Thank You's
 
 

5/31/2007

Dear Lifeline Chaplaincy:

As this fiscal year nears its close, I just wanted to take a moment to thank all of you at Lifeline Chaplaincy for all the help you’ve given our patients this year! You have truly been a God-send! Every patient and patient family you’ve helped has been so very appreciative. Many times it’s meant the difference between the family being able to visit the patient regularly or not. It certainly has helped with their quality of life by not having to choose whether to spend their limited monies on food and other needed expenses.

Many, many thanks from the bottom of my heart!

Most sincerely,

Penelope Loughhead, LMSW
Memorial Hermann Hospital – Texas Medical Center

May 19, 2007

Thank you all for such a wonderful ministry. I appreciate all the visits, prayers, communion and support for my family during my lengthy 2 month stay at Methodist Heart Center in Houston. It was so nice being so far away from our own congregation, but having brothers & sisters in Christ come to visit. Special thanks to Mary Harris, Diane Washington, Allen Thyssen, Paul Riddle, Lois Thompson, and Don & Helen Bryan and all the others that continued to pray for us.

In Christian love,
Lynda & Henry Churchwell

Rosa,

Thank you for the WalMart gift card you provided to my family after my husband, Kevin's, transplant surgery. It has come in very helpful with groceries and so many medical supplies needed once he was released from the hospital.

The gift was once again very appreciated since traveling from Dallas to Houston medicines & food exhausted our savings and it took all of our available funds to care for our household and travel expenses. Your organization is a "lifesaver." May God continue to bless you all each day.

Thank you again for your assistance.
Kevin & Leana Lankford

May 2006

Dear Compassionate Touch,

Thank you for your assistance with this patient's needs. When I gave him the confirmation information, he started to cry and couldn't believe that there were people as nice as LifeLine. He voiced that his life was at stake and knew that if he hadn't come to Houston he would not be alive today. He spoke about the cost of a life-how he didn't want to put a dollar amount to his; however, when he thought that he had no way to get back home he questioned whether it would have been better for his family if he had just died instead of having the rest of his and their lives to pay off the cost of his life. It was a good opportunity to explain that someone gave up his life for ours. Thanks for your help. And thanks for all those people who are caring enough to help patients and families as this one. They were truly grateful.

-Gloria Daughtry, LCSW

March 10, 2006

Dear Lifeline Chaplaincy:

On behalf of the Methodist Hospital Liver Transplant Team, I wish to thank you for your assistance with lodging and parking for a number of the liver transplant patients. Your timely responsiveness to the social workers' requests and willingness to assist a number of patients is most appreciated.

Liver Transplant patients often need to stay within a short distance of the Methodist Hospital during the transplant evaluation process and after transplant and discharge. This is often financially impossible for a number of the patients who have extensive out of pocket expenses related to transplant.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Philip Seu, M.D., Associate Professor
Department of Surgery
Director, Liver Transplant Center

    

February 18, 2007

Dear Pastor Fry-
It was a blessing to visit with you yesterday morning and have the opportunity to thank you for the assistance the ministry provided to our family at a very stressful time in our lives. We met you on our second trip to Houston.

Our daughter, Joy, had already had open heart surgery the Monday after Thanksgiving 1999 to replace her aortic arch and a section of her innominate artery with grafts due to significant aneurysms. We flew back home after about two weeks. On December 26th Joy developed a pleural effusion and was admitted to ICU in an area hospital with pneumonia where she remained for about two weeks. She became very weak, lost about 40 pounds, had an adverse reaction to one of her medications which left her with a flat affect and stroke like symptoms which produced depression for her. Things improved slowly and she was released to come home with us in hopes that being home would help her mental state to improve and that we could help her appetite improve so she could gain weight. Due to her lack of activity she had lost muscle tone and mass in her arms and chest so she started physical therapy. After her first session of PT she developed an area of soreness/redness at the incision scar line and within 2 days an abscess had developed. She was evaluated and treated by her local Cardiologist and referred to a local cardiothoracic surgeon who advised us we needed to return to Houston. After 2 days in our area hospital arrangements were made for us to return to Houston and we were told to plan on being there for at least six weeks.

My husband came down with the flu and would not be able to fly initially with us on the return trip. Being a "small town" person the trip was an emotional challenge for me but I knew I had to overcome any fears and reservations. I had to get my daughter where she needed to be and God answered our prayers - He helped us reach our destination safely. Social works at our local hospital and at Methodist Hospital in Houston were wonderful at making arrangements for our trip on short notice. So many things still remain a blur - "Footprints In The Sand" so I'm not absolutely sure how we came to the point of meeting you but we did. Arrangements were made for us to stay at an area motel that had a kitchen in our room and a laundry facility on site, which worked well. It was close to the hospital and was a comfortable place to "let down" after a long day at the hospital.
Our prayers were answered and instead of six weeks we were able to return home after two weeks of high dose antibiotics after a surgery to deride the abscessed site. The infection did not travel to the new grafts so they were not compromised. We were able to bring our daughter home to continue six weeks of IV antibiotics at home. Two trips to Houston in two months took its toll on our family in many ways but we'll always be thankful for the ultimate outcome, we were blessed to bring our daughter Joy home with us.

God blessed us at a very difficult time in our lives with the assistance of you and your ministry. It made the journey through our experience easier. We will always be thankful for the assistance and would like to support your efforts so others may be reached in their time of need too. The enclosed check is the first of many I hope to send.
You asked during our telephone conversation how our daughter is doing now. She has chronic pain/discomfort that she deals with, with a very positive attitude. She has been married for 6 years to a very supportive spouse. She works full time in addition to owning a business. She went back to college to receive a degree in business. Very active and realizes how blessed she is to be alive after all her health concerns. Please continue to remember our Joy in your prayers. She is going to be referred to Mayo Clinic for her health issues that continue to be on going.

Though we can't say "thank you" in person I'm sending pictures so you are able to put faces with names. May God continue to bless your hard work and efforts - it's greatly appreciated!

In Christian Love and Appreciation, Gale T.

April 15, 2006

Lauren, a social worker in the Medical Center, tells the story softly in her own words:

"A little girl from the Rio Grande Valley of Texas lay in her bed in the intensive care unit of Texas Children's Hospital. She was very ill. Her heart was very sick. And, she was nearing her eighth birthday and she was a long way from her family-her brothers and sisters. So, I called Lifeline and said, 'I know this is a special request. It's not a 'needy' need, but would it in any way be possible to bring this little girl's brothers and sisters to Houston so they can share her birthday with her?' Lifeline said 'yes,' and paid for all her family to travel to Houston. All the brothers and sisters, the mother and father, gathered in her room and together they celebrated her birthday. It was the last time the whole family got to be together because she didn't make it out of surgery. But, it was a happy time when they all shared her birthday with her. It was the best gift."

  
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