Hurting with those who hurt

My younger sister, Heidi, has had a tough seven months. She got married in May of 2010 to her high school sweetheart—the only good thing in a series of life-threatening things. Then a few weeks later, she had the first of three brain surgeries.


She almost died after the first one.

Then she had an elective surgery and the surgeon nicked her intestines, causing her entire thoracic cavity to become infected in addition to septicemia, an infection of the blood.

She’s been in ICU since a few days after the surgery in January. The last update we received from my mom was hopeful. An ICU nurse said there was an antibiotic to treat the antibiotic resistant infection my sister was suffering from.

The nurse lied. 

What she did may have seemed like a kindness, but it wasn’t. It gave false hope. It got my mom’s spirits up, only to be crashed a week later when there were more pockets of infection found and she heard the truth about how no antibiotics can help my sister.

The doctors have no idea how long Heidi will be in the ICU or if she’ll ever leave.

I’m telling you all this to ask you to do something differently than one of my sister’s nurses did. I’m asking you to hurt with the hurting right now in a way that will give true hope and peace.

Please pray for my sister, her husband and son, my mom, and my family. I’m five hundred miles away and feel helpless. But I know we’re not. Prayer is powerful and can change everything.

If you want to go a step further and comfort someone who is struggling and afraid, below is an address for my sister. We’ll be sending some cards to cheer her up and let her know we’re praying. Would you consider doing that too?

Heidi Little
Baptist Hospital East, room 337 ICU
Louisville, Ky. 40207

Thank you for listening. Thank you for praying. We appreciate that more than words can express.