saying "We are leaving the hospital now!". See:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/PrayForPhoebe/
(If you are not already part of this group you can request to join it.)

We are so grateful to our Father God for his help and support through this tough ordeal, and many thanks too for all who have prayed and sent us messages.


We echo the words of the hymn:

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow

Praise Him, all creatures here below

Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts

Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

(which you can hear this on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gF0MgnOjeiw)

Thank you and blessings

Marcus and Jen
____________________________________________

For email subscribers:

You have subscribed to receive email updates from the www.prayforphoebe.org blog.

We know that our journey with Phoebe is being repeated again and again in other families around the world, and that other people and situations may become your new focus and concern. If you no longer wish to receive these updates, simply click on the 'unsubscribe now' link at the foot of this email. Thank you.

Thursday 10th August - Out of ICU !!

Since we last wrote on Tuesday there has been some very encouraging news!

Out of  ICU

As we were nodding off to sleep on Tuesday night we received a video call from Phoebe, Matt, Rachel & Reuben telling us that Phoebe was no longer in intensive care (ICU)! 
It was so lovely to be able to talk with and see them all. Phoebe was talking much more clearly and her voice was much stronger. Reuben was able to tell us about his first day at school, and it was great to see Rachel and Matt with smiles!

Phoebe needs to complete her course of Intravenous Immunoglobulin (IVIG) which they currently expect will be done on Saturday. So there is the hope that she will go home on Sunday!!

For those of you with access to Facebook, there is a lovely video of Phoebe and Matt saying thank you for all the prayers for her!. See:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/PrayForPhoebe/
(If you are not already part of this group you can request to join it.)

Many thanks for your concern and prayers!

Marcus and Jen
____________________________________________

For email subscribers:

You have subscribed to receive email updates from the www.prayforphoebe.org blog.

We know that our journey with Phoebe is being repeated again and again in other families around the world, and that other people and situations may become your new focus and concern. If you no longer wish to receive these updates, simply click on the 'unsubscribe now' link at the foot of this email. Thank you.

Tuesday 8th August - Update on Phoebe

Here are some more updates about our granddaughter, Phoebe, daughter of Rachel and Matt Lollar and big sister to Reuben.
(For those with access to Facebook, some of these updates are also available by going to the #PrayForPhoebe group.)
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Matt in #PrayForPhoebe
[23.41 in UK and 17.74 in Mobile, 7th Aug]

Today (Monday) has been very uneventful which is a welcome break as the last week has had more drama than we would like.

Phoebe ended yesterday (Sunday) having had two seizures, one 27min and the other 25min. It's been decided to stop the oral Valproic Acid and go back to IV as the antacid used to help side effects of steroids is simple blocking to much of the absorption. The neurologist is keen to get her off of steroids and so today she has begun IVIG (Intravenous Immunoglobulin). IVIG can help with swelling and it will also give her immune system a bit of a break as it's essentially someone else's immunity helping her immune system out. If she does have an auto-immune disease this should help. The neurologist says he has had very good results with it but it can cause severe headaches. She needs 5 days of IVIG which means we are in for at least that much longer. 

Please pray that this treatment will work quickly as there isn't a great deal more they can do after this! Controlling seizures is no priority #1 as Phoebe is improving a lot physically but mentally/neurologically she isn't.

Reuben starts school tomorrow, we all feel sad that he and Phoebe aren't starting together, please pray for him as he settles in to a new culture and school system and that he makes friends quickly. Please pray Phoebe will be able to join him soon.

Please pray for Rachel & I as we are tired and it's difficult not having a set end in sight.

Big hugs!

  "In all our sorrows, Jesus is better, make my heart believe!" 

(Listen to this song on Youtube - Jesus Is Better - Austin Stone)

Rachel Lollar in Facebook
[14.50 in UK, 08.50 in Mobile]
First day of school. Love this boy to pieces and am so proud of him. But my heart hurts so much that his sister isn't beside him. #proudofmyboy#prayforphoebe #notthefirstdayweimagined

A year ago when he started school in Sheffield he was accompanied by a close friend, Isaac, and others from his nursery. We pray that this time he will quickly make good friendships.




Many thanks for your concern and prayers!

Marcus and Jen
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We know that our journey with Phoebe is being repeated again and again in other families around the world, and that other people and situations may become your new focus and concern. If you no longer wish to receive these updates, simply click on the 'unsubscribe now' link at the foot of this email. Thank you.

Sunday 6th August - Update on Phoebe

Here are some more updates about Phoebe, which are available by going to www.prayforphoebe.org. 

As we went to bed on Thursday evening we received the news that Phoebe had suffered a long seizure (lasting 22 minutes). Afterwards she seemed like a different child from the morning.

Rachel in Facebook
[5th Aug 14:00 Mobile]

ICU is a little more relaxed about its rules on the weekend... so they let us sneak Reuben in for a few minutes to visit his sister. These two have missed each other so much this week. Phoebe calls for Reuben all the time when she's asleep and constantly forgets that he's not allowed in here. #siblings#bestfriends


So difficult to see Phoebe so tired and Reuben so sad!




Matt in Facebook
[5th Aug 16:00 Mobile]

Cuddles with mummy! Lovely to see smiles.

After a good night's sleep

Matt in #PrayForPhoebe
[6th Aug 07.29 Mobile]

After a crazy long nights sleep Phoebe has woke up feeling a bit better! If she can get through today without a seizure she should move out of ICU tomorrow to a standard room. Please pray for this! #prayforphoebe

After this Matt sent us a message saying the Phoebe wanted to Facetime with us. Matt told us that Phoebe had slept well, and the previous evening had been able to go for a short walk. We were interrupted by the arrival of her breakfast; she was keen to eat her American pancakes!


Many thanks for your concern and prayers!

Marcus and Jen

(The time in the UK is 6 hours ahead of the time in Mobile, Alabama)

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For email subscribers:

We know that our journey with Phoebe is being repeated again and again in other families around the world, and that other people and situations may become your new focus and concern. If you no longer wish to receive these updates, simply click on the 'unsubscribe now' link at the foot of this email. Thank you.