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Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Please Pray!


David called this a.m. about 8:30 a.m. He was heading to Grand Junction to the big regional hospital there. Bree had seizures last night and the doctors were unable to stop the seizures so they airlifted her to the hospital. Dad left right away, after getting the call, to go to be with David. We debated whether I should go or not but he didn't want to wait for Julie to get here to help with Rachel. He took his cell phone and promised he would call to let me know what the prognosis is.

ABOUT THE FLU PANDEMIC FROM HELEN


Helen wrote: Folks: the e-mail below is from a very good friend- am sending it on. Love Helen

John Gifford wrote: I received this from a colleague of mine who worked at the USH Forensic Unit. 
 
I wasn't going to forward this on till I looked at the attachment.  Then I thought to myself, "what if something like this happened and someone in my family could have benefited from this information."  Then it instantly became a no brainer to forward on.

ABOUT THE FLU PANDEMIC
I found this to be quite interesting. Do with it as you will.
"About a month ago a seminar was put on by Dr. Susan Puls, who is a cardiologist appointed by the First Presidency of the Church as the head of the church's pandemic committee. She said she was not an expert on pandemics as this was not her speciality, but in the two years she's been in her position, is fast becoming one. She now works for the church on a full-time basis working on planning for the pandemic and trying to get the word out to as many church members as possible. There were about 1400 people at the Saturday all-day seminar.
In her capacity, she works with the governor's pandemic committee and the federal pandemic planning agency. She also said a pandemic is coming - not 'maybe' but is DEFINITELY coming. She says the pandemic is expected within the next two years but she personally believes it will be 'sooner rather than later...' The various groups (CDC, WHO, etc...) do not know what the pandemic will be but 'first among their list of suspects is the avian bird flu. It's only one mutation away from being easily transmitted from birds to humans and from human to human.'
She said the World Health Organization expects 40% of the world population to become sick. Of those who become sick, they expect 50% will die. If you do the math - there are over 6 billion people on the earth today - that puts the death rate at over 1.4 billion people - and she says these deaths will happen over only a 3 to 4 month period of time.
Dr. Puls related that when the pandemic hits the US , mandatory quarantine's of all infected and NON-INFECTED peoples will occur within the first 48 hours. Only emergency personnel (Dr's, nurses, firemen, police, national guardsmen, etc...) will be allowed to leave their homes - not even to go to the store, etc... This quarantine will last during the duration of the 'pandemic cycle' which will last approximately three months.
Her main point was that everyone will need a *MINIMUM of 3 months supply of food at home* as the governments of the world will be overwhelmed within the first week and cannot be counted on to provide food, medical help, etc...
She only briefly spoke on the 'social disruption' that will occur and did not go into any detail about what plans may, or may not exist, to deal with this. However - think about this - if your neighbors (both those you know and strangers) run out of food and are starving how might they react? Then think of all the individuals who already live outside of the law and are only 'controlled' by our current legal system. How might they react when law enforcement becomes ineffectual due to illness among the ranks and those who abandon their jobs to stay home and protect their own families. Ditto for the national guard and our own military.
This isn't to scare anyone - just to provide a 'heads up' as 'to be forewarned is to be forearmed.'
That's the end of the e mail. I try and check the authenticity of emails such as this so I Googled Dr. Puls and was eventually linked to the Church's Provident Living website and was surprised to find that they have a section on Pandemic Planning under Home and Family Preparedness.
The government also had a website:
I found it very interesting that in the Church's new pamphlets on food storage, they recommend building your supply up to a three months supply. As you can see in the article, Dr. Puls states that everyone will need a minimum of three months supply of food at home.
I think this quote from Elder Perry's Conference Talk (Oct 2008) has application here:
*Thoreau's final necessity was fuel.* We have been hearing a lot about fuel and energy-about their high cost and limited supply, our unsafe and unpredictable dependence on their suppliers, and the need for new and sustainable sources of energy. I leave the discussion of these complicated issues to leaders of government and industry. The fuel I want to discuss is spiritual fuel.
The Lord has given us a beautiful plan about how we can return to Him, but the completion of our mortal journey requires spiritual fuel. We want to emulate the five wise virgins, who had stored sufficient fuel to accompany the bridegroom when he came (see Matthew 25:6-10 http://scriptures.lds.org/matt/25/6-10#6). What is required to maintain a sufficient store of spiritual fuel? We must acquire knowledge of God's eternal plan and our role in it, and then by living righteously, surrendering our will to the will of the Lord, we receive the promised blessings.
As Elder William R. Bradford taught at this pulpit: "In righteousness there is great simplicity. In every case that confronts us in life there is either a right way or a wrong way to proceed. If we choose the right way, we are sustained in our actions by the principles of righteousness, in the which there is power from the heavens. If we choose the wrong way and act on that choice, there is no such heavenly promise or power, and we are alone and are destined to fail" ("Righteousness,"/Liahona,/Jan. 2000, 103;/Ensign,/Nov...1999, 85).

Bree Is Ill


Myrna wrote: David called this a.m. about 8:30 a.m. He was heading to Grand Junction to the big regional hospital there. Bree had seizures last night and the doctors were unable to stop the seizures so they airlifted her to the hospital. Dad left right away, after getting the call, to go to be with David. We debated whether I should go or not but he didn't want to wait for Julie to get here to help with Rachel. He took his cell phone and promised he would call to let me know what the prognosis is.

Melanie wrote: Please call when you get any information.
Mel

Myrna wrote: I takes about 3 1/2 hours to get to Grand Junction, CO, from Nephi. Dad went down and spent the afternoon. While he was there, Bree had another seizure. When he got home tonight, he tried to call David but the phone was off. He said they both were tired, and since David was staying the night, perhaps they were both napping, but I think the hospital still may have been doing tests. Dad just called David's cell phone and not the room.

Just before Dad left, at 5 p.m., they were getting Bree ready to take her to have an MRI. They told them it would take about and hour before they would do the test. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) uses the magnetic properties of body tissues to create a detailed image of the brain. It takes about 45 minutes. When it is used for people with seizures, a certain protocol is followed, to be sure that there is a clear image of the areas of the brain where seizures are most likely to begin. 

Earlier they gave her an Electroencephalogram (EEG) to measures electricity in the brain (or brain waves). Electrodes are used to see if there are any seizures and/or any abnormalities that might lead to seizures. The doctors did not find anything wrong when they did that test. But, after that test she had another seizure.

Dad says the first seizure happened when everyone was asleep. Bree was up with Caydin and felt her arm go numb. She went to her mom's room and woke her before the seizure happened. The doctors at the nearby hospital were unable to stop or control the seizures so they sent her via air to St. Mary's hospital in Grand Junction. Dad says they have been keeping her quieted with medicine trying to keep things under control.

So she is in room 318 (or was, the nurse said they might move her) at St. Mary's in Grand Junction, CO.

I know you all love Bree, as I do, and are praying for her. I just worry that this might be some sort of flare up of the cancer she had as a child. I also pray that that is not the cause and that it is something simple. I have a friend at the temple, one of the 60 women I work with, who gets seizures whenever she gets a fever--even a low grade fever. I hope it is just something like that. The women has had this problem since she was a child and is 70 now. It is scary for her family but she just works to keep all fevers controlled.
Enough rambling. I love you all, M

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