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KackyK
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| Posted: Sept 13 2007 at 4:07pm | IP Logged
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Here is another update I received from another prayer group about baby Natasha...keep praying!!!
Dear Friends and Family;
Just a quick update. We are on our way to the hospital.
Children's Hospital in Philadelphia got back to us today. They said they cannot do surgery on Natasha's veins and recommended using a catheterization procedure to try and reduce the pressure on her lungs. This would allow her to grow stronger and healthier and allow more options to open up for her.
Our cardiologist has also sent her data to Children's Boston, Stanford, and Columbia. We are waiting to see the outcome there.
Meanwhile she is stable. My parents just got here from India - they will be here a while to help with the family while we decide on next steps. It is wonderful to have them and Zita's mom here.
We continue to put our trust and hope in the Lord. We thank Him for keeping her stable and allowing us to explore new paths with the best doctors in the world. On the anniversary of 9/11 we are very grateful to this great country that makes this possible. We prayed yesterday for all the victims of 9/11 and also asked them to join us and our friends on earth in praying for Natasha.
Thank you so much for your prayers.
God Bless, Zita and Colin, Aaron, Andrew, Marc, Katrina, and Natasha
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KackyK
Mom to 8 - 3 dd, 5ds & 4 babes in heaven
Beginning With the Assumption
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Jane Ramsey
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| Posted: Sept 13 2007 at 4:29pm | IP Logged
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Praying for Natasha!
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onemoretracy
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Prayers for baby Natasha
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Tracy
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Rebecca
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Praying for this little one.
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nissag
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| Posted: Sept 15 2007 at 11:23pm | IP Logged
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I'm offering fervent prayers for this little one. Blessed Teresa, pray for this baby. Please beg the Lord our God to heal this child for His glory, if it be His Holy Will.
She's absolutely gorgeous.
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Nissa
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KackyK
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| Posted: Sept 18 2007 at 8:59pm | IP Logged
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Here is another update on Natasha...
Dear Family and Friends;
Just wanted to let you know what's happening with Natasha.
She is doing well, she is very stable – her stats are good, she is feeding well, her face is filling out, and she wriggles with great vigor especially when she needs to be burped. Her cardiologist is very pleased because this gives him time to get all the opinions in before deciding on next steps. We firmly believe that her stable condition is a result of all your prayers. Just as she has touched so many people all over the world, Natasha has tugged at the heart strings of her nurses and doctors. Her cardiologist says – "people from all over are coming to see her – her grandparents from India and Canada and aunts and uncles from several states and Canada, nothing but the best for Natasha".
We started off by getting bad news one piece at a time day after day. God knew in His mercy that we would not have been able to handle everything at once. But in the last 10 days the news has started getting more and more positive. We'd love to get everything all taken care off at once, but God has a plan for her and He leads us in faith one baby step at a time.
Meanwhile He has put so many people in our path whose strong faith in the face of terrible adversities is something we are trying to learn from. One of them is a 13 year old boy from our parish who battled stage IV cancer for 10 years with tremendous courage. In the last days of his life our pastor blessed him with a relic of the holy cross that contained slivers of the true cross on which Christ was crucified. This young boy reached out and embraced it before dying on Sept 11 last week. As Mother Teresa was fond of saying our crosses are gentle caresses from God.
As we mentioned before Children's Hospital in Philadelphia has said that at this point they cannot do a surgery to correct Natasha's pulmonary veins, but are ready to admit her and do a catheter procedure to reduce the pressure on her lungs. If the procedure is successful it will allow her to grow some more at which point other options may open. Children's Hospital in Boston will be discussing her case on Tuesday and Stanford will be doing the same on Wednesday. So, by Thursday we should have all the opinions in and be able to decide on next steps. Please pray for the enormously gifted doctors who are looking at her case and that our cardiologist will guide us on the right course for Natasha.
We are strengthened by your constant prayers, your optimism, and your loving concern. So many families have told us how they were coming together as a family to pray for Natasha. I heard somewhere it takes three weeks to form a good habit, it has been nearly 3 weeks since Natasha was born, so hopefully the family tradition of praying together will continue no matter the outcome.
Thanks again.
God Bless
Zita and Colin, Aaron, Andrew, Marc, Katrina and Natasha
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KackyK
Mom to 8 - 3 dd, 5ds & 4 babes in heaven
Beginning With the Assumption
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KackyK
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| Posted: Sept 24 2007 at 11:14am | IP Logged
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Here is another update from Natasha's father...be sure to read it all (it is long)...but you have to read to the end to hear how the Pope will hear about her soon 
Dear Friends and Family;
We have heard back from Boston and Stanford. Boston recommended doing several procedures to relieve the pressure on the lungs, very similar to Childrens Hospital, Philadelphia (CHOP). They did not think that surgically correcting the pulmonary veins was an option.
Stanford however believes they can correct the veins – disconnect them from the liver and connect to the heart. This is obviously a very complex procedure.
Our cardiologist believes at this point the pulmonary veins draining into the liver are not a major problem, and we should try other, less invasive options suggested by CHOP first. If they are able to stabilize Natasha and she grows a few months, surgery would have a better success factor.
As of last night both options were viable, but today Natasha after continuously improving over the last 3 weeks had a bit of a setback. She threw up last night, and her breathing has got faster which confirmed our prior decision. Her doctor is even more convinced that CHOP is a better option than trying to go cross country in a pressurized cabin.
Please pray hard for her – she is a fighter but it was difficult seeing her having to breathe so hard, hopefully they can bring the breathing down soon. None of the doctors in Boston, Philadelphia, or Stanford have ever seen a case like hers before. They have seen cases where blood drains from either the right or left side to the liver and in most cases, the veins are not obstructed, so the child can grow normally until surgery is done. In Natasha's case the blood drains from both sides. No one has ever seen a case like hers before, but our doctor thinks her veins are unobstructed as in the normal one-sided case which is hopeful.
So, for those of you'll praying for a miracle, this would be a whopper!
As far as medical options go, our cardiologist is hoping that the less invasive procedures done at CHOP will succeed in reducing the pressure to the lungs allowing her to grow bigger before trying to correct the veins draining to the liver.
The doctors at CHOP are amongst the best in the world. She will be in great hands there. If anyone can reduce the lung pressure medically, it would be them. Then, at a later time we could get her to Stanford if necessary.
One the faith front, we'd like to share a story about a good friend of ours who has been a tremendous help. Her son had a serious condition that even the doctors at CHOP, skilled as they are, could not find a cure after a year of trying. Our friend and her family had a once in a lifetime opportunity to have a private audience with the late John Paul II. He saw the photo of their son, the grief of his mother, and prayed for the baby. That very day they got a call from the doctors saying they had an idea for a cure. More than 10 years later, the baby, now robust boy is doing great. Our friend had told us to see if there was anyway we could have Pope Benedict pray for Natasha. We thought it impossible. There was no way we could go to Rome given Natasha's condition, and even if we did, getting an audience with the Pope would be next to impossible.
But today, Natasha had a new nurse Ann Elizabeth who never works the NICU floor and was wondering why she had been called to work there. When she saw she was assigned to work with Natasha she knew why. She prayed for her, and out of the blue told us that she was invited by a close friend on a trip to Rome that included a private audience with Pope Benedict. Her friend has incredible faith which has seen her through suffering beyond human comprehension. She lost her first husband and 3 year old twins (her only children) in a car accident 17 years ago, then after remarrying years later the person who helped her work through her grief, lost him in a bomb blast in Iraq three years ago.
Without being asked, or even knowing the story of our friend's son Ann said she was going to take a photo of Natasha with her own camera, blow it up, and take it to Rome to show to the Pope ands ask for his prayers on October 5 th. What a blessing to have the Vicar of Christ praying for our little daughter.
Well – we are off to Philadelphia tomorrow. We don't know what we will face tomorrow, but believe that God has a plan for Natasha as He has for each one of us, and is only unfolding one tiny portion of the plan at a time, leaving us with no clue on what to expect next, keeping us wholly dependent on His love and mercy.
Thanks so much for all your prayers that are keeping us following the path in hope and faith. We will keep you posted on progress.
God Bless, Zita and Colin, Aaron, Andrew, Marc, Katrina and Natasha
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KackyK
Mom to 8 - 3 dd, 5ds & 4 babes in heaven
Beginning With the Assumption
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KackyK
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| Posted: Sept 24 2007 at 8:43pm | IP Logged
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Another short update from today in fact...
From Colin DeSa:
Dear Family and Friends;
Just a very short update since Natasha may be headed to the catherization lab at any minute.
Natasha was transferred to Children's Hospital in Philadelphia on Saturday. The transfer went very smoothly - she slept through it all.
Zita and I and my parents drove up after she left. Zita and I are settled in, my parents stayed the weekend and now are back in Virginia to help Zita's mom with the other children. Zita's sister stayed with us all last week and was a great help with the kids. Its great to be a part of big families on both sides especially in times like this.
Natasha has settled in fine at CHOP. Her oxgen levels are good, her breathing which had been a bit fast at the end of last week has come down.
She is going to be taken in for a cath procedure where they will study her anatomy in detail. The doctors also plan to do certain procedures to reduce the pressure on the lungs, probably during the cath. Since her case is very complicated and there are several possible contributing factors that could cause the pressure, we are praying hard that they are guided to pick the right one for her. She is in good hands. Her doctor - Dr. Rome is the head of the cath lab and is very experienced.
So this afternoon will be critical for her. If they are successful in reducing the pressure she has a good chance of growing older and stronger. Please pray hard for her.
Thanks again for all your prayers. They are giving us a lot of peace and keeping Natasha stable.
Got to go now. God Bless, Zita and Colin, Aaron, Andrew, Marc, Katrina and Natasha
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KackyK
Mom to 8 - 3 dd, 5ds & 4 babes in heaven
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momwise
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I just started the novena...thanks for the updates.
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Philothea
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Oh, I just saw this -- I will pray!
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KackyK
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| Posted: Sept 28 2007 at 5:55am | IP Logged
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Here is another update....
From Colin DeSa:
Dear Family and Friends;
Natasha's cath procedure got done late yesterday evening, then we spent an hour talking to a cardiologist who laid out all the different possible options. So by the time we got out of the hospital it was 9 pm. Sorry for the time it took to send out this update.
She is recovering from the cath. They did some minor procedures - coiled the collateral vessels near the descending aorta - which helped, but not appreciably reduce the pressure on the lung. But the cath gave them ideas on other possible options including surgery (if the head surgeon thinks it is feasible) to repair the veins. However,the doctors are not going to make any decisions on next steps until they talk to the head of pediatric surgery who is in China and will only be back on Monday. He is one of the best surgeons in the world so it is worth the wait and this also gives the doctors more chances to observe her and discuss her case. The good news is that CHOP has some of the top cardiologists and surgeons in the world and they all are very interested in Natasha's case which is so unique. Needless to add, being the test case that makes history is not where we'd like to be :-).
Meanwhile the cardiologist did tell us last night her heart is pumping strongly against the pressure and getting enough blood to the rest of her body which is keeping her stable. Also, she has an amazing anatomy that is compensating for some of the problems and enabling her to live. She has a large strong heart muscle that is really helping her. Our little princess has a big heart and strong will to live - through the strength of your prayers she is doing everything she can to give the doctors time.
Meanwhile she continues to touch many hearts. We get email from so many people whom she has touched. We love the emails and are very sorry we cannot reply to all of them.
We continue to be humbled by the concern and love shown to us and by the heroic generosity we encounter. Family members have rallied around us - Zita's mom has put on her superhero cape for the umpteenth time, my parents have flown in from India and are a tremendous pillar of strength - they overcame jetlag, a painful sciataic nerve, and their own emotions to minister to us and the children. My brothers came in from all over the States the first weekend after they found out, and along with my sister in India have become veritable experts in the human heart :-). Each time I tried to describe her very complex anatomy to one of my brothers he not only knew all about what I was talking about before I could finish a statement, but was able to describe the connections in the heart connected to the area I was describing, the surgical techniques used to correct them, and the success rates, including the optimum age of the baby for surgery, and he is a civil engineer by profession! Several of Zita's family members also came to visit as soon as they found out and one of her sisters took a week off work to help with the family diving into chores, cooking up a storm, using her very clear thinking skills to help us evaluate options, and doing all kinds of fun activities with the kids while we were gone.
We were stunned to see the head of our children's school board yesterday right when we were waiting for Natasha's cath results. We were able to talk and pray together for nearly an hour. When Natasha had her first cath at 2 days of age our school principal's husband was somehow able to track us down outside the cath lab in Fairfax after wandering around the hospital looking for us not even knowing she was undergoing a cath. Friends from school bring in meals, many other friends from church keep an eye on our parents, help run grocery errands, offer to drive our kids to Philly, and help in countless other ways.
We are staying at the Ronald MacDonald house in Philadelphia. It is a converted mansion owned by the founder of the newspaper that became the Philadelphia Enquirer. We've never seen some much of rich maple and oak panelling, carved fireplaces and 12 foot ceilings in our lives! It is staffed mainly by volunteers who are amazing. Different groups from all over cook delicious dinners for the residents, and you can feel the love in the house.
Zita was joking that this experience had enabled us to experience faith and hope and now we're seeing the last and most important virtue - charity, also known as love.
I'll end this with some good news. Natasha was put on a special feeding schedule to help her grow fast and she put on nearly 3/4 pound last night increasing her weight to almost 7 pounds. Her cheeks have filled out, and she has the longest eyelashes.
Thanks again for all the prayers, love and concern.
Zita and Colin, Aaron, Andrew, Marc, Katrina, and Natasha
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KackyK
Mom to 8 - 3 dd, 5ds & 4 babes in heaven
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Eleanor
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I just saw this on Saturday night, right after our little girl (born the day after Natasha) was transferred to Stanford in preparation for her own heart surgery. We're all praying for her "heart sister." If they do decide to bring Natasha out here, we would be glad to help in any way possible.
BTW, our girls are called Natalie and Catherine -- almost the same names as Katrina and Natasha, just in a different order!
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Chari
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Natasha is close in my prayers.
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Cardiologists are operating on baby Natasha today (Oct 4) - please pray for her. Our homeschool group is saying Chaplets for her. Please join us if you can.
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Marilyn
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Maryan
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Prayers here.
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Maryan
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nissag
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We're praying here at our house, too. Anxious for an update.
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Nissa
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Ruth
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We'll keep praying for a miracle.
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Ruth
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Philothea
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Praying for baby Zita ... I know they are in Philly right now, but is there anything we locals can do for them? I know the community has really rallied around them, but if they still need anything, I'd like to help.
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Natasha has been in surgery today (Oct 8) - they just finished and the family is begging for prayers - it appears that she is struggling and may not make it through the night.
Please keep praying for a miracle. And for her parents.
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Marilyn
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nissag
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Praying Marilyn! Please keep us posted if you can.
So much to go through... Mother of God, pray for us!
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Nissa
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4Real Forums : We Pray to the Lord
Topic: Urgent prayers for Natasha - Final Update
