Prayers Needed

Here is the update today on Kristi Walker. Please be in prayer during this critical time and pray the the Lord will heal Kristi's liver so that she can continue on with cancer treatments.

"Chuck, Anne and Mike met with Dr. Graham last nite for 2.5 hours to discuss Kristi's status. Dr. Graham confirmed the obvious that Kristi is in a critical condition and needs the care of ICU where she will remain for the foreseeable future. We reviewed the CT scan that showed her liver and other organs. Good news is that her heart, lung, and kidneys are healthy. Fluid is present outside lungs, but doesn't seem to have gotten back into the lungs. Docs seem to have gotten crazy blood sugar counts and sodium counts in improved ranges and stablilzed.

The troubling news that has been apparent with recent trends is that the liver is not functioning properly. This is evidenced by fluid accumulation in the abdomen and chest area and by lab reports. We have all been troubled by billirubin counts that were escalating. Other numbers indicating liver function have been more stable and in some cases slightly improved so that all indicators aren't trending negatively, but there is clearly a significant issue with the liver. The scan shows scars evidencing locations where tumor had been located but was no longer present. There were no signs of masses of tumor, but from the beginning, the tumor in her liver has been diffused internally and not been indicated by more typical masses that could be seen on the scan. We just don't know if that tumor continues diffused within the liver. Because of low platelets and Kristi's overall condition, the normal biopsy to determine presence of tumor is not an option. Bottom line is that the problems with the liver function are significant and need to improve.

Dr. Graham will be running a count on cancer cells in the blood to determine if the cancer is active and running through the body. Results of that report will be available by end of week or Monday. Please pray as that will be an important indicator in decisions for future care.

Dr. Graham believes that the next one to three weeks will be critical to determine if liver function will improve. If he doesn't see an improvement in that function within that time frame, he will likely recommend that treatment of the tumor cease as the liver will apparently not be able to recover its function. It is very clear that Kristi's liver was significantly damaged by tumor at the time the cancer was discovered. The good news about the liver is that it is the organ best able to regenerate itself, but Dr. Graham is not seeing signs of that regeneration at this time.

Our prayer request is for the liver to start to function properly and to regenerate damaged areas. We have a very short time to see that improvement or the medical folks will have no choice but to determine that improvement will not occur and that further medical solutions will not be available. The ability to treat is now limited by very low platelet counts. Please pray for those platelet counts to increase so that full treatments of chemo may be given to her to attack the cancer in her body. Also pray for Kristi to feel better. She is very sick with a lot of complications that cause her to feel pretty lousy or to simply sleep a lot. We all want her to be able to be awake without severe pain so she can spend time with her family.

We know that God is good no matter what happens with liver reports or platelet counts. We praise Him for a caring doctor who has once again decided against advice of others that he should continue treatment of Kristi. We praise Him for the additional time in which we can join with all of you in lifting her up for healing. We praise Him for the tremendous love that has been shown to Kristi by a community of friends and strangers around the country. God is continuing to love her more than any of us could ever hope to love her and we praise Him for the promise that His plans for her and for each of us are greater than we could ever imagine. Thanks to all of you for your fervent prayers at this critical time for Kristi."