Richard heading in for 2nd ERCP procedure

Posted on May 31, 2009 by richard

Calling out to all prayer warriors!!

I’m writing to you from Richard’s hospital room. We’ve been here for a week and a half, originally admitted for fluid in the abdomen and jaundice. We’ve since come to find out that he indeed has an obstruction in his bile duct. Last Thursday, he had and ERCP procedure (in-depth endoscopy) that placed two stents in the liver bile duct. Today we found out that the stents were not successfully helping the obstruction and, hence, he had to go in for CT scan this afternoon. This evening, we received a phone call from the doctor informing us that they want to go in again tomorrow (Sunday) to perform a second ERCP, in hopes of repositioning the previously-inserted stents.

This is where we’re at. We will be heading to UCLA Westwood early tomorrow morning for the procedure.

The battle rages and we believe the WAR has escalated on both Spiritual and physical fronts. We KNOW you are praying on our behalf and we soooo appreciate it! We are continually seeking the Presence of God, first and foremost, and we believe we’re called to stand in faith. We’ve sought the wisdom of the medical community and they are doing the best that they can, but the Lord is the ONLY One who can heal Richard of this disease; the only One who can remove the symptoms; the only One who can restore his body to its healthy state. Conventional medicine offers only temporary hope, which is why we seek and put our Hope in the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth!! Our God healed the sick, caused the blind to see… and was resurrected from the dead after three days… He CAN heal Richard of cancer! Why do we believe this? Because God’s character has never changed. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. If He healed then, He can heal now! Please stand with us, believing for the Lord to touch Richard, even tonight.

Thank you again! Thank you for your prayers, encouragement, love, acts of service and offers to bless us with your talents. I have been completely blown away at how the Lord has perfectly orchestrated people to be at our hospital door when we’ve needed it the most! Thusfar we’ve had 4-5 Christian nurses pray over Richard… the last one was today….in Spanish. i told Richard that I’m encouraged that he’s going to walk away from this situation healed AND fluent in spanish! Now that would be a miracle 😉 COME LORD!!!

Maria (and Richard)

P.S. If you are led to send correspondence or words of encouragement, please do so. However, I will most likely NOT be able to respond, for obvious reasons. Thanks for understanding.

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Richard is in the Hospital…

Posted on May 27, 2009 by richard

Happy Tuesday (fast day) morning to you all!

I am writing to you from UCLA hospital. I wanted to get you up-to-date so that you have a clearer sense of our situation and, hence, how to better pray for us.

Richard was admitted to the hospital last Wed. because of fluid in his abdomen, legs and some jaundice. We have come to find out that he has an obstruction (most probably) is a liver bile duct. TOMORROW, he is scheduled for an ERCP procedure, which is a glorified endoscopy that will allow them to locate the obstruction and take measures to open it up right there and then, either the roto-rooter way or by inserting a stent. And to top it off, this morning that they want to start him on antibiotics for probable pneumonia, though he doesn’t have a fever or chills, Praise God!

On a spiritual note, we are both doing incredibly well and know that we’re being supported in prayer and fasting by all of you!! God is soooo good and we stand amazed at how He has shown up everyday here. His presence has been felt in such tangible ways at moments that it’s hard describe. In fact, we’ve had three nurses pray with us since coming plus incredible times of prayer and worship in our room throughout this last week. The oncology dept will never be the same!

Richard is tired and the pain medicine makes him even more groggy. He is a reflection of Jesus to EVERYONE who enters the room asking them where they are from and about their families. His humor is much-need levity in this situation, which is of no surprise to those of you who know Richard well. In fact, today, the physical therapist asked him, “what brought you here to the hospital?”, and Richard replied, “… I wanted to get closer to the ocean.”

Both Richard’s mom and my mom are here for support. We are excited to have the two most fervent prayer warriors we know here in the room, interceding for us and believing for healing, no matter what the doctors/physicians/nurses may come in and tell us.

Thank you for continued prayer. May the Lord give those of you who are fasting a double portion of grace today. Know that you will be attacked, especially because THIS WAS HAS ESCALATED!!! Press in!!

We love you all!!

Maria and Richard

P.S. If you are led to send correspondence or words of encouragement, please do so. However, I will most likely NOT be able to respond, for obvious reasons. Thanks for understanding.

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Urgent prayer need for Richard Felipe

Posted on May 21, 2009 by richard

Hey all.
As the staff is learning more information about the situation with Richard- it seems the first information we got was a little unclear. Turns out Richard is checked into the hospital to address a situation with his liver – not kidneys. Please keep the family up in prayer. From what I have heard, the doctors should be able to address the pain that Richard is having right now.
As far as the info on his organs “shutting down” goes – that was passed on in the first message – we’re not sure it was completely founded…- please understand that this info is getting passed through many people before it comes through me to you…

Let’s make sure to keep calm and praying…

——————–

Subject: Correction***Richard***

Hi everyone,

This morning an email went out to all of you regarding Richard. I just spoke with Liberty and Maria and I wanted to send out an email to clarify the reason Richard was admitted to the hospital as we just got an update.

He was admitted to the hospital because of fluid in the abdomen. He is also having some tests done on his liver over the next couple of days.

There is no need to panic, only to continue to pray for His peace, joy and for the presence of Jesus to be with them.

Please stand in the gap for him wherever you are and please do not try to contact them or visit them in the hospital right now.

In Him,

Vanessa Sokic
——————–

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THE FELIPE’S ARE CALLED TO REST

Posted on May 8, 2009 by richard

Hello family, friends, fellow prayer warriors and fasters!! 😉

Please accept my deepest apologies for being incomunicado since our last e-mail. The trip to Redding, CA (Bethel church and school of ministry) was amazing and we saw the Lord show up on so many levels!! The atmosphere there is most definitely charged with the Spirit of God and we left with a renewed hope and greater understanding that the Lord most definitely DESIRES and WILLS for Richard to be healed, both spiritually and physically. The biggest directive Richard was given in Redding (and before) was TO REST; not to pour out at this time; he was simply to receive.

Since returning, Richard biggest struggle has been to do just that. His body is weak right now and it’s Richard’s very nature to want to inquire, encourage, pray for and/or minister to others. However, we’ve been given the clear instruction that now is not the time to pour out, bare testimonies, give frequent updates, and/or be involved in outside activities because Richard is in need of not only physical rest, but spiritual rest as well. Per Richard, the Lord instructed him to rest over two years ago and he didn’t know exactly what that meant or how to apply it to his life. Slowing down to 100 mph IS considered rest to a guy who was used to going 150+mph on any given day (whether it was work or play). However, we’ve determined (the hard way!) that when the Lord says REST, you REST. STOP means STOP.

I know I’m being extremely vague and I cannot express how much we desire to give a detailed account of exactly what brought us to this determination, but it’s more important that we obey what we know the Lord has asked Richard to do: REST. I’m doing my best to help facilitate that, which is a major factor in why this update is so late in coming. At this time, the definition of rest is: limited contact with family/friends, no computer, phone or texting. In fact, in order to remove the temptation, Richard handed me his cell phone last Wednesday (for those who know Richard know how big a step that was).

We want to assure you that God is clearly doing a healing in Richard’s life: spiritually and physically. We are fully expecting that the physical manifestation of healing is to come and we ask that you stand with us for that. We thank you for supporting us in this time of rest and for helping to remove the temptation not to.

SPECIFIC PRAYER REQUEST:
1) The most recent Pet Scan (taken a month ago) showed movement and more cancerous activity. In light of that, we are in need of wisdom in regards to pursue or not to pursue further treatment: chemo, alternative, a combination, or none at all. We know that the Lord can heal Richard at any moment but we also know that He has given the medical community understanding in many areas of the human body. Right now, we are barraged with options, suggestions, opinions, and we want to make the right decision for us; to prayerfully consider and know what is the next best step.

2) Pain Management! Richard has been experiencing chronic pain in his entire back, hips and upper thighs. Trying to deal with the pain and get pain management under control has been our main focus these past 6 weeks. {we have become sooo empathtic for people who have to live with chronic pain… it’s all-consuming at times and with it comes great fatigue for lack of sleep} We have had moments of breakthrough but nothing longstanding. We are praying for total removal of pain!

3) To resist any temptations that are contrary to rest.

4) That Richard would gain back the weight he lost and, in doing so, would be more energized.

PLEASE DON’T GROW WEARY IN THIS FIGHT! We desperately need the church body to lift us up in prayer and to intercede to the Father on our behalf. We trust and know that the Lord is meeting each of you as you take steps to meet with him on our behalf!

Our faith is strong because of Whom we have faith in and we truly desire to walk that out, but there are times when we grow tired and trust that all of you are pressing in for us at those moments!

We love and appreciate you all and know that the Lord has purposed this time in our lives for greater things; Kingdom things… even more that we can imagine! How cool to walk it through with you all – Thank you!

RANDOM INQUIRY: To help relieve the chronic aches and pains, Richard is often (sometimes 3-5 times a night) taking hot baths. This isn’t the most comfortable, however, and we had a thought of putting a jacuzzi in the back patio, so that he could stretch out and do his exercises while soaking. Does anyone have or know someone who has a jacuzzi that is just sitting vacant and would be willing to donate or let us borrow? I’m keeping an eye open on Craigslist, but thought I’d throw it out there to y’all as well. If you do, please drop me an e-mail (with subject line: jacuzzi). Thanks

-Maria Felipe (Abeyta)

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And the saga continues…

Posted on April 7, 2009 by richard

Hello family and friends that we consider family!! 😉

And the saga continues… I was hoping that this week’s reminder e-mail was going to be filled with an update about how the immune protocol (alternative treatment) was progressing but, unfortunately, we’ve had to take a reprieve (God willing, a short one) from the treatment.

Quick update: Richard had faithfully been on the immune protocol since March 7th. For three weeks we were in an intensive regimen of supplements/IV and a strict Vegan diet. All was going considerably well until just over a week ago when his ‘minor’ back pain became ‘MAJOR’! Though he had suffered mid-back pain ever since receiving an epidural in his mid-back for surgery in September, the pain had started creeping to his lower back during this past month. Definite discomfort, but mangeable. Well, we never could have anticipated the back pain he’s currently experiencing. About a week and a half ago, his lower back pain became practically unbearable. He couldn’t find relief in any position and he had about 4 sleepless nights. The doctors put him on Oxycodone which gave his some relief, lasting only 2-3 hours at a time. After minimal relief, last Thursday we went to our oncologist and described the pain. He scheduled and MRI for the next day (last Friday) to rule out that there was a tumor mass that would, perhaps, be pressing against Richards spine. PRAISE GOD that was ruled out. No tumor mass on the spine/in the spinal column or surrounding bones. However, the oncologist did want to schedule a PET scan for this Wed (day after tomorrow) b/c the pathologist did see something “weird” in the muscle that extends from the buttocks to the groin and in the upper thigh area. “Weird” was the technical term used (no joke). We are believing that this will turn out to be nothing serious as well, BUT PLEASE KEEP THIS IN YOUR PRAYERS TOMORROW! (FYI: Pet Scan scheduled for 8:15am Wed morn)

Additionally, the oncologist believed that Richard should be on a stronger, slower acting but more powerful, pain medication: Oxycontin. Basically, it’s a narcotic, like morphine. It has helped to decrease the pain somewhat (not totally), but there are several tradeoffs:
drowsiness, nausea, constipation. So, at this moment, Richard is still trying to manage the pain with hot epson salt baths.
Unfortunately, he can barely keep his eyes open b/c of the drowsiness and the nausea leaves him with NO appetite. This is the most concerning to me b/c he had already lost 4-5 lbs on the vegan diets (which was at least healthy), but now with lack of diet, he’s lost about another 5-8 lbs. I’m doing my best to encourage him to eat and drink and he’s getting something down each day, but it’s been difficult seeing him tired, lethargic and skinnier.

There’s a chance that we might go have some blood test done tomorrow, just to be on the safe side.

All that to say… THANK YOU FOR PRAYING AND FASTING. Satan is attempting to dig in deep and trying his hardest because, no doubt, he recognizes the high calling that Richard has on his life. I’M SO THANKFUL THAT WE KNOW WHO IS IN CONTROL; WHO IS ON THE THRONE; WHO HAS ALREADY WON THE WAR. In all honestly, I’ve definitely had moments of sadness b/c of feeling helpless to relieve any of Richard’s pain, but I can’t thank you enough for checking in, coming to pray over us, your words of encouragement, bringing food, and so much more. Please forgive us for our lack communication, but energies have had to be focused internally these past 10-12 days. We appreciate your understanding!

GOD BLESS YOU FOR BLESSING US!! As always, please share your prayer requests with me- they help me to better focus on Tuesdays, which still are a struggle for me and why I need to be more prayerfully minded on those days.

Love you guys!

—
Maria Felipe (Abeyta)
310-254-8578 cell

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