Prayer Request

As some of you may know already, Tim’s cousin (Jill) had a premature baby born back in November and he is currently not doing well. Collin was born one day shy of 26 weeks, at almost two pounds, and while he did well during his first month of life, he started developing complications a week before Christmas. He developed an infection on his main IV line, renal failure and was found to have several blood clots, the most dangerous being in his SVC, a main vein near his heart. He received four doses of tPA, a blood-thinning medication that can be quite dangerous in premature infants. Unfortunately, the medication did not shrink the SVC clot. Last week, they discovered some brain damage indicating that he will have moderate to severe cerebral palsy, and may have some cognitive and behavioral issues in the future. His condition has worsened this week and even though they thought that they were going to lose him on Tuesday, he has managed to pull through. In what may be a last chance effort to save his life, he will be having surgery to attempt to remove his SVC clot. The doctor performing this has only done this procedure on four other babies, none of which were as small as Collin is. His surgery will be tomorrow afternoon at the Cleveland Clinic.

Jill and her husband Mike are wonderful people. Jill has been particularly kind to me in the eight years I’ve known her and she truly feels like my cousin, and not just Tim’s. Since Collin was born, Jill and Mike have spent most of their time at the hospital, and when they are not there, they are with their two year old son, Ian. They are one of the nicest families that I’ve ever met and have shown amazing strength throughout this time.

Whatever you believe in, please send good thoughts their way tomorrow. Collin has a lot of people on his side, but he needs all the prayers he can get. Thank you for listening and blessings to you all.

P.S. - I apologize if I already sent this to you in an email, but like I said, I want as many people praying for him as possible.