Next Prayer Service

From: Meg & Max Koss [mailto:kossfamily@comcast.net] Sent: Tuesday, June 26, 2007 11:37 AM
Meg and Max Koss
6311 Walker DriveTroy, MI 48085
mk3013@yahoo.commegkoss@comcast.net
tel: tel2:mobile:
(248)828-4419 Home(248)840-2433 Meg Cell(248)709-1278 Max Cell

The next prayer service for families and the sick especially our children will be this Sunday at 3:00pm at St. Anastasia in the Chapel. I will keep all your prayers in my heart. If you have additional prayer requests please let me know. If you can not be there feel free to pray along from home. We will be praying the rosary and the Chaplet of divine Mercy.
God Bless
Love Meg


Chase seems to be on the rebound once again – the latest infection seems to have subsided and his bloodwork this week was much improved. He’s once again making progress with breathing over the vent, although it’s still a bit spotty. The changes that are being detected through Chase’s neurofeedback sessions continue to be promising. We are now conducting treatments daily and the EEG signal map is showing more and more delta wave activity, which is very encouraging. We are about to begin using a new protocol that has been successful at helping people in comas to become responsive. We’re hoping to be able to report some more progress soon. Please continue to keep our whole family in your daily prayers – we appreciate all the support!

God Bless!!

John & Carol Sammut
Chase & Barbara Ann

Chase is Hanging in There

Chase is continuing to do his best to “hang in there” while his status remains fairly stable at the moment. His bloodwork last week showed another drop in his hemoglobin level and we immediately did a blood culture – suspecting an infection. Fortunately, we were aggressive with the diagnosis as the lab confirmed the infection the next day and we immediately began treating with IV antibiotics again. Chase’s doctor suspects that we didn’t treat his condition long enough the last time and perhaps there’s a residual pocket of bacteria somewhere that wasn’t knocked out. We’re hoping to get it taken care of this time with a longer treatment. Up until that point, Chase had started making progress again with his breathing over the vent and the rest of his vitals and bloodwork were very stable.

We recently started using a Continuous Passive Motion (CPM) machine to provide more consistent and regular exercise for Chase’s legs throughout the day – research has shown that this approach can help accelerate brain repair. Ironically, the home-based EEG and brain stimulation treatment that was conducted this week showed more amplitude in his brainwave activity again – although it seems too soon to be related to the use of the CPM machine.

Nevertheless, this is clearly getting to the weary stages of this battle for everyone including Chase. He’s such a fighter and a strong trooper that his ability to continually respond and overcome these hurdles never ceases to amaze us. However, if he doesn’t start to turn the corner soon, we’re just not sure how much longer to expect him to sustain this fight. While we’re doing our best to keep the faith along the way, this is an incredibly exhausting journey. We keep praying to the Holy Spirit to provide wisdom, strength, and comfort in the situation so that we can more clearly understand God’s will for the direction we should proceed with Chase.

Thanks again for all the prayers and support!

God Bless!!

John & Carol Sammut
Chase & Barbara Ann

Prayer Service for Chase

Sorry for the late notice, but the monthly prayer service for Chase is scheduled for tomorrow – the first Sunday of the month at 3 pm. It will be held at St. Anastasia once again for one hour and we will be including intentions for all sick children and their families.

Chase seems to have responded well, once again, to the antibiotic treatment of his blood infection. His hemoglobin is on the rebound and the rest of this bloodwork looked much better this past week. He is also starting to initiate more of his breathing again (not as much as he did a couple of weeks ago) and hopefully this will continue as his hemoglobin rebounds.

We also conducted another home-based EEG this past week along with a series of brain stimulation treatments. The response was quite significant – a major shift in the frequencies of his brainwaves in every region of the brain – much more delta activity, which is a very positive change. We don’t know what this means yet, other than the fact that his brain isn’t inert – there is definitely a change taking place and we’re hoping that it continues. The developer of this system is encouraged and has suggested using a new protocol that has been effective at stimulating even more rapid changes in brainwave activity.

Thanks again for all the prayers and support! Chase is continuing to make us proud as a strong fighter – he has such an incredible spirit that it’s very inspiring.

God Bless!!

John & Carol Sammut
Chase & Barbara Ann