Prayer Request

Calling all Schiebers, Schoeneckers, and Gendreaus... I am in need of a prayer chain and fast. My friends Brody and Kate are having a baby, a little angel girl and she is due to make her appearance 7/22/10. Although the pregnancy has been normal and no issues have come across it hasn't been that way for this little angel. This little girl has stopped growing and is only sitting at 3lbs currently, now we all know children of this weight are born all the time and survive and live a fulfilling life. This little angel of god also has a larger problem the doctors have informed the parents that only half of her heart is working. Now this is where the power of prayer is needed the most. If this little girl is born at 5lbs in July she will intermediately have open heart surgery the day she is born. If she isn't 5lbs she will be in ICU until she is large enough to have the surgery. This is going to be a long road for not only this baby but the parents as well. This will be one of a few surgeries that this little girl will have to undergo in the first year and a half of life.
So I am asking this family to please pray for my friends and this baby. Give them all the strength to make it through this and the faith in God they need to stay positive and trust the doctors and their talents.


Thank you Mary....

Mindy Schieber

Need for Prayers for Aunt Loretta

Hi Mary

Hope all is well with you. We are doing fine.

Elaine just called to say Loretta is back in the hospital. She had some kind of spell and was unresponsinve last night. She was taken to the hospital and by the time Mike and Elaine got there, she was responsive. The doctors don't know what the problem is but are going to do tests, etc. and hope to find the cause. Elaine was about to call the hospital to see if there was anything new. Prayers are needed! Will let you know when I find more out.

Florence

Update on Crystal

Hi Mary: I talked to Mark, Crystal's husband, on Thursday and they
asked me to thank our family for their prayers, he said that it meant
so much to both of them. Crystal's amputation surgery was on Tuesday
and on Wednesday they had her up and walking the halls with a walker
and even going up and down a flight of stairs with crutches. Her
surgery was successful in removing the cancer from her body, she was
going home from the hospital today and it will be a while before she
will be fitted for a prosthesis. Mark said that her spirits were up
and she was looking forward to getting home.
Thank you again to our wonderful family for all their support, love and
prayers.
Love, Denise

Prayer Request from Denise Groll

HI Mary: I have a prayer request for a very special friend, who like
you, is dealing with cancer. Crystal, in her early 40's, was diagnosed
with a type of sarcoma cancer, in the tissue surrounding her left
ankle. The cancer is rare as it usually affects young children.
Crystal was diagnosed on January 22 and has undergone chemo for the
past couple months, but the tumor didn't shrink enough to remove it.
She will be having her left leg amputated below the knee on Tuesday,
May 18th (tomorrow) so could you please add her to your prayer list and
ask our very large family, to keep her in their prayers too. Crystal
is very optimistic and expects to be living her "new normal", cancer
free, life by mid summer and walking on the beach in South Carolina
where they live and she grew up.

PS I sent you a little card today and lit a candle at the Old Mission
in Santa Barbara for you and Crystal. I hope all is well and you are
continuing to make positive strides, so that you can live a "spotless"
life.
Love you and thank you a bunch.
Denise and Tom

Richard Hauge's wife Neva

Richard asked me to write to you and
let you know that Neva fell this morning and broke her hip. She had
surgery late this afternoon and was back in her room this evening.
Doctor says she will be in the hospital for 3-4 days and will then be
transfered to a surgery recovery facility for 3-4 weeks. Mike has
been up in Spokane this week and was there at the hospital with
Richard and Neva today. I'm so glad that Mike was there for Richard.
Think he experienced a lot of, well, you know! Richard also says to
let you know that Neva is like the energizer bunny - "takes a lick-in
and keeps on tic-kin".

Please keep them both in your thoughts and prayers.

Frank Vermuelen's Obituary

Frank Vermeulen, 70, a ten year lung transplant survivor, died peacefully May 5th surrounded by his wife and children. He is survived by the love of his life and wife of 48 years, Judy, his children Mike Vermeulen (Sandi), Bob Vermeulen (Beth) and Cathy White (Lou), his sister Annie Wendlandt (Roger), brother Bill Vermeulen (Deceased), his grandchildren Alex White, Josh White, Aleesa White, Bobby Vermeulen, Jessie Vermeulen, and Anna Vermeulen, brothers in law Art Gendreau (Sherry) and Jim Gendreau, sisters in law Jean Podzimek, June Gephart (Len), Jackie Patton (Al), and Janet Gendreau. Frank immigrated to Minneapolis from Wychen, Holland, with his parents Herman and Teresa Vermeulen (Deceased) and siblings in 1950 and lived in Bloomington for 35 years. A review will be held Thursday May 6th 6-8pm at McNearney Funeral Home 1220 3rd Avenue East, Shakopee, a review 9:30am and funeral mass 10:30am will be held Friday May 7th at St. Marks Catholic Church 350 Atwood Street South, Shakopee, Memorials can be sent to The Hope Chest News, PO Box 13040 Minneapolis, MN 55414 or at www.GiveMN.org.

Home Again, Home Again Jiggety Jig!

Hi All, just a note to thank everyone for the well-wishes for the trip and let you know I'm home safe and sound. Yesterday started at 4:30 am and didn't get to bed till 9:00 pm. The bed felt so good, I was there till 9:00 am this morning.

Trip was great weather, timing was perfect. Texas and Louisiana was still widening the roads from the snow the day before. MN, however, was no snow and warm sunshine. Had a nice tail wind both coming east on I-10 and going north on I-35. That is very fortunate in this 'high profile' MH.

Gotta get busy with my rounds for today, a big thanks for all the emails this winter, and support from all my loved ones, Cheers for summer, Jeanie

Linda Donoghue adds tag line to Concordia Logo

Hi Linda,

I wanted to send you a note to let you know that your speech at graduation continues to inspire people, and is being used as a motivational tool by the President’s Office. I was at our mid-year planning conference a few weeks ago and it was announced that we wanted to change our university tag line from “Higher Learning. Greater Rewards” to something to do with inspiration. After all, inspiring people is what we’re all about. The President showed your graduation speech as an example of what we’re trying to accomplish in our student body. After some work, we have adopted a new logo and new tagline (see attached) which will be rolled out shortly.

Just thought you’d like to know that people were deeply impressed with your speech and that it has resonated with the leadership of our university. Thanks for choosing Concordia and for being a part of our university.

Bryan

Congrats Linda!

On the Road Again!

Hi All, Got on the road shortly before noon today and got to the Flying J near Tucson. This is where I take care of all the tanks, see that some are emty and others are full, so that the only stops from here to home are for gas and rest. I'm keeping an eye on weather.com, there is a snow storm moving from the rockies eastward. Hopefully, I can miss it or atleast see only the backend of it. Not that I'm anxious to see snow, but still hope to see Mark on Sat.

I stopped at the farmer's stand and picked up a stash of grapefruit, dates, limes, and honey. No comparrison to the shipped-in stuff in MN. Hope everyone is doing well, see ya soon, love, Jeanie

Delay

Hi All, I am still in Yuma because of a tangle with a steel post and the last few inches of the passenger side rear end, late Monday afternoon. It looked like a small patchup job to me, but CJ's RV Repair pointed out to me the extent of the damages, to the tune of upwards of $3000 with 30 hours labor. Of course, multiple things are involved, structural both vertical and horizontal steel, layers of insulation and fiberglass, electrical, etc. First thing I did was call my insurance agent, who set up the claim and arranged for an adjuster. CJ's has hooked me up to electric and is actually starting work this morning, Wednesday. The boss told me they hope to have me done by the weekend. I'll be amazed if it's done by middle of next week, everything is on the slow side down here in the south.

If all goes well, I might still get home in time to say good-bye to Mark on the 27th, I'm hoping. Meanwhile, I'm hanging out in the RV repair lot, staying in my RV with electric hookup, which means I can watch tv for as long as I want. I unhooked my bike and am out wandering around this end of town. The weather is getting hot, up to 90 today with lots of sun.

I'll post a note when they finish with me here, until then, cheers, love, Jeanie/Mom/Grandma

Update from the Dessert

Hi All, Just a note to check in with everyone. Heard from Tori and see it's been 3 weeks since last update. In that time, Frank has been moved out of ICU at U of M and is now at Bathesda in St Paul for assistance in gaining strength and getting off the vent. He has definitely turned the corner and is recovering. My cousin Mary suffered severe effects from the first chemo treatment, but is now building up for another round this coming week. My aunt Loretta had another heart problem and now has a stint installed for her relief. All of these concerns of mine seem to be doing well and I am grateful.

I expected to stay on this spot near Imperial Dam, but have been watching too much Olympics and have run my gas tank down, besides supplies, etc. So am going to town in a day or two and spend a few days preparing for the trip back (Oil change, hair cut, supplies, etc). I checked with the landlord back home in BP to see about snow depth, and he said 1-2 feet and melting. So, will be checking weather for departure for the north, but in the meantime, I am going back to the hot springs for those long hot showers. I'm thinking I will try to get on the road around mid-Mar.

The rains have greened up the desert, the ocotilla are so green and bushy with the bright orange blooms, the beaver tail take forever and have not blossomed out yet. The wild flowers have not come out yet either, but, I expect to see their blooms along the interstate on the way over to the hot springs. It is still very early, but, we had more rain lately.

I hope all of you are doing well and am looking forward to seeing some of you soon, love, Jeanie

A Message from Kim and Tom Weimer

To all our dear cousins,

Thank you all for the emails, prayers and concern. We have received them, read them, and greatly appreciate them. Just been a very long sad week. Yesterday was a rough day. It was one week to the day yesterday. I think it was especially hard on Tom as he was with his dad in the end. His parents live next door and every night when he walks our dog he looks up to see his dad's room is dark where there use to always be a light on. Today our son had to fly back to Seattle as he has to get back to school. Wish he could have stayed longer. It's going to take some time, things will never be the same, but as they say, time heals all wounds.

All our thanks,
Kim & Tom Weimer

Sympathy Sent

With a heavy heart I am sorry to say my father-in-law passed away. There was nothing the doctors at Mayo could do for him when he arrived. My husband is now driving his mother and sister back from Rochester, MN. I just tucked in a very distraught 16 year old (Kev) and am still trying to reach Jake.

If you could pray for my husband's family to get through this terrible loss I would greatly appreciate it.

Love to all,
Kim

Prayer Request

My father-in-law, George Weimer, was care-flighted to the Mayo Hospital in Rochester, MN this evening. He has an intracranial blockage or rupture (I'm not actually sure which - Kevin was with me in the ER and it was upsetting to say the least) and is unconscious. Kevin and I arrived about an hour after Tom followed his mom and dad in the ambulance. Around 5 pm Tom's mom called him and asked him to next door and help her get his dad downstairs as he wasn't feeling good. When Tom arrived his dad was complaining of a very bad headache. They struggled to get him downstairs, by the time they did he was sweating, vomiting and no longer talking. They called 911. By the time the paramedics arrived George (father-in-law) was unconscious. They were shouting his name, asking him questions and telling him to squeeze their hand. He was unresponsive. By the time I arrived with Kevin at the hospital Tom's youngest sister - Jane, his brother - Mike, and Mike's wife Stacey were there with Tom and his mom. It was a very sad scene to say the least. Poor Kevin. I didn't know what I was walking him into but when Tom called and said the helicopter was on it's way I knew it was bad. Tom asked if I wanted to see George before they took him. I asked Kevin if he wanted to go with me and he said yes. So we went together. Tom is on his way right now driving his mom and sister Jane to Rochester. They could not let his mom fly in the helicopter. I guess there isn't room. Tom's oldest sister Sue is driving over from Milwaukee and his other sister Beth can't fly in till Friday from California. I couldn't tell her that it may be too late by then. I also had to call Jake and tell him. Which was gut wrenching. I then called Tom's mother's brother and sister-in-law in Atlanta. I asked Tom's uncle if he'd call my mother-in-law's other brother.

So if you could pray for the Weimer family, especially for George, I would greatly appreciate it. He's a good man. And his family is understandably a train wreck right now.

Love,
Kim

Caring Bridge website for Frank

Dear Mary,

A new journal entry for Frank Vermeulen's CaringBridge website was posted at 9:02:00 PM on Jan 29, 2010.

Read the latest update and show your support at: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/frankv

Update on Frank Vermuellen Th. evening

This is your Frank update for today

Just spent the day with Judy at the hospital. The doctors did a bronchial
on him this morning and found very little fluid. That is a good sign. His kidneys are doing just fine and he rested well all day. They are keeping him sedated but only to the point he can rest. He does respond to them with nods if they need to communicate with him. They will sedate him more tonight so he rests well.

They plan on putting in a nerve block to help him with the pain level. This will help in taking deeper breaths, getting more oxygen and improve his situation.

He will be on the vent for 48 hours and then they will reasses. Saturday would be the day they would start weening him if he continues to have good stats.

Not much to report today. Judy's computer is still not up ...she shut everything off for the winter to be in California and has not had time to get things turned back on.

Big hugs

Update on Frank Vermuellen

The report this morning, is they have him kind of in an induced coma, or totally out, and will remain that way for a couple of days....so at least he isn't in pain. They were unable to get a central line in last nite, so they will consider a port today. He is on a vent, his lung hasn't inflated yet, and he does have a fractured rib and a new fracture of a vertebrae in his lower back. So it's real serious, and we need to say some serious prayers for him and his family. (For those of you who don't know Frank....he is the husband of cousin Judy Gendreau Vermuellen, and he was battling lung problems back when I had my big cancer scare in 1996...they eventually did a lung transplant on one lung, and then a few years ago, they also did a kidney transplant from his daughter Cathy. He is continually on anti rejection medications and has of late had to be on oxygen continually....yet he still keeps fighting back....they had planned on spending the winter in California with their daughter and family till this happened, and Cathy jumped in the car and helped drive them back home in that horrid weather last weekend, and then turned around and flew home to her 3 kids.) Love, thoughts and prayers, m

Frank in the Hospital

If you are reading my blog, you know that Frank is back from California cause he fell and was having problems breathing....the doctors in California thought he had 3 compressed vertebrae causing his problems, but the doctors here say those are old fractures, and his problem is that his good lung has collapsed. So they have him in the hospital at the U of M, and are trying to inflate it. Monitoring his pain and breathing. Prayers are requested for Frank and Judy who is exhausted about the frantic trip home in battling bad weather all the way, and then dealing with getting Frank to the doctors and not getting back home till late last nite.

Desert Rains

Hi All, I've been holed up in the MH for since yesterday with high winds and rains, with tornadoes nearby. A little rain out here goes a long way, but 2" rain created lots of havoc like roads closed due to flooding, wash away, etc. That is half the avg annual rain fall and doesn't sink in very well. Lots of wind, 30-40 mph with gusts up to 50/60. The MH rocks with the wind and early in the day, I brought in the slide on the wind side. After I saw the awning of a neighbor go up over their MH, I pulled in the other slides. Their awning was not even out, wind got underneath it rolled up tight to the MH. No sun for solar, of course, so had to run the compressor to keep the batteries up for water pump and fridge. So, I watched a lot of tv news, etc, and played solitaire. No biking or even getting out. I did have a good view of growing rivers raging in ravines on either side of me, but I was high and out of danger, and felt very blessed.

My dear cousin Mary is battling cancer once again and hope you will all keep her in your thoughts and prayers, you can keep up with her at www.maryshealthupdate.blogspot.com.

My hopes are that all of you are doing very well and that the sun is shining on you and keeping you warm.

Uncle John's Granddaughter was in Haiti Quake

Just to let you know, our Randi got home from Haiti - took 16 hours to get from where she was to the Dominican Republic and the airport in Santo Domingo. Got to Chicago late Saturday night. We were glad to see her home. She was not near the quake but they wanted to conserve food and water for the country.
We will be in Bemidiji for the week next week at the national Junior Curling championships. Won't go through MPLS or would try to see you. Alex curls for Minnesota.
Take care and know that we are always thinking of you and praying for you.
Love,
Uncle John and Aunt Flo

Safe in Lincoln, Neb.

Hi All,

OK never start a trip with snow flurries!! note to self

It was a slow long day but we are in Lincoln and we are in one piece.

The roads were bad around big cities and well along different patches. Windy, icy, and cars,trucks, and Semis, in the ditches all over. The last 35 miles from Omaha were only COLD. We gassed up and I washed the windows. Omaha was really greasy messy. We are ready to go when we thaw out enough in the morning. It must have been a bad night as a lot looked like they had been there for a while except for the ones in MN that we came upon early.

I drove all the way as I was afraid to have Dad at the wheel.. It was tense a lot of the time. We did not make it to Pella so I will order some things and get them delivered. So Sorry.

Good night all and know we are safe

Judy and Frank

Earthquake

Hi All, I was out for a walk and the ground shook beneath my feet. It felt like a very short dizzy spell, weird. When I got back to the MH, it shook/rocked for another short spell. I knew then what was happening, an earthquake. A neighbor told me his MH fell off it's blocks, and that the stores in El Centro had stuff fall off shelves. The center of it was about 30 mi's away from us and it was 5 something in strength. That was exciting, hope I am not around for the BIG one.

Been here at the resevoir for a few days, now, and am thoroughly enjoying myself. The shoestring I came out here on is getting shorter, so am on the low budget. Am switching from meat to mostly soy products, including tofu. I have a new recipe book on tofu cooking and am trying different things. Have had it baked, fryed, scrambled, and am looking forward to meatballs and pasta. I know you are all envious and can't wait to try some.

It's another nice day here in the SW desert, 70's and sunny with calm breeze. Wish you all could be here, but I am thinking of you anyway.

Love, Jeanie