Subject: 10/01/02 Update from Kraig, Loren and Keren

Date: Tue, 01 Oct 2002 10:41:28 -0400

From: Kraig Warnemuende <ad6075@wayne.edu>

Dear all,

We had hard news yesterday with the results of Keren's blood tests. The results show that she has the chromosomal disorder Trisomy 18--to say the least, this is the main one we were NOT desiring for her. As you know, we all have 46 chromsomes--23 sets of pairs (Number 23 is the one that determines whether you're a boy or girl). Keren has 47 chromosomes, and the extra one comes from three chromosomes in the 18th set. (Some of you may be familiar with the fact that Down's syndrome is Trisomy 21--three of the 21st chromosome). Trisomy 18 is more severe than Down's; in fact, the majority of baby's with it do not live past their first year. There are different levels of severity, of course. A couple in our church had a little girl with Trisomy 18 who lived about 2 1/2 years, while we've heard other cases of babies who live only a few hours. Usually the main cause of death is related to respiratory failure.

So where is Keren on this scale? We can't say, and neither can the doctors. Every baby is different, and it's really a matter of her body and God's timing as to how long she has. Even if she's very healthy (which seems the case at the moment) she could go in an instant.

We are encouraged that her apnea seems to have decreased over the first seventy-two hours. She's breathing completely on her own right now. We still are totally amazed by her! The doctors' goal now is to assess her needs, what she can do on her own and what she needs help with, so that we can get her to the point where she can come live at home and we can care for her here. One item will be watching her breathing, while another will be getting her feeding down--she has to be fed with a feeding tube, and we are learning that process. However, she is eating well--and able to take my milk.

We're still digesting all of this information--obviously. We know God's got his hand on us all, even now, though of course we don't understand his plan. We can only trust him and enjoy every minute that we have with little Keren. She has touched our lives so much already, and we love being able to love her.

Please keep praying for Keren and for us--for our peace of mind and heart.

We'll keep you posted.

Love, Kraig, Loren and Keren