3/30/2007 Afternoon update

And two steps back. Annie came home this afternoon on a 4 hr. pass, and she returned a about 5 pm in an ambulance. She had a seizure at home and was slow to come out of it so we had to call 911. This is a long road for Annie with many difficulties to overcome. We appreciate you keeping her in your prayers. God Bless. Paul

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not.
In all your ways be mindful of him, and He will make straight your paths."
-Proverbs 3:5-6

3/30/2007 mid-day update

We saw the doctors this morning and they said that the liver indicators are a bit better than yesterday, indicating that the medicine they changed yesterday is helping to restrain the rejection episode. They seemed optomistic that they are on top of the situation. We got the sense today that Annie may have another week at the hospital as they work all of these things through.

Today the docters also gave Annie a 4-hr. day pass for this afternoon, so she will be comming home around 1 pm for a couple of hours. It has been 16 days since Annie went into the hospital, so it will be great for her to get out for a couple of hours and get some fresh air and come home.

Thank you all so much for all of your love and support of Annie and of us. It has carried us all through the tough times. God Bless

Paul

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not.
In all your ways be mindful of him, and He will make straight your paths."
-Proverbs 3:5-6

03/30 Peace Annie!

Annie-Post surgery!
Isn't she just the cutest girl you ever did see?!

WE LOVE YOU Annie!
Continue to be strong and seek comfort, peace, hope, and love in our AWESOME God!

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not.
In all your ways be mindful of him, and He will make straight your paths."
-Proverbs 3:5-6

3/29/2007 mid-day update

And one step back. The day started out with the word that Annie would get a 4-hour pass to get out of the hospital. It is one of the nicest days we have seen in a long time, and we were looking forward to driving home and stopping by a beach. Then the nurse came in and said the morning blood work results were of a concern, with liver parameters going from 40 to in the 600s, a sign of problems with the liver. So they took Annie to have an ultrasound of the liver to see if there was a blood flow blockage, found none - good news. Now she is scheduled for a liver biopsey this afternoon. Annie recieves a general anesthetic, and then a long needle is used to collect liver tissue for examinaton. It is a short proceedure, with very little pain and a quick recovery. With that information they will go after the problem. Right now it looks like Annie may be experiencing a rejection episode. If so she will likely be treated with heavy doses of steroids.

We appreciate you keeping Annie in your prayers. Thank you

Paul

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not.
In all your ways be mindful of him, and He will make straight your paths."
-Proverbs 3:5-6

3/28/2007 Evening Update

Progress continues with two steps forward and then one step back, then two steps foward. Last night Annie was quite restless and did not fall asleep until about 1:30 am, feeling depressed and sad and worried. And after 1:30 her sleep was restless and she was up by 7 am, still a bit depressed. It seems that she is experiencing some of the side effects associated with the anti-rejection medicines, including high doses of steroids. The good news is that they will cut the steroid dose in half tomorrow, and that should diminishe some of the side effects.

Right now one of the best medicines for Annie is visitors. She had several today and she held up well and they picked up her spirits. She looks forward to seeing all of you.

Another issue for Annie is nutrition. The doctors want her to get at least 2,000 calories per day but Annie does not have any appetite. Yesterday they were talking about having to put a feeding tube down her nose into her stomach if she did not start getting more calories. So today she tried a nutrition drink that has 600 calories per serving! And much to her amazement she liked it! So she had 4 servings today (2,400 calories) and it looks like she has avoided the feedint tube, great news!

We met with the pharmasist today and the transplant coordinator. There is considerable teaching of information that Annie has to understand before she is discharged. She even has to take a quiz on her many medications to "graduate" out of here. I guess you just can't get away from school.

Today they told us that for the first month Annie has to be especially carefull about exposure to germs, and she will have to stay closer to home, but then she will be gradually able to go out more. For the first year especially she will have to be vigilent about exposure. So when you come to visit, always make sure you clean your hands with the Purell before you come into her room. We will have lots of Purell at home for you to use once she is there.

We can't begin to describe how greatful we are for all of you love, your support, and your prayers. The last two weeks have been a real rollercoaster and the support has been so amazing, and so important. God continues to bless Annie and us, and I know He is blessing each and every one of you as well, for when we draw near to Him, He draws near to us!

God bless all of you. Paul

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not.
In all your ways be mindful of him, and He will make straight your paths."
-Proverbs 3:5-6

3/27 'Visitors welcome'

~Annie has had a great day today!

So great that she is now looking forward to seeing her friends. Please see the visitor guidelines message posted on 3/26. As previously mentioned, it's best to call Children's Hospital before you visit.

~Enjoy your visit with Annie!

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not.
In all your ways be mindful of him, and He will make straight your paths."
-Proverbs 3:5-6

3/27 His peace prevails

Dear Friends:

Thank you one and all for your powerful prayers for Annie and her family. Early last evening Annie was symptomatically moving a direction of uncertainty. Paul and Jane were concerned that Annie was escalating towards seizures again. But once again Our awesome Lord met Annie at her moment of need.

In talking with Jane and Paul their understanding is that Annie's episode last evening could have been caused by a wheat intolerance. Annie reacted to wheat prior to her transplant and could still be very sensitive to wheat. Yesterday as they are encouraging Annie to eat more, Annie ate several foods containing wheat. And Annie, being the teenager that she is, prefers to eat mainly carbs!

Jane said that nutrition will be the key to Annie's recovery. Ideally they are hoping to have Annie consume around 2000 calories a day so that she can gain some weight and build her strength back.

So we continue to pray for all of Annie's needs, her mind, body, and soul.

With gratitude to all of you, ~prayer warriors.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not.
In all your ways be mindful of him, and He will make straight your paths."
-Proverbs 3:5-6

3/26 Prayers please ...

Dear Friends:

A message just came from Paul asking for prayers for Annie. All we know at this point is that her seizures have come back. Trusting God the Father as He has shown us time and time again; He is with Annie always and especially in her time of need.

...at this time it would be only speculative to comment on Annie's current condition. Let us all turn to the best counselor and healer....

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not.
In all your ways be mindful of him, and He will make straight your paths."
-Proverbs 3:5-6

3/26/2007 - Annie is out of ICU!

Annie was transferred out of the ICU this afternoon and is now on the surgical floor (Giraffe 4), which means she can have visitors. Amazing, amazing grace! The new liver is doing very well, as are her kidneys and heart. Her spirits are very good, many smiles. The tasks ahead for the week are to get her anti-rejection medicines stabilized, get her appetite back and start eating, and rebuild her strength and stamina. She has lost about 15 pounds from her pre-surgery weight

There are several people asking when they can come see Annie. And she is very excited about having visitors and seeing her friends. We just need to keep in mind that Annie does not yet have much strength, gets tired easy, and has quite a bit of recovery to do. So we want to make sure we don't overwhelm her with visitors, and came up with the following guidelines for visiting Annie. If you would please pass these on to others who might be interested in coming up, it would help us a lot.

1. Be Healthy: Annie’s immune system is suppressed to protect the liver against rejection, so she could easily get sick if exposed. So we would like to limit the visitors to people who are healthy. No colds, sneezing, coughing, flu or sickness please. If you have to sneeze or cough while in the room, please cover your mouth and then immediatly clean your hands (see below).

2. Clean Hands. Just outside of Annie's room is a dispenser of Purell. Please take some and sanitize your hands with Purell before coming into the room. Hands are a major way to transmit germs and the Purell is a great way to protect Annie. And I know that you may want to give Annie a big hug, but no hugs for now because we need to be careful that we don't expose her to any germs.

3. Odd Hours: Annie is still weak and we would like to limit visiting to during the odd hours of the day: 11am, 1pm, 3pm, 5pm and 7 pm. That way she will have the even hours of the day to rest, and for medical care.

4. Be Short: Keep the visits short, say about 20 minutes for now. I know it would be easy to stay and visit longer with Annie, she is such a great gal, but we don't want to tire her out. As Annie gets stronger we will let you know and the stays can be longer.

5. Small Groups: Let’s not overwhelm her. Keep the groups small, say 2 to 3 people, 4 people max. And if you are thinking of coming up, consider having another person come with you that also wants to see Annie. It would be better for her to visit with two people at the same time rather than have two seperate visits, to help keep her strength up. If you can't find anyone, then come by yourself!

6. Call Ahead: It would be a good idea to call ahead to make sure there is not someone else coming at the time you are planning. The phone number for Children’s is 206 987-2000. Ask for Annie's room and they will patch you through.

Paul Fuglevand

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not.
In all your ways be mindful of him, and He will make straight your paths."
-Proverbs 3:5-6

3/25/2007 Update by Jane

Sunday morning and Annie is still in ICU and will remain there until tomorrow. She had a potassium spike yesterday which they moved on quickly to bring down before it could affect her heart. They loaded her up with lots more medicines and watched her blood levels every 1/2 hour from 3:00 pm until late evening. She still is sleeping only off and on during the night. She can still be pretty jittery at times- one of the medicines they gave her during the worst of times her body has basically become addicted to and they are trying to reduce it gradually. She is in good spirits and so cooperative with everything. She just doesn't complain. I'm really proud of her. We've been so well taken care of - with the transportation for my mom and dad to/from the hospital and meals - things have gone smoothly here at home. I got my first good night sleep last night so I'm feeling so much better today. Paul has been covering the nights and I do the days with my mom and dad coming in during the day for 4 hours and Ben coming in in the late afternoon/evening to help Paul out. I can't tell you all thank you enough for your support and prayers.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not.
In all your ways be mindful of him, and He will make straight your paths."
-Proverbs 3:5-6

3/24/2007 Update by Jane & Paul

Friday night Annie got to sleep around 3:30 am and slept until 8:00 am but it seems like we are starting to come out of the worst part. It's been an extremely rough road but yet better than what it could have been given all the potential scenarios. She actually had a good day and just seemed to smile all day long. I think she's beginning to believe that she's going to make it. I can't tell you how good it is to have her back. The drugs affected her mind in such a way that she went through an acute psychosis for a few days and was convinced she was either dying or someone was going to steal her liver. We couldn't convince her otherwise. She had a number of seizures one night and that really frightened us and the drs. We are hopeful that those were drug induced and not indicative of any brain pathology. She hasn't had one in over 24 hours. She had a partially collapsed lung and pulmonary edema and that was another scare. It really has only been today that we feel like we can begin to hope that she's going to be ok. Up until this time it's been very tense and unpredictable. Today she can't seem to hug us enough and she's been asking a million and one questions and she's been apologizing to the nurses for thinking they were the bad guys who were conspiring to steal her liver. It's just been so great to see.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not.
In all your ways be mindful of him, and He will make straight your paths."
-Proverbs 3:5-6

3/25 An Annie update

Dear Friends,

I will pass onto you today the current Annie update restating an earlier message this morning from Jane; Annie's awesome Mom.

Annie will be staying a little longer in ICU. Yesterday afternoon Annie's potassium level spiked. The doctors moved on it quickly to bring it down before it could affect her heart. They are watching her levels every 1/2 hour and keeping a close eye on Annie and her response to the medications that she is taking. Annie has been sleeping off and on, they are hoping today she'll be able to rest better.

Annie's in good spirits and is so cooperative with everything, and all with no complaints. The care that she has received at Children's has been excellent.

Yesterday Annie mentioned that she would like everyone to know how thankful she is for all of your prayers. They mean so much to her and to her family.

Enjoy today~ The Lord's day as we continue to pray and praise Him for His continued healing of our dear Annie.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not.
In all your ways be mindful of him, and He will make straight your paths."
-Proverbs 3:5-6

03/24 It just keeps getting better and better...

Dear Friends of Annie,

It has been 9 days since Annie's transplant & our Anna Margaret is doing just fabulous (how can she not?!) Our spirits are high today because Annie gets to be moved out of the ICU to spend a hopefully short time on the regular hospital floor. Annie has had a grin on her face for the past 2 days and is non-stop miss chatty! She wants to know all thats happened and hears of all of your prayers and is thankful for each and every one of them and each one of you!

She is still very weak and her immune system is extremely sensitive. They are trying to little by little get Annie to eat to build up her strength, but besides that her progress is MIRACULOUS!!! She is very happy and already feeling better. Her coloring is already getting back to "normal" and her eyes, which were yellow, are now white and bright blue! Annie has a mirror in her bed and will once in a while just check herself out:) She is happy with how great she looks and we all know how pretty Annie is.. she is goregous (on the inside & out!)

She has truly conquered this mountain in her life and we just praise God for the strength given to Annie by Him in order for her to reach the peak of this mountain. Our spirits are high and our faith still burning. Continue to pray that her body just keeps accepting this new liver and that with each day she regains her strength.

God bless you all!

Dictionary.com definition: MIRACLE-
1.an effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause.
2.such an effect or event manifesting or considered as a work of God.
3.a wonder; marvel.

Our God is an awesome God who only does awesome things!

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not.
In all your ways be mindful of him, and He will make straight your paths."
-Proverbs 3:5-6

03/23 Memories

Annie got a very restfull sleep last night and today they are going to get her up in a chair and hopefully start giving her food! So the progress looks good and just keep those prayers coming.

We want to invite you all to comment whenever/wherever you want, but also to share a funny memory or story you had with Annie so that when Annie is able to look back at this website, she can see all of your stories, as we informed you of her story.

So please whenever you can, check these updates on her progress but also leave Annie some love! Thanks & God bless.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not.
In all your ways be mindful of him, and He will make straight your paths."
-Proverbs 3:5-6

03/22 Lifting Annie and her family in prayer

Dear Friends,

I ask you all today to continue to lift our dear Annie and her family in prayer. As the previous messages indicate, Annie is healing and responding beautifully. But in her journey of healing there are still many transitions and responses that are taking place.

Let us today ask God the Father to be close to Annie and her family. To be present with them like never before. He knows Annie and her needs. Let us turn to Him today with hope, gratitude, and with confidence that only He can provide.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not.
In all your ways be mindful of him, and He will make straight your paths."
-Proverbs 3:5-6

03/21 Our dear Annie...

Dear Friends of Annie,

Annie continues to make great strides physically. Annie's heart, kidneys, and liver are all strongly functioning. One of the things that the nurses are encouraging Annie to do is to cough. For Annie coughing is good because it loosens and moves all of the 'crud' (important medical term) out of her lungs. It sounds like Annie without any prompting has done so well with this on her own. But can you imagine coughing frequently after a major surgery? ... yikes! By Annie's ability to cough from the tip of her toes with having such a large surgical incision; speaks boldly to all of us regarding her strong will for her own life as well as her reliance upon God's will. How can you not be inspired by her fighting spirit!

As Annie continues to heal, please pray especially today for her parents; Paul and Jane, and for Annie's brother Ben. They are giving Annie all of their attention. Please wrap Annie's family in your prayers today for their strength as they care for Annie .

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not.
In all your ways be mindful of him, and He will make straight your paths."
-Proverbs 3:5-6

03/20 Annie in the car

I just wanted to quickly share with you that this morning on the way to school, I decided to listen to a mix that Annie made me this past summer. I turned it on my ipod this morning and the song "Amazing Grace" came on. I just smiled because even though Annie is in the hospital, her amazing grace and God's amazing grace is within each and every one of our hearts. I am so excited for Annie, especially today and I cannot wait to see her!!! Thank you everyone for your prayers, keep them coming! God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not.
In all your ways be mindful of him, and He will make straight your paths."
-Proverbs 3:5-6

3/20 My first blog brings awesome news

As I mentioned, my first blog is one of awesome news....

This news comes via Kathy Ross, ... aka ' the blue angel' ... our dear friend and nurse at Children's hospital. Annie's dad Paul gave Kathy this nickname because as she wears her blue hospital scrubs, Kathy has and continues to be an angel of care and guidance to Annie and her family.

Annie has her breathing tube out and every system in her body is working! Our beloved Annie is now asking Paul and Jane a million questions so that she can come up to speed with all that has occurred these past few days.

So as we continue to give praise and glory to our precious Lord, we also give many thanks to all of you for your endless prayers for Annie and her family.

Giving praise to our gracious Lord

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not.
In all your ways be mindful of him, and He will make straight your paths."
-Proverbs 3:5-6

03/19 Update

Monday afternoon, March 19

After a tough day yesterday (Sunday) Annie is doing better today. She has had some complications with fluid accumulating around her lungs which means whe she will have to stay on the ventilator for another day or two. The ventialator is a fairly large tube that goes through her mouth, down her throat, and into her lungs. It can breath for her, or it can support her own breathing. It adds pressure to her breaths which helps to push out the fluid and re-inflate her lung. With it in she can't speak, and it can be very uncomfortable, with a lot of gagging if she is not properly medicated. So Annie is fairly heavily medicated right now, and will be so for the next day or two until her lungs clear.

It has been clear from the beginning that the Lord has been by Annie's side the whole time, and by ours. He is answering all of our prayers with his grace, his amazing grace! We are forever greatful for all of your love and prayers and support. We know we will never be able to thank you enough for all you are doing for Annie, and we also know that the Lord will bless you more than is imaginiable for your great gifts of charity on her behalf.

May God bless you all.

Paul Fuglevand

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not.
In all your ways be mindful of him, and He will make straight your paths."
-Proverbs 3:5-6

03/18 Annie's High School Senior Photo

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not.
In all your ways be mindful of him, and He will make straight your paths."
-Proverbs 3:5-6

03/17 Recap

These past 3 days have been very crazy as most of you know. Some of you know more than others so through this blog i hope to give you all the same story. Annie was paged for a possible liver Wednesday evening. She went into Children's Hospital at 11pm and stayed overnight while they ran several tests. The donor was donating all their organs so it took a while for them to extract the organs and transport them to all the hopsitals. Annie's friends were able to be with her onThursday morning/afternoon, and we then found out the liver was a perfect match and the surgery for her transplant would take place at 8pm.

Annie was in surgery for a total of 19 hours. Though it was expected to take 8-10, it doesn't mean there were complications, it just means that they took their time (which is a good thing!)There were about 6 people total in her operating room throughout the night, nurses and others who rotated. The main surgeon, Dr. Healey, remained in the operating room the entirety of the surgery. He is our HERO so be sure to remember him in your prayers as well.

Annie was moved into the ICU at around 3:30 yesterday afternoon. Miraculous things are happening, she already opened her eyes and her liver is already starting to filter the toxins in her body and producing bile. She remained completely stable throughout the course of the surgery and is still going strong in the ICU.
These are wonderful first signs but we have a long road ahead.

40% of people who receive liver transplants, experience complications and end up going back in for procedures within the first couple weeks of their new liver. So complications are expected and these next couple of weeks will be a roller coaster. So keep the prayers coming. Thats whats moving this in the right direction. So praise God for this new liver, for the surgeons and all helping Annie, expecially Kathy Ross who is a nurse at Children's hospital and has been helping Annie throughout this entire process and who continues to give us amazing and wonderful updates. Also pray for Paul & Jane that Christ continues to give them strength.

Please again, email this new blog website to all who are interested checking up on Annie. This will be easier than emailing because everyone has access to this one website! Thank God for technology!

Once again, Paul & Jane thank you so very much for your prayers, they have been brought to tears several times these past couple of days because of how many people are praying for Annie. Keep them up...as the liver specialist said, "Wrangle your prayer troops" Let's keep wrangling them for Annie.

Jesus, we trust in You.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not.
In all your ways be mindful of him, and He will make straight your paths."
-Proverbs 3:5-6

03/16 Welcome

Welcome to Annie's new blog site! This is a new way we can get information and updates to you about Annie without having to send out emails. We've found the email list keeps expanding and this way everyone, no matter where you are around the country, can check this website to see what we hope will be daily updates about Annie's progress.

Continue praying for Annie and praise God for all that has happened this far!

Below this post and every post after this, is Annie's favorite Bible verse and is one that we can cling to during this time.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not.
In all your ways be mindful of him, and He will make straight your paths."
-Proverbs 3:5-6