According to Wikipedia ….

Hypertension, most commonly referred to as “high blood pressure”, HTN or HPN, is a medical condition in which the blood pressure is chronically elevated

Hypertension can be classified as either essential (primary) or secondary. Essential hypertension indicates that no specific medical cause can be found to explain a patient’s condition. Secondary hypertension indicates that the high blood pressure is a result of (i.e. secondary to) another condition, such as kidney disease or certain tumors (especially of the adrenal gland). Persistent hypertension is one of the risk factors for strokes, heart attacks, heart failure and arterial aneurysm, and is a leading cause of chronic renal failure. Even moderate elevation of arterial blood pressure leads to shortened life expectancy. At severely high pressures, defined as mean arterial pressures 50% or more above average, a person can expect to live no more than a few years unless appropriately treated.

Irene drove herself to and from dialysis treatment and received some good news today!  Because Irene’s blood pressure is coming down, Dr. Kumar, her kidney specialist, is reducing her blood pressure medication from two prescriptions down to one.  Yay!

After going to Starbucks on the way home for her classic tall, soy green tea latte, no water or melon, and four scoops of tea, she worked leisurely in the Wisteria Garden, enjoying the sunny day on the bay.

Irene is very grateful for the calls, cards, emails and other expressions of concern for her along her journey of faith.  She looks forward to prayerfully supporting others who share their journey of faith in the newly created “discussion forum”.

We are anticipating a report later this week which will indicate the degree of amyloid remaining (or not remaining) in Irene’s bloodstream.  We also hope to learn the level of her current kidney function.  Stay tuned ….

We’re grateful that Irene’s hypertension is moving in the right direction, that her blood pressure medication is being reduced and hope that the trend continues.

Caminando con Fé

Dave

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According to Wikipedia, FRIENDSHIP is a term used to denote cooperative and supportive behavior between two or more humans.

Consider these perspectives ….

A despairing man (or woman) should have the devotion of his friends
Job 6:14

If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!
Ecclesiastes 4:10

Many family members and friends have supported us on Irene’s Journey of Faith, and for that, we are eternally grateful.  It is actually very humbling to realize the infinite number of ways that we have been sustained.  Thank you!!!

Today, I want to highlight the support of one particular friend who has put literally thousands of hours of daily thought and work in supporting us.  This friend is Frank Johnson.

Frank is a servant leader.  Frank quietly toils behind the scenes as the administrator of IreneDias.com.  He takes that commitment very seriously.  Since we launched the website on June 2, 2007, Frank actively supports the online presence everyday.  I write the blog content and Frank places photos or strategically places sidebar support.  I come up with brainstorming ideas and he tirelessly turns the concept into reality and creates a strategic online presence for the user which is both easy to use and elegant.  He also adds his own creative ideas to supplement the effort!!!

His personal support was “mission critical” as we collaborated on the publishing of Irene’s Journey of Faith.  Prior to the book’s release, we met every weekend in the early morning hours to make sure the book formatting and technical requirements were just right.

He just added the “discussion forum” to the website which we hope will serve as a place for others to express their own journey of faith.  Frank does all of this while still maintaining a full time job.  In the midst of it all, he recently lost his sister and is facing some other unspoken adversity himself.  All of his commitment is an expression of love and support for Irene and our family.  Frank’s bride, Bobbetta, and their “soccer star” daughter, Emily, are also supportive of Frank helping us during

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My dear friend, Jack McCall, writes a weekly email “challenge” that he distributes to his constituency…I share it with you today… With tears flowing, Irene promptly printed and put Jack’s heartfelt prayer under the glass on her desk…

“Challenge”

“Hear my prayer, O LORD; let my cry for help come to you. Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress. Turn your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly.”

A friend of mine Dave Dias writes the above scripture in a book titled “Irene’s Journey of Faith”. Dave’s wife Irene was diagnosed this past year with a rare blood disease called Amyloid disease. Irene’s incredible faith in God is no doubt evident throughout Dave’s writing, but so is the faith of Dave and their two daughters.

Dave is in the insurance business like me and by all rights we would be viewed as competitors. ;>) We are not competitors though. We are friends.

The very first time I met Dave was about six years ago. We thought we were meeting to talk about a possible merger. Not! Dave and I met to have lunch. As I shook Dave’s hand, I couldn’t help but sense that there was a great human being behind his big smile. We sat down and my cell-phone rang. It was my wife Joanne and I asked to be excused. My wife needed me and I apologized to Dave for having to leave so abruptly after such a brief introduction. Dave said, “You can’t leave until I pray with you.” We sat there in the middle of the restaurant and Dave prayed for my wife. It was a time of distress and God turned His ear to me through Dave Dias. Two hours later my cell-phone rang again. It was Dave following up to see if Joanne was okay. I didn’t know that day if he and I would be partners, but I knew that he and I would be friends. (please join me in the prayer below this weeks Challenge and consider reading their story- link is attached) Thanks in advance.

“Challenge” When others are going

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