WAYS TO HELP

**Update: As of 1:54pm** Greg called and said Angela's family (Greg & Chanin will be the points of contact) is working on organizing efforts to help Troy & Angela. Please feel free to click on "comments" at the end of this post if you can volunteer in one of these areas or another area that comes to mind.

I have Greg's phone number and email address so that I can pass the information on and get you together with Greg & Chanin to coordinate the details.

Please pray & search yourself to see if you are the perfect candidate for one of these Helps. If you would like to volunteer for any of these Helper positions please click on "comments" at the bottom of the post. These are ideas that I thought of as ways to help Troy & Angela. I may have more to add as time goes by.

Troy said he appreciates so much how many people have offered to help him. THANK YOU : )

1) Prayer partners:
People dedicated to praying every day for Angela, Troy, their girls, Angela's family, & Angela's medical team. If you are a prayer partner please click on "comments" at the end of this post and let Troy know you are standing with them in daily prayer.

2) Drop off/pick up Minister:
This volunteer is needed as a central person where Troy or Angela's family can have things dropped off or picked up at.

For instance if you are volunteering as the laundry minister Troy would drop off the laundry here and the laundry minister will pick it up and then deliver it back to this location for Troy to pick up; or if you are donating vitamins, gift cards, meals, or any other gifts this will be where Troy or his family can pick them up from and volunteers can drop the items off at.

This person or family will need to be someone or a family who sees Troy and/or Angela's family pretty frequently. Perhaps a fellow church member, Pastor, or close friend or family member. This is an important helper position that will bless the family by reducing the stress and time of going back & forth or having numerous visits to their home if they need to rest.

3) Care provider for Rachel & Anna:
Anna needs all day care or preschool. Troy wants to keep her as stable as possible instead of having her go from one person to another (He thanks everyone who has helped so far!) Anna's care provider is a very important person so we are asking The Lord for just the right one whether it be a person or a daycare facility.

Rachel needs to be picked up from school and brought safely home each day. She needs a positive person for this ministry to help her feel hopeful and secure while mommy recovers.

4) Laundry Minister : )
During the next week or so, I'm sure someone who will minister by taking care of Troy & the girl's laundry would be such a blessing and one less task for him to have to take care of.

5) Dinner Minister
Over the next 7 days especially if you can provide a healthy meal for the girls for dinner please let us know.

6) Gift Card for the grocery store nearby, Walmart , or local gas station:
If you would like to stop by the grocery store, Walmart, or local gas station (maybe Q.T.) & pick up a gift card this would be a wonderful & practical way to help Troy while Angela is recovering.

7) Vitamin Minister:
Specifically Vitamin C; B vitamins; odorless garlic... anything that boosts immunity. Troy needs to keep up his strength to care for his family.

Specific Prayer Requests From Troy

The following are the issues most important to Troy at the moment.

1) Please focus your prayers on the next 7 days for Angela. Getting sick could cause her brain to swell & result in a stroke. Please pray for The Lord to command the functioning of Angela's bodily functions and sustain them toward health & recovery. Especially ask that He prevent Angela's stomache from working against her.

2) Troy desperately wants to keep as stable an environment as possible for Rachel and Anna. He is in the process of making arrangements for their daily care. He does not want them shuffled around from person to person if at all possible. Specific prayers include: Picking up Rachel from school; Daily care for Anna; Care for Anna during the day once Angela comes home; Care for the girls once Angela comes home.

3) Financial wisdom & direction during this time

A Message From Troy 1/9/07 10:21am AZ Time

When Troy called this morning he said "There are so many people who have offered to help if they can, people I work with, friends, ..... so many people. I can't believe how many! It just blows me away, and is SUCH a blessing"

Update as of 1/9/07 10:21am Arizona Time

Angela made it safely through surgery and is in recovery now. The team said her procedure went well. She had alot of fluid on the brain which was a great concern, however here is God's hand in all of this-----> Today when Troy came in the room she recognized him right away and Angela asked where the girls were. Then when they were talking about little Anna possibly having to go to daycare, she asked "How are you going to afford that?" SHE IS PROCESSING THOUGHT!!!! WHOOOOHOOO!!!! THANK YOU LORD, YOU ARE SO AWESOME!!! \O/

Now, she has a catheter attached to her head to drain fluid and the team said her latest CT scan shows that the coil procedure took nicely and they were positive about her status.

The next 7 days are pivotal for her. The surgeon team said the obstacle she faces is getting sick which could cause her brain to swell and possibly cause a stroke. So we really need to focus our prayers on asking The Lord to spare Angela from getting sick to her stomache. The bible shows us He knows the count of the very hairs on our head, so asking Him for this is putting our faith in the fact that Jesus is Lord over all of Angela's physical well being and all the parts of her body and their functioning.

"For The Lord is good and His mercy endures forever" !

Update 5:06pm AZ Time

Dad Kohls just called and stated that the surgeon has changed his decision to clamp the aneurysm through surgery into the skull. Instead they are going to do a coil operation. **Please see links at end of page for more information and other patient testimonies from those who have gone through suffering a burst aneurysm**

This operation requires going through the groin area with a catheter and inserting a platinum coil into the aneurysm essentially to drain it and "starve" it.

Although, it is a scary idea, actually this procedure has a very good success rate for patients, and I felt encouraged that Angela would not have to endure brain surgery. She does have quite a bit of blood on the brain.

Some more encouraging news: Angela recognizes Troy and is talking a little bit. She is aware of what is going on which is GREAT news since she is able to recieve information and process it. THANK YOU LORD JESUS!!! YOU ARE AN AWESOME GOD!! \O/

She should be going in for surgery sometime this evening, so let's pray for The Lord to put His hands in the surgeon's hands and for angels to be posted within the operating room to keep the enemy away.

I'm reminded of a battle that the Israelites fought once. They began praising The Lord and worshipping Him as they moved toward the enemy.... well their enemies got so confused that they actually slaughtered one another and the Lord's people won the battle with sheer PRAISE!!! Here is what they sang: "For The Lord is good and His mercy endures forever!"

Let's worship The Lord for how much He loves His daughter Angela and for the progress she is making so far. Let's praise Him that she is talking, she has smiled a couple of times, and she recognizes her hubby.

Let's worship Him that He has provided Angela with friends and family around her who love and support her.

This battle is not ours, but The Lord's.... Amen.

LINKS:
http://www.westga.edu/~wmaples/brain16.html - Patient Testimonies

http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?pg=dc-embol&bhcp=1 **GOOD INFO ON ANGELA'S PROCEDURE**

Things I love about Angela

Oh my gosh!! Her cooking is YUMMYLICIOUS!!! She makes the best meals!!

Going to Starbucks for coffee! Whenever I'm home in Nebraska we girls make a b-line for the coffee shop and a great time of laughing and talking together. Awesome...Awesome : )

Her crafting talents amaze me! She always has the neatest ideas and the most fun! She made our daughter Grace a beautiful cozy fleece blanket one year that she still has and loves.

Thrift store shopping together!! Oh yeah baby!! Look out! hahahahaa!!!

Her sense of humor and easy going nature. I love it! Angela is so cool! She makes it fun no matter what's going on and where we are.

I have been so blessed to have Angela for a sister-in-law... she is more than I could have wished for by far.

Update 1/8/07 1:07pm AZ time

Troy called and said that the surgeon wants to move Angela to a different facility. The aneurysm is in the middle part of the brain which poses additional risks for surgery that the current facility is not equipped to handle. The surgeon at the new facility will perform an operation to clamp the aneurysm, and the surgery requires entry through the skull.

Troy admitted being very scared and frustrated that he can't do anything to alleviate Angela's pain. He mentioned that last night she said "my head hurts, my head hurts" every 2-3 mins. although she is being given massive amounts of morphine and other medications. It broke his heart to see her this way. He's also scared about the surgery risks. Please pray for him and for Angela's family as they go through this with her.

Troy had to go, in order to make arrangements for the girls and make a few more calls. We did not get to pray together at the time, but I told him we are praying for them.

He also loved the idea of this blog so that everyone can talk together and know what's happening. He said he would let us know what room she is in and so forth once they get her safely transferred to the new facility.