Thank You

[Alan]

I would just like to say a big Thank-You in reply to everyone who sent their support and prayers for our second eldest and 24 year old son Karl (alias Kent Walton on the sports board), from the messages on the forum to emails and the P M’s I have received. It has been much appreciated and helped us through this critical time.

Karl is now much better and hopefully he may be home next week. He is not as yet out of danger. This virus attack has left him with an enlarged heart with a large clot in one of its chambers and it is still weak, pumping at well below the normal output. However it is more stable due to the c o cktail of tablets he is now taking.

Apparently with this condition it takes months to work itself out. The heart either gets better or remains the same or it can start to get worse. Treatment could involve a pacemaker or a transplant. This could happen sooner or later. There is also the possibility of sudden death, and of course, he has this clot which could break away and go anywhere causing a stroke, heart attack or a pulmonary embolism

But for now, it is great to see the colour back in his cheeks and to hear him talking like his old self again. We live in the hope that he will make a full recovery.

So once again, many thanks for your support and I hope you all have a great New Year.

Alan

[BABS]

HI ALAN,

WHAT CAN I SAY ,EXCEPT THAT WE ARE ALL PRAYING FOR HIM.

GLAD HE IS CHEERFUL AND A BIT BACK TO HIS OLD SELF AGAIN.

LOVE BABS AND FAMILYX

[wynwilliams]

Alan, l was so glad to see your son is feeling better, hope you soon get him home and all will be good with him. Thinking of you and your family. Love Wynxxx

[tony38337]

Y'know Al,

Prayer & kind thoughts do work. I'm going into year 3 with my knee joint replacement infection, I've just been told it's got to come out for the second time and though I'm very dissapointed I seem to have the resolve from somewhere to just get on with it and I reckon it's all those prayers Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Muslim and at least in one Synagogue all directing prayers and kind thoughts at Agnes Tunstall's little boy, that makes me feel special.

I'm putting you on my list.

Tony T.

[marie fernandes]

Hi Tony, nice to read your words of encouragement to Alan,
I agree with you prayer does help. Similar to yourself my leg has bone infection that is stopping it from healing, but I am only on my second year now. I am not a Catholic, but a believer in prayer, and the hospital and the area I was in India had a very large Christian community. I had many people saying prayers and Novenas for me as they thought I might lose the leg, but thank goodness I am still in one piece, although I have lots of extra metal pieces in me. I dont know really what a Novena entails, but I still have friends who are saying them in churches at home and abroad.

I wish you well with your leg problem, maybe I might be at the same hospital (Hope in Salford) in 2007. I have you. Alan 's son Karl and Babs on my list.

God Bless.
marie

[nannyjoan7]

HI ALAN SORRY I AM A LITTLE LATE BUT MY PRAYES ARE WITH YOU FOR YOUR SON AND HOPE HE MAKES A FULL RECOVERY. I LOST MY DAUGHTER WHEN SHE WAS 34 WHICH WAS 5 YEARS AGO TO CANCER ITS VERY HARD TO HAVE A SICK CHILD BUT I AM VERY GLAD YOUR SON IS ON THE MEND GOD BLESS JOAN

[tony38337]

Hi Marie,

A novenat is a particular prayer or set of prayers that are said at particular repetetive times, one I remember from childhood was what we Catholics called "A novena to Our Lady" this entailed saying a decade of the rosary each day at the same time and if I remember rightly for a month. Pre Vatican II there used to be lots of novenas another I remember was a novena to St. Jude, he of course is the patron Saint of lost causes, I understand that they are not restricted to the Roman Catholics either my friends tell me they have simmilar in the Hindu faith. I remember reading a pamphlet by a priest on novenas and burned in my brain is his description of the effectiveness of them. He described each one that he reviewed in terms of efficacious in varying degrees, that being a little used word made it soun odd to me but I couldn't think of a better one, in fact I could do with a very efficacious one right now. That word you mentioned was also mentioned at my last clinic "Amputation" one that I dreaded hearing as in my case it would be above the knee, but (thank God) I'm not there yet. My date with the surgeon is "Early January" at the Royal Hants County Hosp. So if I don't put in any appearance then you know where I am.


Have a great New Year.

Tony T.

[Lisa]

Hi Tony, Love reading your eloquent postings and they are most informative. Good luck to you soon for your hospital appointment, I hope all goes well with you Tony and we'll all be sending you our thoughts and love for the right outcome. If you can let us know if and when you are going in, we can all send some positive thoughts your way. Good luck, Tony.

[tony38337]

Thanks Lisa, all warm thoughts welcome.

Tony T

[marie fernandes]

:)Hi Tony, thanks for the info on Novenas, very interesting. My husband would know about them but our differing faiths doesnt come up in conversation.(He is baptised Catholic but like me he has a strong faith but is a bit lapsed with his attendance at church) I know he has been going off to church, especially over the Christmas period and saying a few prayers. You will be in our thoughts over the coming year. So glad you are thinking POSITIVE, that's what all my friends tell me to do, when I start getting depressed, but it's easier said than done when you have to keep attending hospital every three weeks. But it's true that you always come across someone who is worse off than yourself healthwise. So pleased that Alan's son has improved and hope that he will be home soon.

What a dumdum am I, ::)thinking you would be attending a Lancashire hospital, I forget sometimes that you are in Hampshire and that most of the friends on MM are scattered far and wide. Hope 2007 is going to be good for you as I am sure it will be. As Lisa said in her post dont forget to let us know if and when you go in hospital. Are you still keeping up with your gourrmet cooking?

Bye for now
marie

[tony38337]

Hi All,
A funny thing about lapsed Catholics. In my effort to try and understand some of the cruel attitudes of the nuns (In whos loving care I was placed age 11) I read very seriously a lot of very deeply theological and historical material and I very quickly came to this conclusion. Eusebius Pamphillus and Josephus Flavious both recorded Christianity as far as it was established (One about 30 years AD and the other about 60 - 100 years AD) One of the most striking things was that they both gave an opinion on the same event. One called it the Jewish war the other called it the Roman war, the moral of the tale is that it depends on your standpoint. As part of that search for knowlege I drifted away from the Church and considered several beliefs Eileen & I were originally married at the Cross St. Chapple Unitarian Church where I had described myself as an ex Catholic, and later a Unitarian Minister said to me that there is no such thing as an ex Catholic. I can honestly say that I have found that to be true. I chuckle about it from time to time.

Tony t

[fluffymoat4]

Just wanted to say a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone for their Happy Birthday wishes.
I've had a lovely day - hubby presented me with an IPOD Nano (I can store music and photos on it) and our son bought me (with his own money) four garden ornaments - two huge boot planters and two smaller nodding snails. I can't wait to make room for them in our garden. I then got taken out shopping for my very fave thing - another new pair of shoes! This was after we'd attended our optician appointments. Unfortunately for hubby we both needed new glasses and mine cost just shy of £300!! I was going to go out for a drink with him tonight but I've just heard my mum hasn't been well so I am going to type her out a nice newsy letter and enclose some recent photos in the hopes it will cheer her up.
Your messages really cheered me up (that and the eleven cards I received in the post). I am truly blessed...!

PS hubby presented me with a Birthday cake just before he left for the pub (no candles LOL). Lovely chocolate cake - won't be tempted until tomorrow - honest!

PPS thanks for all the Personal Messages wishing me a Happy Birthday too...!

[lin]

HI MO...GLAD YOU HAD SUCH A LOVELY DAY FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY, AND IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU HAD LOTS OF LOVELY GIFTS AND CARDS AS WELL.
I RECENTLY GOT NEW GLASSES MYSELF, THEY COST JUST OVER £300, ALSO THE EYE TEST, SO I KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN ESPECIALLY IF BOTH OF YOU NEED THEM.
I HOPE YOUR MUM GETS WELL SOON.

BEST WISHES

LIN