Prayers for Christa

I just received an e-mail from my alma mater asking for prayers for Christa Herbert, a young pregnant mother who was recently diagnosed with colon cancer. Please keep her and her family in your prayers. Christa and her husband Todd are quite courageous and a beautiful example. They are asking for us to pray for the intercession of John Paul II.

You can read updates about Christa here. Below is a short excerpt from the site:
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The first 3 doctors I saw all indicated that a 'therapeutic termination' of pregnancy would be my best option to increase the chance of long term survival (>5 yrs). However we didn't find that that option would be very therapeutic to our child so we told them that it wasn't possible. I could kind of relate to the early Christians in that exam room that day, "kill your child or die!" - ok, so maybe I am over dramatizing it, but that's what it felt like.

Nobody could agree on any possibility of a positive outcome if I didn't just kill the kid and start on my merry treatment. Very uncreative from my viewpoint, and especially coming from a major research hospital, I would expect more than the one surgical option they offered me.

Anyway, Todd and I the next day, went for a meeting with surgeon #2 very disheartened- expecting more of the same. However, he did not give us that, in fact he didn't even mention it. He actually had several surgical options which could possibly take place in the 2nd trimester. He had already consulted research and 3 other surgeons from across the country and anesthesiologists to see what they could do for me in my unique circumstances. He is a man of faith and stated that he was committed to preserving both lives present even though many don't see it that way. Yes, that is what I expect from a major teaching institution. We were very encouraged and will likely be having surgery somewhere in my second trimester. Whether chemo would be added afterwards is yet to be seen- somewhat dependant on my surgery results.
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