From Elise

Hi everyone!

Some of you have already heard the great news- Greg doesn't need a heart transplant!! Its been taken off the table for now because his biopsy came back negative and we are soooo grateful to the Lord for sparing us of going through it!!! Praise God!! We went out to dinner last night to celebrate and I haven't seen Greg in such good spirits in months!

We had an appointment yesterday at the hospital with a heart failure specialist. It was a great experience- the doctor met with us for nearly 2 hours, we have our own nurse coordinator, and they were extremely kind, warm, and caring. We left in better spirits than we've been in a while. Today I set up an appointment for Greg on next Monday to see a cardiothoracic surgeon. At this appointment we'll find out if Greg is going to have a mediastinoscopy (a minor surgery where they take biopsys of the pericardium - this would be done to better understand what is causing his pericardial problems) or if we're skipping the mediastinoscopy and doing the pericardial stripping (pericardectomy) next. We're hoping to have a time line for either surgery next Monday and to start moving towards them. Even though it is going to be a big ordeal getting Greg through the pericardial stripping (an open-heart surgery), it pales in comparison to a transplant, and we feel very encouraged. Greg is just ready to feel better and can't wait to move forward, even though things will certainly be tougher for a while.

I do have a few prayer requests that I'd like to share with you:

• Greg is struggling mightily with insomnia. Please pray that this is resolved before the surgery as insomnia is typically a big problem after open-heart.
• That we would understand all of the information that we are getting from doctors and would move ahead wisely.
• That our heat would start working! We've been without heat for 3 days now and the repair men keep trying to fix it but for some reason can't seem to get it right. Thankfully we have a space heater that Greg used during college which has helped bring the temperature up to 60 degrees but we know its costing us a lot to run it all day!
• For a good start to the semester and that we would be faithful in everything the Lord calls us to- whatever that looks like over the next few months (being on campus, surgery and me being home caring for Greg, etc.)

So that's a brief (but hopefully clear) update. Thank you so much for all of your prayers on our behalf. It means so much to us that you are lifting us up before the Lord and we are grateful for each of you!

Love,
Elise