 This is where we will list updates on Julie
 8/22/05
From Chris, Julie's Boyfriend
Julie had a rough weekend, the doctors wanted her to stay in the
hospital over the weekend for some more tests and also for observation.
But
for some reason, Julie refused to be admitted, but honestly who could
blame
her? So they worked out a deal where Julie could just stay for the
tests,
and then go back home. However, she had to take it easy the doctor
said. So
we did that, running back and forth between the hospital and home. She
is
pretty exhausted right now but I think she will be OK.
Julie and her adoptive parents (Dave and Jessica) are trying to
get
the adoption process finished quickly but for some reason it is taking
time
(I have heard that is normal). Julie is patient and is just trusting
God
right now and putting her faith in Christ.
However, I must tell you all that Julie is getting pretty weak on
me.
She stays home pretty much all day and sleeps for most of the time. If
she
does get out of the house, she has to take breaks a lot and it's hard
to see
however I know that God will give her the strength to keep going.
Thank you all for your prayers. Also, Julie wanted me to tell you
guys
that she appreciates all of your emails of prayer, love and support but
there is no way for her to contact everyone who contacted her. She has
gotten a ton of emails and it's hard for her to keep up. What I may do
is
maybe type for Julie so she doesn't get as tired. I will update soon.
In God's Hands,
Chris
Julie's boyfriend
8/26/05
When Julie
sees
everyone who has replied to her website and the guestbook comments, she
cries. But they aren't sad tears but happy tears.Julie is not in any pain or anything BTW. Just gets tired and
exhausted
very easily. She is taking a ton of medication and Dave thinks that is
partially why she gets tired. Her body is slowly giving out but she is
doing
OK.Julie is without a doubt a fighter. She is feeling OK she says. But her
body
I think is slowly getting weaker and it's hard for me to watch. But she
wants to be out of the house now and we let her she just gets tired so
very
easily. But she is doing OK. Just hanging in there.
Chris
UPDATE! 8/26/05 10PM.
Joan,
Julie may be getting a new heart!!!!! Her pager went off and Dave drove
her
to the hospital. She may be getting a new one!!! But Please please
please
pray that if this is God's will that it will happen. Please Joan.
Chris
PLEASE BE PRAYING! TONIGHT (Friday) AND THE NEXT 48 HOURS AS THEY WILL BE CRITICAL FOR JULIE. PLEASE PASS ~THIS UPDATE ON! GOD BLESS~
Update 8/27/05
Julie got to the hospital and they had her ready for surgery, when they found that the heart she was supposed to get was defective. Please keep praying!
Update 8/29/05
Dear Joan and David,
I don't know how often I can update, because honestly there is not
too
much to say. I will try to at least say a little something to help keep
people more intune but still I will do my best. Here is the update you
can
post:
Julie has had another real rough weekend. On Friday night, Julie
was
paged/called from the transplant hospital and they said that they may
have a
heart for her and Julie got so excited and she seemed to have a great
burst
of energy. She had a bag packed already of stuff she would need in the
hospital so she just grabbed that bag, and Dave and Jessica took her
right
away. The hospital is about 45 minutes to an hour away so they left
right
then. They checked Julie into the hospital, and they did all the
necessary
blood work and all of those tests that are needed to be done before the
transplant. One thing that Julie said took a long time, was cleansing
herself from head to toe over and over, scrubbing every inch of her
body to
prepare for the surgery. She said afterwards that she was the cleanest
she
had every been. Then they took her to pre op and she was waiting to be
taken
into surgery, the antestics were already started. And then the doctors
realized that the donor heart was "defective" so they had to cancel the
transplant.
Julie was asleep when the news came and when she woke up a few
hours
later, she thought that she had the transplant. But then the bad news
came
to her. She cried and was upset but then instead of going on about it.
She
just started praying to God. After that she fell back asleep for
another few
hours (the antestics). She stayed in the hospital Friday night,
Saturday
night and came home pretty early Sunday morning. They just wanted to
keep
her for observation.
Julie is in "high spirits" none the less and I can see that she
trusts
God in this situation. I asked her Saturday at the hospital whether she
was
disappointed and she said to me "Chris, I am in God's hands and I have
no
doubt that God has a plan for me in this." I almost cried when I heard
that.
But it shows she is not losing faith which is awesome.
I should warn you all that, just because a heart became available
for
her Friday does not necessarily mean that she is "high" on the list. We
were
talking to the doctor, and he said that some things came up, and things
unexpected happened, which put Julie the next one. But he said that it
could
still be years before another heart becomes available. However, he said
that
since it happened once, it most surely could happen again. So to keep
hope.
In God's hands,
Chris
Update 8/31/05
Hey Joan,
I am doing OK. I don't do much but oh well. I saw David's page and it
is so
awesome. He is such a sweetheart and I am blessed to have you both as
friends. I have gotten a lot of emails just from the site and that is
so
awesome to read. There isn't a time where I check my mail that I don't
have
any emails from someone praying for me and that makes me feel awesome.
It's
really encouraging.
I do know that I am not going to give up. God has made me a fighter and
I
plan to keep it that way. This last weekend was just a show of what
God
could be planning for me. I don't know if that is his plan, but who
knows.
I gotta go but I will talk to you soon.
Julie
Update 9/5/05
Well Julie had a quite an interesting weekend. On Saturday, she
was
able to meet one of her favorite bands. We hung out with them all day
and it
was completely awesome. They were so sweet to her and I was so grateful
for
them to come and just hang out with us for the day. We shopped, ate,
shopped, ate (they were hungry what can I say), we saw a movie "Red
Eye"
which was good. I could tell that Julie was having a hard time to keep
going
like we were but we took many breaks and she hung in there. I haven't
seen
Julie that happy in a while and it was great to see. The band had done
some
concerts at our church in the past (including recently) and I know one
of
the band members and it was awesome for them to take so much time out
of
their busy schedule.
Then Sunday, Julie went to church and found out that they wanted
her
to come sing with the worship choir from now on. Julie hadn't been to
church
in a while, she was usually sleeping and now that Julie is determined
to
stay with it now. So we will see. She has been a part of the worship
team
for a while but she just hadnt sung since she got the diagnosis. She
has an
amazing voice and it brought a smile to my face when I saw her.
When Julie had a doctor's appointment last week, he said that
without
a doubt Julie is a fighter and is probably one of the strongest
patients he
has seen. He said that it has shocked him how well Julie is doing and
how
well she is coping. This is awesome news!! She is not about to give up
I
will let you all know. Heck, if she were bed ridden she would want to
go do
cartwheels around the room. lol I am serious too,
Other then that not much has gone on. I will update soon
In His Hands,
Chris
Update 9/7/05
From Julie
Hi Joan,
I am doing OK I guess. Been tired a lot but I deal with it. I had a
great
weekend (I think Chris emailed you an update) and it pretty much
exhausted
me but it is well worth it. My doctors cannot believe the smile they
see on
my face every time they see me and they are amazed at how well I am
doing as
of now. Things seem to be pretty much normal except for a few things
and I
am grateful for that.
The prayers and thoughts always bring a smile to my face and I just
love
getting them. I have gotten so many emails! I am truly blessed.
But I can't help but feel that I am getting all the attention when I
shouldn't be. There are people way worse off then I am that need more
prayer
then I do. I know it may sound stupid but it's true. I am not scared
Joan.
I'm not. I have faith and trust in God and that is all I need.
I gotta go again but talk soon
Julie
Update 9/15/05
Hi Everyone,
Unfortunately Julie is pretty sick right now. She has a bad case
of the
flu and all she has been doing is sleeping and being on the computer (I
know
it's bad but I can't get her off). She has a pretty high fever and we
did
end up taking her to the emergency room last night just because her
fever
was running rather high (103.5 when we left for the ER) and we were
worried.
But the doctor said that it was just the bad case of the flu and that
she
needs to take it easy. But she is hanging in there. IF she does get
worse,
the ER doctor told us to bring her back and then they will see what's
going
on. Her fever is still rather up but I am sure she will be OK.
No word on any heart yet. The doctors are doing everything and
anything
they can to make her comfortable and just maybe try and give her more
time
to receive a heart. Julie still has not given up hope and she is just
the
same Julie I have ever known, maybe just a little more exhausted.
Julie was telling me that if she feels that it isn't her time to
get a
heart, and that God is telling her that it's not the time to receive a
heart, then she said she would decline the heart if she were offered.
That
shocked me! I told her that it wasn't that easy and that chances are
she
would get a new heart. But I just can't believe she could even think of
something like that! She also was telling me that if there was someone
out
there who needed the heart more that she would give it to them instead
of it
going to her. She is amazing
That's about it for now. Will update soon!
In His Hands,
Chris
Update 9/20/05
Hello Everyone,
Julie is starting to feel better now. She had a pretty bad case of
the
flu but she made it through. She slept all weekend and we monitored her
very
closely and things did turn out well. She is still not feeling 100% but
she
will be OK we think. Her fever is down to 99.6 which is still a fever
but
not a very big one but definately good news.
I am starting to worry about Julie right now. Sometimes if she is
walking around or if she is doing something, she has to stop in her
tracks.
She gets a look in her eyes, that says "This isn't good" and it scares
me.
Julie has to sit down and close her eyes for a minute before she can
continue. It is happening more and more lately. When Dave called the
doctor
about this, he said that if it starts happening a lot more, that he may
want
to hospitalize her for a while. When Julie found out she said nothing
was
wrong, but I can tell that something is. I feel like I am losing my
best
friend and girlfriend and I hate that feeling.
Julie and I both want to thank you for the emails we have been
receiving
(been close to 200 in her inbox). She loves reading them and even
though she
can't reply back to every single one, she is enjoying it so much. It
brings
her much much joy. THank you for your prayers.
In His Hands,
Chris
Update 9/26/05
Hello Everone,
Julie had a rough day yesterday. We were at church and we could sense
that something was wrong but we couldn't figure out what was going on. A
couple of the people on the worship team had red eyes that looked like they
had been crying and there was just an overall atmosphere that sensed
something was wrong. Our pastor's sermon was a good one but again we could
tell that something was wrong. At the very end of his sermon, he somberly
told us that a close friend and member of the church was killed by a drunk
driver on Friday night. The drunk driver was only 17 years old.
Unfortunately, Julie knew the guy who was killed very very well and is close
to the guy's son. So Julie is real upset about it and I am worried about her
health being affected. The funeral is Wednesday morning, so please keep the
family and Julie in your prayers. I am not sure if she is going to be able
handling the funeral so just pray for her strength.
On top of all this yesterday, she was "attacked" online yesterday which
caused her to be extremely upset. I just want to let you all know that
everyone has their own beliefs about God and how things are handled in our
relationships with God, but please do not push your own beliefs on Julie.
She is very very strong with the Lord and for someone to go up to her
telling her that she HAS to do this and she HAS to do that is very upsetting
for her. She was extremely distraught. She has told me she respects other
people's beliefs and that she will not make a big deal out of differences
but for someone to press their beliefs over and over and over, I don't think
is right.
Please do not sending prayers and emails to Julie. It really
encourages her to keep going day to day. Please do not let the incident
yesterday to stop from talking about God but please be careful when you are
talking about your specific beliefs. Julie is pretty fragile right now and
very emotional. I hope you all understand. You can email me at
livinglife4jesus@hotmail.com for any concerns or questions or whatever it
may be. Thank you all so much In His Hands, Chris
URGENT UPDATE 9/28/05
Hello everyone,
My name is Chris and I am Julie's boyfriend. I unfortunately have some bad news. I came upstairs to check on Julie, and I saw her on the floor, gasping for breathe and clutching her chest. When I called Dave (her adoptive father) upstairs, he gave me a look that I never wish to see again. He said that it looks like she was having a heart attack and scooped her up and brought her to the car. I have not heard anything yet and this happened a little over an hour ago. Julie needs your prayers now more then ever and I hope that you will do so. You are more then welcome to email me at livinglife4jesus@hotmail.com or I will be on and off Julie's MSN messenger for a while. I am praying that she will be OK
You are more then welcome to email Julie as well (lovingjulie13@hotmail.com) as I am sure she would love to read new emails addressed to her. Don't worry I will not open them unless addressed in the subject line: Chris
God Bless,
Chris
UPDATE 9/31/05
Hello Everyone,
Julie is still hanging in there. They have not been able to find
the
exact cause of the heart attack yet and it is still pretty much a
mystery.
Julie is on a ventalator as of right now because she doesn't seem to be
able
to breathe on her own very well. However, the doctor's do plan on
removing
it once they feel the time is right. Her body is trying very hard to
heal
and so she is really not fully awake. She is still in the ICU, for as
long
as the vent is in but they hope to move her to her own room as soon as
possible.
I should warn you all that Julie may not be coming home from the
hospital. She is in a very weakened state as of right now and one of
her
doctors has to determine if it would be better for her to be admitted
into
the hospital while she waits for a donor heart. Dave and I, however,
feel
that Julie would want to be at home where she loves to be. I guess we
will
have to see how Julie is doing in the next few days, to determine all
this.
She has had a ton of tests done yesterday to try and figure out
the
cause of it. But no such luck. One of the tests she had to undergo was
when
they took a very very very small camera and attach it to a "tube" I
guess
you could say. And then they open up one of your veins and thread the
camera
through the vein and follow it to the heart. Jessica, Julie's adoptive
mom,
got freaked out and so she had to leave the room but she is OK. Julie
was
not awake throughout the whole procedure. However, she does have a
"vein
blocker" on her wrist as I have been told by Dave, to stop the
bleeding.
I am still unable to see Julie, because they are only letting
family in
but when she gets her own room I will be able to. Please keep sending
emails
to Julie. If she ends up staying in the hospital for too long I will
print
them out to her so she can read them. PLease keep praying. She has a
long
way to go.
In His Hands,
Chris
Update 10/3/05
Hi Everyone,
I am really sorry that I haven't updated all weekend. It has been
a
very long weekend and I just did not have a chance to pull away for a
few
minutes.
Julie has taken yet another turn for the worse. She has developed
pneumonia and is not doing so well right now. She is off the
ventalator but
the doctors may put her back on it if her breathing gets worse again.
She
has a high fever and that is worrying the doctors very much. She is
fighting
though and she is hanging in there. I was finally able to see her on
Saturday and she looks so weak and pale. She could barely even lift her
head.
It's very hard to see her like she is, but when I look at Julie, I
see
something special. I see someone who has overcome so much, more then
anyone
should ever have to. There is something special about her that I cannot
put
my finger on.
Nothing has been determined yet whether she is going to stay in
the
hospital or if she will be coming home. Dave, Jessica and I have all
decided
that it would be best to bring Julie home when she is better but that
is
also up to Julie and her doctors.
I want to thank you all for your prayers you have sent me and
Julie and
I encourage you to keep doing so. If you have any questions or concerns
please let me know,
In His Hands,
Chris
livinglife4jesus@hotmail.com (Chris's Email)
lovingjulie13@hotmail.com (Julie's Email)
Chris will print the emails so he can read them to her at the hospital.
Update 10/4/05
Hello again.
I just wanted to give a small update for all you folks. Julie was
put
on the ventalator again and moved up to the ICU yet again but the
doctors
are very hopeful. They said that if everything goes right, that she
should
be off the vent very soon and out of the ICU. They also said that the
vent
was just a precaution to give her a little more comfort as well. She is
in
very good hands.
The doctors and nurses have given me permission to see Julie while
she
is in the ICU. They tell me that I am Julie's new found brother. Lol.
Pretty
funny when you think about it. But I am very very happy that I am able
to
see her without any restrictions (for the most part).
Julie is in and out of alterness but I can tell that she is
fighting.
She is the strongest fighter I have ever met and I know that Julie is
in
amazing hands (with God and in the doctor's).
In His Hands,
Chris
Update 10.9/05
Hello Everyone,
Again, my apologies for not updating you very often but I have
been
running back and forth and trying to do so many things at once I have
not
had a chance to update you all.
Julie is getting better little by little but she is still
extremely
weak. Her body, she told me, feels like it needs to sleep for a 1000
years
but even so. Her spirits are way up. She does sleep a lot but she is
completely conscious and everything. Just tired. If she continues to
improve, we hope to have her home soon. We have all decided that the
best
place for Julie after her health improves a little more is to be at
home.
But she is in awesome spirits and it's been great to see. Every time I
am
there in her room, she is making me laugh. So that's a great sign.
I wanted to let you all know that there was a candle light vigil
on
Saturday night at our church. But we are having another one on Tuesday
at 7
PM (Western Time). So I know a few people have wanted to do their own
little
vigils for Julie (even if it was by themselves). So I invite you all to
light a candle for Julie at Tuesday at 7 PM (Western Time).
I promise to update soon
In His Hands,
Chris
Update 10/13/05
Hey Everyone,
Chris again. I just wanted to share my excitement and good news with everyone. Julie is coming home tommorrow morning!! I am so excited! I know that there was talk of her coming home SOMETIME this week but not tommorrow! She is in great spirits but her energy is still way down.
Julie is going to have to take it extremely extremely easy when she gets home. I know I can't keep her off the computer, no one can, lol knowing Julie, but from now until she gets a heart she is not going to be able to do a whole lot but she knows that.
She is so excited for coming home!!!
In His Hands,
Chris
Udpate 10/14/05
Hey Everyone,
Just wanted to let you all know of the great news. Julie is now home
from
the hospital. We had a little Welcome Home party for her yesterday
after she
got home, and she enjoyed it. However it tired her out. It tired me out
as
well lol. She slept over 12 hours last night but she said it felt good
to be
home again.
I can't keep her off the computer but she is doing OK. Wow 2 weeks in
the
hospital and she is doing well. I am so happy. She is still very very
weak
but she is hanging in there and that is all that matters. I will update
soon
In His Hands,
Chris
Update 10/17/05
Hey Everyone,
We had a great weekend! Julie's spirits are extremely high and she
is
enjoying life every minute. She takes at least 2 naps a day and then
gets
around 10-12 hours of sleep a night (which is fine with us). But she is
very
happy to be home and eat REAL food lol. Her appetite is still very
small but
she is doing the best she can and that is all we ask of her.
On Sunday, at church for offering, they asked Julie and I to do a
duet.
We sang "You Are Holy (Prince of Peace)" But after church Julie and I
were
chatting and we were really looking at the words to this song and we
realized how much meaning this song has, so we wanted to share the
lyrics to
it. By the way this is Julie's favorite song. Here it is:
Guys Girls Echo
You are holy (You are holy)
You are mighty (You are mighty)
You are worthy (You are worthy)
Worthy of praise (Worthy of praise)
I will follow (I will follow)
I will listen (I will listen)
I will love You (I will love You)
All of my days (all of my days)
Guys Girls
I will sing to He is Lord of Lords
and worship He is King of Kings
the King who He is the Mighty God
is worthy Lord of everything
I will love and He is Emmanuel
adore Him He is the Great I AM
I will bow down He is my Prince of Peace
before Him who is the Lamb
I will sing to He is the Living God
and worship He is the Saving Grace
the King who He will reign forever
is worthy He·s the Ancient of Days
I will love and He is the Alpha Omega
adore Him Beginning and End
I will bow down He·s my Savior, Messiah
before Him Redeemer and Friend
(together again)
He is my Prince of Peace
and I will live my life for Him
Just read over these words and realize the power of them. Julie felt
and
wanted to share this with you all. This song is what Julie is living by
day
to day
In His Hands,
Chris
UPDATE 11/9/05
Hello Everyone,
About an hour and a half ago, Julie was brought to the hospital by
Dave. She
hadn't been feeling well all today. And when I looked over at her at
one
point she was shaking and almost looked like she was in pain. So Dave
took
her to the hospital. Just got a call from Dave and he said that the
doctors
said that it could be anywhere from just the flu to something much more
serious, like her heart. So they are trying to figure out what is going
on
with her.
I will update as soon as I can
Chris
Update 11/14/05
Hey Everyone,
I am glad to say that Julie is home from the hospital. However, she
still
is not doing well at all. Yesterday was her 19th birthday and she
didn't
want to do anything. We went out to dinner and that was about it.
Things are
NOT looking good for her right now. She spends 95% of her day sleeping,
and
it worries me.
If she gets worse, we have no choice but to put her back into the
hospital, which I think may happen rather soon. She really needs a
heart you
guys. The doctors keep reminding us about that. And reality has really
struck me. She needs a heart right now. The doctor has said that if she
has
one more heart attack or any strain on her heart, that most likely she
won't
make it through. Her body has been through so much and is so weak.
I have noticed that emails have died down going to Julie and I'll be
honest, it's hard to see. So I want to encourage all of you to keep
sending
her emails, because she does get them and saves every single one she
gets.
It's hard for me to update all the time, because of various things, so
please bear with me as I try to update as much as I can.
Also, Julie's computer has died so it's been hard to be on the
computer
much. We are using Dave's laptop but it's kind of slow.
Thanksgiving is coming up, and they said that Julie wouldn't it make
it
till then. Pray that God can prove them wrong
In His Hands,
Chris
Update 11/28/05
Hello Everyone.
Things aren't looking up for Julie right now. Her blood pressure
is
pretty low and they are probably going to admit her into the hospital
if she
gets any worse. She slept all weekend, literally, and is pale and does
not
look good at all. She still has a smile on her face though that never
ceases
to make me realize how wonderful she really is. She also has not been
eating very much, in fact very little. But she says she is not hungry
and we
do not want to force her to eat if she doesn't want to.
Please don't stop praying for her. She needs a heart so
desperately
and I keep praying to God either to calm our hearts or give Julie a
heart.
But I do want you to know that Julie is hanging in there. She still
reads
every single email she gets and she loves them all so much. I can tell
it
really brightens up her day. Which pleases me very much so.
God is control. I hope that you all had a great Thanksgiving.
And I
am so so sorry for having so much time with these updates. I have been
extremely busy but I will try harder. Thank you all again
God's on her side,
Chris
Update 12/15/05
Hello Everyone.
I feel horrible about not updating sooner. It's been kind of crazy
around
here and I haven't had a chance to tell you all how Julie's doing. So
here
it is:
Julie is fighting a bad cold (we hope). She has a horrible cough and
a
sore throat and a minor fever (100.9) but she is OK. She says she is
fine,
so we take her word for it. Everyone seems to be getting sick around
here,
so we think it's just another bug she caught.
Julie sang all of the solos at a Christmas Peformance this weekend
(6
peformances all together). She did so amazing! But it really tired her
out
and she slept hard those 4 days. But a lot of people brought her
flowers
which Julie loved! Someone told her after one of the peformances, that
she
sounded like an angel from heaven. She really did. Julie just found out
about singing at these peformances a few days before the peformances
started
and she did a miraculous job with them! Blew everyone away!
But when I see Julie, I see her slowly fading away from me. I know
in my
heart she doesn't have much time left and it kills me just to watch her
go
through this. Julie of all people! She doesn't deserve it. I sometimes
wonder if she is going to make it to Christmas. It's hard for me to
even
think about.
Good news though! The doctors told Julie that she wouldn't make it
to
Thanksgiving and she has now proved them wrong, with God's help! She is
still going, just like the Energizer Bunny. Her faith ceases to amaze
me.
Julie's not giving up, guys. She has to be the strongest person I
know on
this earth, besides God that is.
I hopefully will let you all know what is going on soon! Please pray!
Chris
Update 12/16/05
Hello Everyone,
I have some bad news. Just a little while ago, Julie's fever spiked big
time. She is extremely sick and we do not know why. We thought it was
just a
bug but we aren't so sure any more. Once again I am stuck here at home
while
Dave takes her in. It's so frustrating!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chris
UPdate 12/27/05
Hi Everyone!
I hope you all had a great holiday and hope that there are some
good
parties happening for New Years. I have to apologize big time to you
guys.
I thought that I sent out an email but it turns out I didn't and I
am
very sorry for that. I remember typing this all out earlier, but I
guess it
didn't go through.
Julie has been out of the hospital for some time now. The doctors
didn't want to keep her in the hospital when there was really nothing
more
they could do for her except wait., and neither did we. So she sleeps
most
of the day away and through the night. Which is not the best of signs
but I
am keeping faith and am not giving up hope.
We had a great Christmas over here. My mom and dad and I went over
to
Julie's house for Christmas day and they had a ton of people over. All
of
their family and some people from church came (who didn't have a place
to be
for the holidays). It was crazy but very fun. Julie got some pretty
cool
gifts as well.
This was her very first real Christmas! All the other times she
has
been in the hospital extremely sick, or with her abusive parents, who
never
gave her one real present. So it was great for Julie to experience
this. It
really tired her out though and she did have to take a nap in the
middle of
the day, but everyone understands.
Again, I apologize deeply. I know there were some of you who
thought she
was still in the hospital and I am sorry the other email didn't get
through.
Take care
Chris
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