I have been meaning to do this blog earlier, but had Daisy and Kemp all last week....
Anyways, PLEASE pray for my sweet, beautiful, amazing friend Amy. I am going to copy and paste her story from Caringbridge so you can get the background on her...
Background Story
The most important thing you can know about Amy is that she has a strong faith in Jesus Christ. She walks daily with Him and has leaned on Him throughout her life. The light of Jesus Christ shines through Amy and in her you can see the fruit of His Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, and meekness.
Amy was born on June 16, 1985. Amy's immediate family is her mom, Tommye, stepdad, Kerry, and sister, Lauren. She also has a stepmother, four step-sisters and uncles, aunts, cousins, coworkers, and friends who love her. Amy has been in a serious dating relationship with the love of her life, David Boyd for five years.
At two months, Amy was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. In 2003, after seventeen years of hospital stays and lung and digestive issues, Amy required a lung transplant to continue living her sweet life.
Amy, her sister Lauren, and I relocated to St. Louis, MO in June, 2003 to wait for God to provide lungs for Amy, expecting a wait of several months to possibly a year or two. Within a week of listing, Amy received her lungs and her brand new life.
Amy uses the gift of new life provided through the generous gift of lungs offered from a grieving family to the glory of God. She lives her life to the fullest. Only six months after transplant she entered the University of Alabama as a full-time student. Amy chose nursing as a major because in Amy's words, "other than my faith and my family, nurses have had the biggest impact on my life. More than just taking care of my health, nurses have held me, rocked me, loved me, entertained me, and supported me. I believe God used my life to prepare me to give back to other children and their families who also have needs."
While at UA, Amy was a dean's list and sometimes president's list student. She was a member of the Delta Zeta sorority. Amy decided that she wanted her nursing degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, was accepted into their nursing program, and received her BSN (BS in nursing) in December 2008. She became a nurse in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) at Children's Hospital in January 2009 and has been employed in the NICU at Children's since that time.
Amy has been working full time on her MSN (Master Degree Nursing) as a Nurse Practitioner and is now in the final semesters. At the time she became ill, Amy was precepting with Dr. Amy Albert, a gifted pediatrician, at Alabama Pediatrics Clinic in Homewood, Alabama.
Amy has a quiet, gentle calming nature. She loves her Lord, David, and her family and friends. She loves the babies she gets to care for in the NICU. Amy enjoys hanging out with her boyfriend, David, music, shopping, travel, and is a roller-coaster enthusiast! She loves college fooball, the New Orleans Saints, and is a fierce fantasy football competitor. Amy enjoys holidays and especially Christmas. She celebrates remembering the birth of her Lord with enthusiasm, decorating, shopping, and with David, hosting an annual Christmas party.
Amy has had an excellent outcome with her lung transplant. Other than an occasional sinus infection that required antibiotic therapy, Amy has had no issues. She has never encountered any rejection, and her last hospital stay for treatment was in 2007, almost four years ago.
The illness Amy now has is completely unrelated to her cystic fibrosis but is complicated by the immunosuppressant therapy that is required to prevent her from rejecting her transplanted lungs.
Amy unexpectedly came down with a sudden onset of fever on Saturday, February 19th. The fever continued through Sunday but seemed to subside on Sunday night. However, on Monday morning Amy experienced excruciating pain in her left side so severe that her transplant team referred her immediately to the ER. While in the ER, Amy was diagnosed with pneumonia, admitted into the hospital, and placed on IV antibiotic treatment, continous fluids, and some other treatments. We learned on Tuesday, February 22, that the infection had spread to Amy's bloodstream and that it was caused by a bacteria called Streptococcus Pneumoniae. On Wednesday, February 23, Amy's condition began to worsen. Throughout the day and night Amy continued to deteriorate. After trying all options to provide oxygen and control her blood gases, especially her CO2, which at that time had increased to 75, Amy was diagnosed with respiratory failure and placed on the ventilator. On Friday, Feb 25th Amy also developed renal failure and placed on continuous dialysis.
Please keep Amy is your constant prayers.
Amy was born on June 16, 1985. Amy's immediate family is her mom, Tommye, stepdad, Kerry, and sister, Lauren. She also has a stepmother, four step-sisters and uncles, aunts, cousins, coworkers, and friends who love her. Amy has been in a serious dating relationship with the love of her life, David Boyd for five years.
At two months, Amy was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. In 2003, after seventeen years of hospital stays and lung and digestive issues, Amy required a lung transplant to continue living her sweet life.
Amy, her sister Lauren, and I relocated to St. Louis, MO in June, 2003 to wait for God to provide lungs for Amy, expecting a wait of several months to possibly a year or two. Within a week of listing, Amy received her lungs and her brand new life.
Amy uses the gift of new life provided through the generous gift of lungs offered from a grieving family to the glory of God. She lives her life to the fullest. Only six months after transplant she entered the University of Alabama as a full-time student. Amy chose nursing as a major because in Amy's words, "other than my faith and my family, nurses have had the biggest impact on my life. More than just taking care of my health, nurses have held me, rocked me, loved me, entertained me, and supported me. I believe God used my life to prepare me to give back to other children and their families who also have needs."
While at UA, Amy was a dean's list and sometimes president's list student. She was a member of the Delta Zeta sorority. Amy decided that she wanted her nursing degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, was accepted into their nursing program, and received her BSN (BS in nursing) in December 2008. She became a nurse in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) at Children's Hospital in January 2009 and has been employed in the NICU at Children's since that time.
Amy has been working full time on her MSN (Master Degree Nursing) as a Nurse Practitioner and is now in the final semesters. At the time she became ill, Amy was precepting with Dr. Amy Albert, a gifted pediatrician, at Alabama Pediatrics Clinic in Homewood, Alabama.
Amy has a quiet, gentle calming nature. She loves her Lord, David, and her family and friends. She loves the babies she gets to care for in the NICU. Amy enjoys hanging out with her boyfriend, David, music, shopping, travel, and is a roller-coaster enthusiast! She loves college fooball, the New Orleans Saints, and is a fierce fantasy football competitor. Amy enjoys holidays and especially Christmas. She celebrates remembering the birth of her Lord with enthusiasm, decorating, shopping, and with David, hosting an annual Christmas party.
Amy has had an excellent outcome with her lung transplant. Other than an occasional sinus infection that required antibiotic therapy, Amy has had no issues. She has never encountered any rejection, and her last hospital stay for treatment was in 2007, almost four years ago.
The illness Amy now has is completely unrelated to her cystic fibrosis but is complicated by the immunosuppressant therapy that is required to prevent her from rejecting her transplanted lungs.
Amy unexpectedly came down with a sudden onset of fever on Saturday, February 19th. The fever continued through Sunday but seemed to subside on Sunday night. However, on Monday morning Amy experienced excruciating pain in her left side so severe that her transplant team referred her immediately to the ER. While in the ER, Amy was diagnosed with pneumonia, admitted into the hospital, and placed on IV antibiotic treatment, continous fluids, and some other treatments. We learned on Tuesday, February 22, that the infection had spread to Amy's bloodstream and that it was caused by a bacteria called Streptococcus Pneumoniae. On Wednesday, February 23, Amy's condition began to worsen. Throughout the day and night Amy continued to deteriorate. After trying all options to provide oxygen and control her blood gases, especially her CO2, which at that time had increased to 75, Amy was diagnosed with respiratory failure and placed on the ventilator. On Friday, Feb 25th Amy also developed renal failure and placed on continuous dialysis.
Please keep Amy is your constant prayers.
Please pray for Amy! You can follow her CaringBridge at: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/amycrews/journal
Thanks so much!
