Dear Dias Family,

We are so very thankful and it blesses us so to hear that Irene is doing better!  We’re guessing it feels so wonderful and yet like there’s a long way to go, but each step brings you closer to His complete healing that we all are praying for.  We just continue to see how greatly God is using this incredible experience you are going through to His glory, through your steadfast faith and reliance on the Lord.

We think of you guys so much and lift you all up in prayer many times each day.  We’ll be praying especially for Irene to be able to take other liquids, per Dave’s update.

with Love,

Steve and Sue Azevedo

Dearest Dias family, please know that you are in our prayers.  Your site gives us all tremendous strength and we join our prayers with this wonderful body of believers.  Irene, you were such a daily encouragement to Mike when you worked at MV.  God put you there for him.  We love you all so much.  Thank you all for sharing the scriptures with us.  I have started to put them in my journal.  I just want you to know that you are loved. Love, Cheryl Aubuchon

Dave,

Praise God that your bride is doing much better.

I squirted a little blood into the bank for her account today.  I don’t know that it will literally reach Irene in California, but if she starts doing weird mathematical calculations in her head, it might have gotten there.

Jana and I pray your family will have an awesome and much deserved holiday.

Steve

Hi Dave,

It’s hard to know what, if anything to say at times like this.  I imagine you get a lot of well wishes, but they must feel hollow after a while.  You, Irene, and your daughters have been on my mind and in my prayers often.  Take care, my friend, God has a plan. 

Chris Gardella

4th of July EVE…

Last year we spent an incredible 4th of July holiday with Gary and Cathy Daichendt at their lovely home in Laguna Beach.  Right at dusk, we watched an incredible fireworks display from a small watercraft just offshore.  This year we celebrate in San Francisco…not exactly our first choice, but we’re where we are supposed to be at this appointed time…

My mom and dad came to UCSF today… and I was even able to sneak them in for a very quick visit with Irene… the first in a long time that she has been able to have visitors…

Irene had 3 hours of dialysis today; they took off a whopping 4 liters of fluid…

She is lucid and smiling…I enjoy seeing her feeling so much better…Dr. Stephen Gluck was tending to Irene in her room this morning;  we’re forever grateful to him for first receiving Irene during the onset of this disease before it was even diagnosed.

We’re also eternally grateful to Dr. Alan Buchwald, who was the “Fairy GodFather” as Irene calls him, because he was the first doctor at Dominican Hospital in Santa Cruz to diagnose the Nephrotic Syndrome, the symptoms leading to the Primary Amyloidosis diagnosis.  Dr. Buchwald went beyond the call of duty doing work during his “off hours” and day off to assist and coach us as well as make the initial call to Dr. Gluck at UCSF.  What amazing commitment to people…they care so deeply…!!!

Obviously still very fragile, the next step for Irene is to consume some liquids beyond water (i.e. broth or herbal tea) and not feel nauseated or experience other side effects.  Please pray to that end…

Many of you are still donating blood and platelets; the need is still very significant and we thank you so much!!!!

As we celebrate our country’s freedom tomorrow, our family is grateful for the community surrounding us and thinking of us in so many wonderful ways…may God bless YOU this 4th of July holiday!!!

Dave

We recently received this email from Kevin Wang regarding Irene’s skin condition:

Dear Mr Dias-

Hope this email finds you well.  Dr Fox and I apologize for the delay in getting this to you…I wanted to send you a couple of quick notes on asteatotic eczema, which is what we thought Irene had all along, with perhaps a small contribution from a drug reaction.

Asteatotic eczema is a very common condition characterized by itchy, dry, cracked, and polygonally fissured skin with irregular scaling.  It most commonly occurs on the shins of middle-aged to elderly persons, but it may occur on the hands and the trunk.  The eruption can be generalized or localized (as is in Irene’s case), and is often caused by changes secondary to age, dehydrated skin, and/or malnutrition (and that’s why we see a lot in hospitalized patients or in patients who have trouble with nutritional absorption through their gastrointestinal tract).  The treatment of choice is with mid potency topical steroids to calm down the inflammation, then with aggressive use of moisturization agents.  As you already have found out, her skin is now much much improved on this regimen.

With respect to a possible allergy to a medication, I want to emphasize that the type of drug reaction that she may have had (as evidenced by a skin rash) is NOT life-threatening, and has in fact been resolving over the past 10 days.  It is not uncommon for patients receiving so many medications at once to have a drug allergy, and we have discussed it with her team and they have discontinued the likely culprits.  We don’t expect her to have another flare of the rash.

Hope this is helpful! please feel free to let us know if you have other questions or concerns—the best way is to direct the questions to the CRI team and they can call us!

best wishes
Kevin

Hi everyone -

So happy to hear Irene is out of the agony of the past days. Praise God! Praying for continuing progress and that she will be home soon. Until that day comes we will remain vigilant in prayer.

Hoping you all are resting in this better day and refresh in this new hope.

Happy are those who are stong in the Lord, who want above all else to follow your steps. When they walk through the Valley of Weeping it will become a place of springs where pools of blessing and refreshment collect after the rains. They will grow constantly in strength and each of them is invited to meet with the Lord in Zion.
Psalm 84:3-7 Living Bible

With love - Betty Fairhurst

1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—
    where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the LORD,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip—
    he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD watches over you—
    the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
    nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will keep you from all harm—
    he will watch over your life;
8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going
    both now and forevermore.

We love you Irene!  You’re in our hearts and prayers.
Mark and Robin Schmidt

Just to warn you, I really don’t have a common thread, just a lot of thought “bits and pieces.”

In Bible study, as we sent off a couple of leaders who are moving, they were talking about how our pastor has been a spiritual father for them and how he changed their lives. In explanation, our pastor talked about the importance of having a mentor or spiritual parent ... What does this have to do with my mom you ask?

Well, I have never needed a “spiritual mother” – well, I have, but God has blessed me with a spiritual and biological mother all wrapped up into one. When all my friends were inconsistent, my mom has been consistent. She has always listened, always understood, and always encouraged. Sometimes, yes, she had to speak truth that wasn’t what I wanted to hear – but my mom has been my true friend. She has been a true mentor – not only leading by words, but by example. I think my mom is the only one who can still be in a hospital bed and encourage ME to have faith. We believe that God will heal her, and we wait in anticipation for Him to work wonders on our behalf.

Today Psalm 27:13-14 popped in my head: “I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.” We wait for the Lord to show His goodness. He is mighty, and He is able. Sometimes I am so impatient. I want this amyloidosis to go away, and I want my mom to be completely restored – NOW. But we wait for God’s perfect timing.
Going along with the passage from Luke 8, my friend pointed out to me that Jesus made the man with the sick daughter wait. It seems like Jesus got distracted and cared more about the woman tugging on his cloak than he did a twelve year old little girl. But Jesus didn’t. He had perfect timing. In HIS timing, the little girl was healed. So, even though this process seems to be taking a really long time, I know Jesus hasn’t gotten distracted or forgotten. I told God today I wasn’t going to stop praying and believing until we see my mom healed (I’m sure that is many of your prayers as well).

Faith is being sure of what we hope for and confident of what we do not see. I know that I have now quoted this verse 3 times, but I cling to the promise of hope in it more than ever – and with new understanding

As my mom was enduring pain this weekend, I was reminded that her present sufferings aren’t worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed – which, of course, is easy for me to say since I’m not the one in pain. But then I envisioned my mom standing in heaven with a big fluffy purple robe on and 12 crowns stacked on her head all trying to balance – standing in the glory that was given to her from God. Her life is a testimony, and God wants to talk to as many people as He can through her illness because she is faithful to walk through it and willing to trust His heart. God doesn’t let any bad happen without having good in mind; it goes against His character – which is one of the many reasons, I might add, that He is so cool.

We wait for healing – believing in the Healer. I realize that I covered about 20 different topics in one journal entry, but I’ve had so many scattered thoughts lately. We trust in the Lion of Judah – the Lamb that was slain. He is worthy to receive all glory and power. He is the Alpha and the Omega. He is the King of Kings and Prince of Peace.

He is faithful – He can NEVER disown himself.

4.30 p.m.

I reported that this last weekend was brutal.  Irene had extraordinary pain on Friday evening which ended up being a severely distended stomach.  She was rushed for a CAT scan with the concern of a perforation or burst in the intestinal/stomach areas.  Today is a new day.  She has no pain, the apparent blockage that caused the episode seems to have passed, and she’s doing very well.  The 24/7 dialysis was removed today.  She is having dialysis, but it will be daily for 2-3 hours instead of around the clock…The “nose tube” which was placed on Friday evening to siphon fluid from her tract has also been removed. What an amazing turnaround!!!!!!

The nursing team at UCSF has been extraordinary…they are many times the unrecognized and unsung heroes on the front line tending to patients.  Today I walked into the blood bank and saw Josephine Juan, one of the attending RN’s for Irene in the ICU, donating her O+ blood…Wow… so very cool that she wanted to donate for Irene…

Another friend, Kathy McFarland, is also giving platelets today…for the second time…Wow… driving over 4 hours twice…an amazing commitment to Irene….

I share these stories to let you know that everyone’s care and expressions are overwhelming us with thanksgiving…each person supporting us in their own way…. We thank you sooooooo much…!!!! We could not travel this road alone…thanks for your support…!!!!!!!

Dave

Dear Dave & Irene –
My wife Christina, my kids, Katarina (11) and Jake (9), and I are all praying for His strength to indwell you to overcome the pain you’re suffering while we wait on Him for the miracle of complete healing and recovery.  We have a couple churches here in the East Bay lifting you all up in prayer as well.

Speaking of miracles, I have a little one (or two) to tell you about…

I met Dave a couple years ago when I started working with one of his accounts.  He is truly one of my favorite people and a very good brother in Christ.  Though I’ve never met you, Irene, I know that you’ve got to be pretty spectacular by extrapolation, since he is very clear that you are his “better half”. 

Dave emailed me and another brother about the amyloid about 2 months ago and asked for our prayers and directed us to the website.  I spent a little time on the website to get the gist of your situation and then went home later that day and told my Proverbs 31 wife about it.  After talking about it at the dinner table with all of us deciding to pray for you daily, Christina later came to me and told me that she’d like to knit a “prayer shawl” for you. 

I didn’t quite know what that was so I asked her.  Although my wife had only started knitting about 6 months ago, she had just heard about this ministry in which a knitter would knit a shawl or blanket while praying for the recipient - praying the whole time while knitting.  In this way, the recipient would literally be “covered in prayer”.  Christina asked me if I thought it was a good idea that you would be the first recipient of a prayer shawl she made.  I told her that I thought it was a beautiful idea and that I would be happy to deliver it to you.

The next day at work I ventured back onto your website at lunch and read a good portion of it that I hadn’t read before.  Among other things, I learned that your favorite color is purple and made a mental note to tell Christina when I got home so that she could use that information in selecting the yarn for the prayer shawl.  At the dinner table later that evening I mentioned that I had found out what your favorite color was.  Christina immediately stopped me from telling her and the children.  She said that they had all gone to the fabric store that day to select the yarn.  On the way they were talking about what type and color yarn to get since they didn’t know you at all and didn’t know what you’d like.  They decided to pray about it when they got there and let the Holy Spirit guide them. 

Christina walked over to our front door while telling me this and grabbed a large paper bag from the fabric store.  She told me that they prayed together for you when they entered the store and then asked the Holy Spirit to show them what material to use.  Christina told me that Katarina then made a beeline for this one particular yarn and said that it was the yarn that should be used.  Christina then asked me to go ahead and tell her what your favorite color was.  When I told her it was purple, she gasped and lifted a couple of skeins of the loveliest purple yarn I had ever seen out of the bag and we both praised God!  He knows you so well, Irene, that he even knows your favorite color!

It took several weeks, but Christina completed the most beautiful purple shawl I had ever seen last week and we wrapped it up and I took it with me to work in San Francisco.  After work I tracked down Dave and told him the above story and gave him the shawl for you.  After praising the Lord, he told me that God did another miracle just then.  Dave told me that he had taken your favorite purple blanket home to wash it the day before, but hadn’t finished it.  He said that you had just asked for it and he had to apologize to you that he didn’t have it.  He went on to say that God organized everything just right so that on the day that you needed the comfort of something familiar that wasn’t available, you would be comforted by something new but similar that was created to bless you, cover you in prayer and edify Him, the lover of your soul.

God is so good, Irene.  He is blessing many through the story He continues to write for you and through you.  A small example is my wife and children, who will never forget this little miracle, a loving answer to prayer and faithfulness.  And we know that He intends to bless you far more greatly through this ordeal and test, this refiner’s fire. 

We love you,

Paul, Christina, Katarina and Jake Grabowsky

Just thinking of you, Irene, and Dave and hoping it is going well at this time.  Sincerely, Alan

7.30 p.m…

Irene has had a very challenging weekend, but is now resting comfortably.  We simply and patiently wait at this time and trust steadfastly on God’s Word…

For the last 25+ years, Irene has written 3X5 cards of scripture verses and given them to me for encouragement, motivation and inspiration.  I am looking at the following hand written references on both sides of a card now that is in my briefcase…

“I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.  Wait for the Lord.  Be strong and let your heart take courage, yes, wait for the Lord.”
                                    Psalm 27:13-14

“The Lord is my strength and my shield;  my heart trusts in Him and I am helped.  Therefore my heart exults and with my song I shall thank him.”

                                    Psalm 28:7

God’s Word never changes…we know that it is reliable and true.  As we wait for Irene’s body to recover from the chemo, heal from all that she has been through, and as we wait for the amyloid to go into remission, we continue to look to God’s Word for encouragement, motivation and inspiration.  I cherish those hand written 3X5 cards that Irene has given to me over the years…they are on my desk, in my briefcase and in my heart…

As we look to God’s Word, I am also very enouraged this evening by the following excerpt of scripture where God is speaking in the first chapter of Joshua…

6 “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

It is time for all of us to be “strong and courageous” in our faith, trust and confidence in God.  We take Jesus at his word and know that apart from him we can do nothing.  We also know that we can do all things through him who gives us strength.  However, we will not be terrified and we will not be discouraged, because we know that we trust in Him who is trustworthy.

We know there is power in intercessory prayer.  Thank you for being among the army of prayer warriors who intercede on Irene’s behalf.

...and thanks for caring,
Dave

Dave,

You inspire us as you walk with Jesus and share the journey.  Thank you.  God himself intercedes.  We are praying with you.  God bless you.

Ken and Shirley Churchill

Our family has been out of town for a week and have missed reading the updates on Irene and Dave.  Thanks so much for this website - it is really helpful - especially to know how to pray specifically.  Irene - its been confirmed by many that you are the Proverbs 31 woman.  I’ve always felt that and have been inspired on many occasions by your smile and determination to do what God has asked you to - whether you felt like it or not.  This situation is certainly another demonstration of your faith - despite the certain difficulty that you are experiencing.  Just know that you are loved and are missed and being prayed for moment by moment. 
With love, Sue