A Request for Prayer

Regular readers of The Texas Songbird will want to know about this. I got an email Tuesday morning from Kyle M, who has guest blogged for me on several occasions over the past several months. His mother-in-law has been fighting cancer for about a year now — one of the things that brought us together, as Shebird has been struggling through the same battle — and he sent me the following note:

Yesterday they had to take Tiffany's mom Ethel back in to the emergency room at MD Anderson, the second visit in a week's time. The fluid that keeps building up in her chest is compressing the lungs, and she has been in a constantly increasing struggle just to breathe. We are still in hopes that she will be accepted for the experimental drug study later this month, but if they cannot do something soon I worry that she may not make it that long.

Please be praying for Ethel, and for the doctors who are treating her.

I got a follow-up note from Kyle a little while ago that she was doing better, and might be going back home as soon as this afternoon. The doctors inserted a catheter in order to better control the fluid build-up, but for the foreseeable future she will need someone to move in with her to help take care of her until she is back on her feet and able to regain some independence again. She is not "out of the woods," but is at least moving in the right direction. Their main concern now is that she gets back enough strength to be able to participate in the new chemo drug test.

I would encourage friends and family alike to be in prayer for Ethel and her family in this time of need.