Heather’s Story

Site created on December 26, 2019

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Newest Update

Journal entry by Heather Sykes

Happy New Year friends! I hope you had a great season of celebrating Christ’s birth. I enjoyed time with my family.  Courtney and the girls came and spent about 10 days with us and it was a joy to see those little faces.  Their smiles light up a room!  It was just what I needed to brighten my spirits after finding out some disappointing news.

My visit with Dr. Sperling right before Christmas was a rough one.  He informed me that the Crozer Transplant Center was closing and merging with Temple’s.  He did not know many details yet, as they had just decided this a few days before my appointment.  We did talk about this though.  It is disappointing news given the fact that I was still inactive on Crozer’s list and Crozer was much more lenient than other transplant centers. I had a good cry, but he tried to be encouraging.  He didn’t know much yet about what Temple’s criteria would be but he did ask if he could have my records sent to them which I agreed to. I am waiting to see what happens.  I think the official date for the merger was today so we will see.  We also discussed finding an aggressive Endocrinologist that could mange my diabetes and help me lose weight.  He was trying to find one up in the Phoenixville area so I do not have to travel so far for another doctor.  I will be seeing Dr. Sperling again in a week or two so hopefully he will have information for me at that time.

This was a blow and disheartening, but I am trying not to be discouraged.  While I am wondering what God is up to, I do know he has a plan though I cannot see what it is right now. I had thought about maybe moving to Indiana but was worried about leaving my doctor and transplant center but now that doesn’t seem to be an issue, so who knows.  Something to think through some more.  Right now, I am just thankful my treatments continue go well. So please pray for me that God would make clear His next steps for this journey and that He will keep me at peace through the process.  While I wish I had made more progress at this point and closer to a transplant, God always finds ways to remind me that He is working through this though I may not see it. I will try to update you all once I know more about what this means for me personally.

You could also pray for my eye.  About a week before Christmas, I was working from home and all of a sudden there was a big black spot in my vision.  It was very scary because I did not know what was going on.  My eye doctor referred me to my retina specialist to get checked out.  I went that very same day and was informed I had bleeding in my eye which was interesting considering that the spot did look like a blood smear. I was told it was not related to my diabetes and would probably go away.  However, two days later I saw my regular specialist and he said it was because of my diabetes and I would need an injection.  I ended up not getting the injection when it was initially scheduled because I was confused by the two different opinions.  So, I went back last week to talk to them some more and actually it was a technician who explained it best to me. I don’t remember what the official terminology is, but she said in my situation it could be either of those scenarios at any given time.  In this case, it is related to my diabetes and the bleeding had gotten worse though I did not realize it.  So, I had the injection that day.  It wasn’t as bad as I though it would be thankfully.  Just like getting a shot but much quicker and they definitely numb the eye up.  Unfortunately, this is something I will continue to need on a somewhat regular basis.  Not sure if there will be an end date or not, but not in the near future. Right now, my eye still has some blurriness, like wearing a veil but it seems a little better than before.  I go back again in February.  Pray my other eye does not have any problems. I definitely do not need vision problems.

Again, and I can’t say it enough, thank you for your prayers and encouragement.  It means the world to me that I have brothers and sisters keeping me always before the throne of grace.  I couldn’t do this without you!

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