The latest on Luukas

From his mom:

Luukas had another EEG last Saturday. It showed slight epilepsy so we'll change his medicine again... it gives 50% chance of stopping the attacks. His epilepsy might slow down Luukas' development (which is already affected by his brain damage itself and by his poor eyesight).

Luukas is such a little fighter. When he first got sick about a week after being born the doctors didn't expect him to live. 9 months later he's growing and continually showing signs of improvement. But as you can see he's still has a long way to go and several obstacles to face. Please keep Luukas and all children, born and unborn, in your prayers.

Urgent Prayer Request

From a poster on DCF

Please pray for little Sophia. This little girl, who goes to St. Joseph's School, Boise, has a brain tumor. She is very small for her age 7 -- caused by the tumor apparently. The tumor was discovered last week by doctors who were trying to figure out a cause for her small stature. The tumor is wrapped around her pituitary gland and her optical nerves. They expect that it will take three surgeries to remove the tumor, and she is probably going to lose some or all of her eyesight. The first surgery is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 13. Pass this prayer request on to anyone who is willing to join in prayer for her. Pray for a miracle for Sophia. Pray for her team of surgeons.

Luukas' latest test results

From Luukas' mom:

Soooooooo.....

Luukas' EEG is still highly abnormal, with epileptic spikes so he is still getting medicine. We are now changing his baby-medicine to adult-medicine because he is so "big" already. He has never had an attack but he has some little uncontrolled movements.

Luukas has brain damage, but there are also good cells, even in the cortex. So perhaps I should forget the words of an ICU neurologist in June: "terrible, terrible damage". The lower parts of the brain, the better. Luukas' cerebellum is almost completely untouched, while in June they told us it was squeezed by the swelling in his brain.

Funny thing is that Luukas has much damage in the hearing area of his brain, but his hearing is normal. His eyesight is progressing, although it is still far from perfect, and the vision part of Luukas' brain is not very bad, so in time he might see better and better.

Luukas' current neurologist says she can't say how he will develop, but he will be developing.

Thank you and please continue to pray for Luukas.

Luukas update

From his dad on Jan. 21:

Luukas had a new EEG done yesterday and will have a magnetic brain scan next Monday. We will hear the results on February 5th. He has turned into the happiest of babies lately, talking and laughing most of the time he is awake. He has also got two teeth.

And now then: On February 23rd, we will pack ourselves into a plane and fly to Lourdes with him . This is because a priest friend of ours had been praying the rosary for him and received the idea during prayer. He says he would not say it was his idea in any way. And he isn't one that would be talking things like that all the time. So we hope it was a true sign from heaven, and at least it certainly cannot hurt to go there and pray.

wonderful news

From Luukas' dad:

I think I'm in love with St Lucy.

We went to see the eye doctor today. When she examined Luukas he showed quite clearly that he was fixing his eyes on many different objects and even following them, though only for a short time. Of course his vision is extremely far from perfect, but at least he sees light, wide stripes and movement. And he has great problems in directing his eyes on whatever he wants to look at. Now we have instructions on what to do to help him with all that. The doctor said his vision can only improve from now on, but nobody can say how good it will be. We'll be talking to St Lucy again, I think

Update on Luukas and Rosa

Baby Luukas is going for a vision exam on December 12th.

From Luukas' mom:

On 13 December Luukas has an appointment in the eye clinic in Helsinki. It is the day of St Lucy, the patroness of people with seeing difficulties. I hope this is not a coincidence. Please, join us and pray the following novena from 4 to 12 December, preceding the appointment day. On 6 December, I ask you to say a little prayer to St. Nicolas on his day, too. He is the saint I have been praying to for Luukas' vision the most.

NOVENA TO SAINT LUCY
(For Perfect Vision)

Relying on Your goodness, O God,
we humbly ask You,
through the intercession of Saint Lucy,
virgin and martyr,
to give perfect vision to our eyes,
that they may serve for Your greater honour and glory.

Saint Lucy,
hear our prayers
and obtain our petitions.

Amen

Also, Rosa has been diagnosed with epilepsy. Please keep her in your prayers.

Luukas has a blog! Luukas' Story

Pray the Rosary for Pope Benedict XVI

Join in praying the rosary for Pope Benedict XVI as he prepares for his trip to Turkey on Nov. 28-Dec. 1.

Thanks to Moneybags at A Catholic Life

Feel free to copy this image and post it on your blog.

Luukas and Betuska

Luukas has had test ran on his hearing and eyesight. His parents are awaiting the results. Early indications point to some problems but their severity is not yet known.

I'm also adding Baby Betuska to the "Babies of the World" prayer list. Betuska is being treated in a hospital in Prague. At first it seemed that she was developing allergies to almost every food they tried to give her. Now it seems that she is actually suffering from some type of disease. Her doctors are searching for similar cases to try to figure out treatment. Please add her to your prayers.

Luukas updates

Luukas is battling a virus in his throat. He will be having neurological tests this week. Keep him in your prayers.

Rest in peace little one

After being away from the blogging world for a few days, I am sad to learn that Baby Emmie-Rose whom I wrote about last week has passed on.

Réquiem aetérnam dona eis, Dómine,
et lux perpétua lúceat eis.
Requiéscant in pace. Amen.

A heartbreaking story

Please pay a visit to The Story of Emmie-Rose and ad this child to your prayers.

Basically, it seems that the doctors at U of M have decided that Emmie-Rose is a lost cause and have decided to refuse her both treatment and nourishment. Emmie-Rose has continued to live after they discontinued treatment so now they have decided to starve her to death.

This story reflects so much of what is wrong with society today. Our society has stopped believing in miracles. We have studied our way out of faith.

Our doctors have abandoned the vow of protecting human life and easing the pain of the suffering for a preference to the culture of death. It is cases like this one that are so reminiscent of the Terri Schivo case. I am saddened that our culture has resorted to the inhumane practice of starving those who are deemed "imperfect".

From that limited information made available on the above linked blog it seems that there is little hope for this baby. But, that in now way gives anyone the right to deny this child the basic necessities of life (food, water, and shelter). By virtue of her human dignity this child is entitled to at least these basics. Sadly many in our society have cast aside the notion of human dignity.

Please pray for this family and help spread the word. Both prayer and the blogosphere have accomplished great things. Let's combine these two tools in the fight for life and human dignity.

Luukas' second EEG results

From his dad:

The EEG still showed abnormalities, i.e. slow motion in some parts and solitary spikes everywhere. Those spikes are related to epileptic activity, but the fact that they do not spread to the whole brain cortex (which would cause a seizure) is a positive sign. The neurologist said that these findings are by no means lifelong and permanent, so we will just go on observing the situation and giving a small amount of anti-epileptic medication. On the other hand, she was very pleased with Luukas' progress in movement, reactions and contact with other people. He really showed the best he can by listening and watching toys as well as smiling and "talking" to the toys and to the doctor and physiotherapist. His movements seemed normal for his age. His vision and hearing will be checked in October.

We also happened to meet Rosa with her mother in the hospital, and while she is not as active in contacts as Luukas, she drinks milk from a bottle, keeps her eyes open and understands things that are going on around her.

Please continue to keep Luukas and baby Roosa in your prayers.

Don't forget Luukas in your prayers

From his mom:

Luukas' physical therapy started this week. He has problems with concentrating his eyes on one's face and with following things with his eyes. His eyes also move involuntary.

So far, Luukas has won the biggest fight of his young life, FOR HIS LIFE! Now he needs our prayers in helping him to fight for everything that life has to offer.

Luukas update

Last Thursday Luukas' dad posted some positive news. Since, Luukas' mother has asked for continued prayers as Luukas continues to have some problems breathing. Below is the news from Luukas' dad.

Luukas had an appointment with a neurologist yesterday, and her findings were that there is nothing pathological in his movements apart from a slight anomaly in left eye movement (which, according to her, might just go away as he gets more used to focussing his sight). He was also found to listen and watch things, which we of course already knew. He will start physical therapy twice a week starting next week or the one after. Also, the neurologist said both the EEG and the MRI will have to be re-run because they obviously do not reflect the present situation. Luukas' present dosage of anti-epileptic medicine is about half of what it should be, and he has had no seizures, so there is hope we will be able to stop giving that, too, but it will depend on the new EEG.

This is wonderful news. Luukas is now nearing 3 months of age. When he became ill a week or so after being born the doctors didn't expect him to live more than a few days. When he did, they said he would never show any brain activity. Now his neurologist has confirmed that he is indeed exhibiting brain activity. There have been a lot of people praying for this little guy and there's not much more to say other than, God is good! Please remember Luukas in your prayers.

Prayer request

Growing up in a small town has its benefits. I grew up in one of these "everybody knows everybody" type towns. The next nearest town was even smaller and my grandparents lived there. The one thing my grandparent's town did have was a small public library. I spent a lot of time there as a kid and the librarian, who is a wonderfully kind lady, was very instrumental in encouraging my reading habit.

My mom has been filling in at this particular library for the past few weeks while the librarian has been out with health problems. Mom tells me that her condition is not improving and her doctor has not been able to diagnose the problem. Now she has been sent to another doctor for another round of tests. I would appreciate you taking a moment to lift this wonderful lady up in prayer.

And don't forget to pray for Luukas and relief of suffering in the world.

P.S. In case you were wondering, I didn't get the job that I flew out to the East coast to interview for a couple of weeks ago. I don't like asking for prayers for myself, but I would appreciate any that you offer. I would also take a job if you have the need for a recent college graduate with a Master's degree.

Luukas returns to the hospital

According to his dad Luukas has a mild viral infection in his lungs. He is now in the hospital receiving treatment by way of inhaled medication that can only be administered in the hospital. However, his dad did say that the nurses were overjoyed to see how much Luukas has improved since the last time he left the hospital.

Prayer does make a difference...please include Luukas in yours.

Shock and sorrow

This may be a little off topic for this blog but I wanted to ask you to pray for the families of Paul Eells and Billie J. Burton who were both killed in a two car accident near Russellville, Arkansas late Monday night.

Mr. Eells was the long time "Voice of the Razorbacks" heard by many, many University of Arkansas Razorback fans as he provided play-by-play for Arkansas football radio broadcasts and Arkansas basketball television broadcasts. He was also sports director for KATV Channel 7 in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Mr. Eells was more than just a sports play-by-play guy. He was an extremely nice man who I had the pleasure of meeting just a few months ago. I have heard that he was active in his church and I pray that he is at peace tonight.

Arkansas will miss you Paul and we will miss hearing you say, "TOUCHDOWN ARKANSAS, OH MY!"

I'm back and an update on Luukas

I am back from my trip east. Hopefully, I will know something on the possible job in the next few days.

I was very happy to see this update on Baby Luukas:

From his dad:

Thank you all for your continuing prayers Today we went to see the local midwife with him, and it was a very positive visit. He weighs already 4 kg which means that he has gained 60 g (2+ oz.) a day now that he is fed according to his own appetite, without the tube. The midwife also said that if she had not seen Luukas' papers, she would not suspect anything extraordinary.

The midwife also gave us a very simple picture - a yellow smiling "face" (two black dots as eyes and a black line as the smile) on a red background. Later, we put the picture at his bedside. When DW put him to the bed to sleep, he opened his eyes a bit and apparently saw the picture, because his eyes went wide open and he just stared at the picture for a few minutes, becoming very lively when he had previously been falling asleep. If I am not mistaken and not just imagining this all, it seems like a very sure sign of brain activity. Glory be to God and thank you all for your prayers Please keep up the good work!

Luukas update as promised

From Luukas' dad last Thursday:

Luukas is now officially out of hospital. His feeding tube was taken off today after 36 hours of successful feeding without the tube, which only seems to have increased his appetite. The only medication he continues to get is a medicine that prevents epileptic convulsions. The pediatric doctor checked him today and said that the murmur around his heart has ceased and his liver returned to normal size. He also moves much more and stretches his muscles. Everybody in the hospital was surprised and happy to see the changes in his condition. Of course we do not know how the brain is, though even the doctor seems to have her doubts about the EEG result, but Luukas has an appointment with a neurologist again in the second half of August. Anyway, the doctor mentioned the possibility of him starting to smile which is quite contrary to the earlier predictions (="will never communicate, will never learn anything").

DW is worried about his periodically irregular breathing. We still ask you to pray in this matter and for the complete healing of his brain.

Luukas' parents have also asked for prayers for a baby girl named Roosa that has been in the same hospital with the same disease as Luukas.

A good news update on Baby Luukas

From Luukas' mom:

Dear Friends, we have more good news We are still officially at the hospital, but we took Luukas home for several days and nights unless we need to go back there. Hopefully there will not be such a need and we can stay at home for good.

We see he is improving. He eats from the bottle (seldom the whole meal, but anyway), moves more, breathes better, and the doctor says his heart sounds better than a week ago. Perhaps we have even seen a few miracles? Like the fact that the doctors expected him to die twice and he survived. And the doctors expected him to have breathing problems due to his not being able to cough well and move strongly - and he has less breathing problems, coughs and is stronger than before. Slavo, I think he coughed for the first time after you came to the intensive care unit to give him the holy oil. Thank you, you are a great godfather.

Well, having said all this I still ask and beg you to pray for Luukas. He still doesn't breathe normally, there are some sounds at his heart, and most importantly, no doctor changed their opinion about his brain damage and the decision not to treat his potential major infections is still valid. I hope he will have brain activity, but since the doctors say what they say, it still seems it would have to be a miracle, and perhaps the biggest of all that we have already seen.

So please continue to pray and thank you very much for your prayers!

Search of "Luukas" in the search box in the sidebar for more about this amazing child.