3/9/2010 8:35 P.M.
Please pray for my nephew, Luka. He is 14 months old and the son of my brother and sister-in-law, Josh and Mandy (the missionaries in Uganda). Luka has been battling diarrhea for quite a while now and starting vomiting the middle of last week. He was on 2 different medications and they weren't really helping. Sunday he was quite lethargic as well, so Monday Josh and Mandy took him to a hospital in Kampala. He is still in the hospital; they tried to put an IV in so they could get fluids in him, but couldn't find a vein. So he now has a tube in his throat to get fluids in him. They are also worried about his kidneys shutting down because he hasn't gone to the bathroom in about 18 hours. He has also been diagnosed with 2 infections, of sorts, that are quite rare (I do not know which specific infections--I'd never heard of them!) He is in the best hospital Uganda has to offer, but it's still hard being so far away. Thank you for keeping Luka (and his family!) in your prayers. I will try to update you when I get word.
Love, Katie
3/10/2010 11:30 A.M.
Luka is not doing well. His kidneys are failing and he has become anemic. The British doctor in Kampala doesn’t know what is going on. All they know is that he needs to be medically evacuated to Nairobi, Kenya (ideally, they would go to South Africa, but there is not enough time to make that flight) for kidney dialysis and a blood transfusion.
Please pray for him, for Josh & Mandy, and for their two girls, Lydia & Grace, who are back in Soroti with Bobby & Rachel Kolb (our teammates).
Update 6:40 P.M.
There will be a prayer meeting Thursday 7:30pm at McBain CRC.
Luka is being transferred to a larger and better hospital in Norbie Kenya. He will be on a med plane between 10 and 11am and it takes a little over an hour to get there.
doctors will try to put a shunt in before dialysis.
his kidneys did shut down
he needs dialysis and blood transfusions
he is dealing with 2 bacterial infections
he is very anemic
3/11/10 12:40 P.M.
Here is an update on Luka--
Luka has hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) which is severe complete kidney failure usually in children. He (and Josh and Mandy) were evacuated to Nairobi, Kenya where Luka is in the ICU of a children's hospital there. He had surgery last night to have various tubes and wires put in, including the stint that will be used for dialysis. He now has 8 tubes/wires coming out of his little body and doesn't like any of them! They did do a blood transfusion and they've started dialysis and will continue it for 48 hours which is all the longer the machine can do it. At the end of the 48 hours, they will either reset the machine and do it for 48 hours again, or they will begin the next phase of dialysis, which will be everyday for at least 2 weeks (but they do not yet know how many hours of dialysis he will need each day). Luka does not seem to like the dialysis machine either and is very fussy! There is still a lot of talk of transferring them to a hospital in South Africa, but first need to get Luka stabilized; so for now they're in Kenya.
Please pray for:
--Luka, of course
--Josh and Mandy: they are completely exhausted and still have a long road ahead of them and lots of decisions to make
--their box of "goods": Bobby and Rachel (the people in Soroti whom Lydia and Grace are staying with) are sending a box of clothes and other goods to Josh and Mandy in Kenya. Pray that this box of goods does not get lost in the mail, get stashed in customs and that it will arrive soon!
--Lydia and Grace, who know Luka is sick, but do not know the seriousness of the situation
Thank God for:
--Mandy's blood type matched Luka's, so she was able to donate her blood for the tranfusion
--Luka does not have a fever, which means that the toxins haven't attacked his system as a whole
--Kids who started with diarrhea have a higher rate of recovery (Luka is in this category)
--the HUGE number of people worldwide who are praying. People have spread the word and our entire family is being lifed up in prayer; prayer meetings have been scheduled; people have been reaching out to us in love. We are thankful for these prayers and eagerly await God's answers!
Please keep praying!
Katie Shaarda
3/13/10 9:10 P.M.
Here are some more updates
1. The surgery for Luka went well. There was something wrong with the dialysis, there was not proper drainage, and something was blocked. But Luka is going good now. They found out he had a blood clot blocking the drainage. He is eating and drinking and on dialysis once again.
2. They got their passports!!!!!!!!!
We continue to pray for healing. All things are possible with God!!!
3/16/10 9:40 A.M.
Hello everyone,
Just so you know I will NOT be emailing any more because I can't keep up, BUT we will just update on the blog for now (the address is below). Please keep in touch by reading updates there and feel free to keep emailing us. Pass on the word to others too. Thanks.
Now for a quick update. The roller coaster continues. One minute feeling strong and encouraged, the next (right now) I am weak and worried. Luka is still in critical condition and that is a hard fact to swallow. Really hard. His oxygen levels are still not coming up so he has had two heart tests and a lung x-ray. We know one heart test came back normal but haven't heard on the other. We also know they saw something on the x-ray but are waiting to hear from the doctor. To be honest I am worried and can't handle any more. I just want Luka to be healthy. He seems sad today. I want to hold him again and see him walk and laugh. Okay, I am getting too emotional so I better just continue with the update.
Luka had another blood transfussion last night. We saw God's hand in that as we had 8 missionaries visit us and 6 of them had Luka's blood type. His dialysis is going well which we are very thankful for. The best news is he is producing urine again!
Sliedrechts and my mom arrived saftly in Uganda and are driving to Soroti now to be with our girls. Josh's sister and brother-in-law arrive to be with us tonight.
Thank you for continuing to lift Luka in prayer!!! For praying for all of us. We love reading all the encouraging emails (when we get a chance), hearing about prays in all the churches, and everyone willing to help us. Thank you all!
Josh & Mandy Shaarda
3/18/10 1 P.M.
Don't stop praying, but...
Luka Shaarda is no longer in critical condition!! He continues to undergo dialysis and is in the ICU, but the doctors are convinced he will make it. The dialysis is now only 23 hours per day so they can hold him and take him on a walk.
Grace and Lydia will soon join Mom, Dad and Luka and then they fly back to Grand Rapdis with Ryan and Rebecca to stay in Hudsonville with Mandy's parents.
Some have asked about financial need and there is need for money now they need $3,000 by this weekend (and they almost have that amount). They have had to borrow around $8,000. If anyone cares to give, make check out to Josh Shaarda, Paul Shaarda or McBain CRC and mail it to:
Paul and Carole Shaarda
PO Box 199
McBain, MI 49657
3/26/10 9:00 A.M.
Hi! It's been a few days, so I thought I'd send a quick Luka update.
Luka is still doing quite well and makes a little progress every day. He is off dialysis (miraculously!); they took his cathetar out; he eats a little bit more each day; he walks a bit and plays now. His critenan level is down to 90 and it needs to be 50 (it started out at like 430 or something, so praise God it's almost back to normal!). His urea level is still in the mid-20s and needs to be down to 4; the doctors are a bit confused as to why it's not going down, so they are watching that closely. His blood pressure is quite high as well, but the doctors said that that might be a lasting effect of HUS and it might have to be monitered for the next several years. Nights are hard; Luka has been waking up an crying a lot at night (last night was a good night, though, as he slept for 5.5 hours straight). All in all, though, he has made a lot of progress. The doctors are talking about releasing him next week. Josh and Mandy and Luka would then come to the US for Luka's continued care; however, there are only 2 airlines that they'd be able to take out of Nairobi and the stewardesses of one of them are on strike, so pray that they will be able to get a flight when they need one.
Mandy's mom, Mary, and Grace and Lydia arrived in Kenya yesterday. They, along with Ryan and Rebeka, will be leaving Kenya tomorrow night (afternoon, Michigan-time) and will arrive in GR about 4:40pm Thursday afternoon.
Thanks again for your support and prayer. It means so much to my family and me.
Katie
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