XPost: alt.religion.jehovahs-witn, alt.religion.christianity, uk.religion.misc   
   From: Fluff@michalebitesmybum.com   
      
   A story that obviously needed to be told ..   
      
   People will do what tyhey feel is right no mater what ..   
   I never had the rebella needle .. So ..   
      
   When I gave birth to Jessie ... she was born with german meazles that no one   
   picked up on .. She was a mere 2 pounds ..   
   She too needed an operation te second day she was born .. I gave permision   
   for the doctors to give blood if she needed .. It was more upseting to my   
   mother to have to accept that notion than the baby that was dying ... It   
   must have nbeen hard for my mother ..   
      
   OIf course Jessie was born blind, deaf, with a whole lot of other troubles   
   ..   
      
   She drowned  at the age of 2 yeqars old whilst being looked after by a nurse   
   in her back yard ... Something completely different took her away.   
   I guess I see now that when our time is up it is up ....   
      
   My only issue I have to this very day is that the witness law of no rubella   
   needle has changed ..   
      
   Therefore how is it possible to say that the teaching is the TRUTH?? There   
   is no way if it was the living TRUTH it can be changed at leisure at a later   
   date .. No way ho zay!!   
      
   There was much more in detail but who really cares about detail these days   
   hey??!   
      
   No one .. It's a cold hard world full of wanna bees that for the most most   
   don't know what they are following or whether it is right ..  But the social   
   conciuosness that goes along with the teaching will lock allot of people in   
   ..   
      
   Whatever   
      
   L   
      
   Bee   
      
      
      
   "Jabriol"  wrote in message   
   news:9e9431eb.0411271419.25a91873@posting.google.com...   
   > 'You've got to believe'   
   > Torn between their religion and love for their child, a Jehovah's   
   > Witness couple from Sweden put faith in a Columbus doctor to save   
   > their little fighter   
   >   
   > The Columbus Dispatch/October 25, 2004   
   >   
   > By Jeb Phillips   
   >   
   > On a February day in Stockholm, Sweden, Maria and Alex Altinterim   
   > learned they were having twins. The echogram technician could see the   
   > two little hearts beating on the screen. Maria and Alex could see   
   > them, too. And even to the first-time parents, the hearts clearly   
   > looked different from each other.   
   >   
   > "Something is wrong," the technician said.   
   >   
   > Three days later, doctors told the Altinterims that one heart was   
   > missing a part. The left ventricle, which pumps blood to the body,   
   > wasn't developing in one of the babies.   
   >   
   > The diagnosis of hypoplastic left heart syndrome left them with two   
   > options. One was the Norwood procedure, which would involve three   
   > open-heart surgeries. The baby would need blood transfusions during   
   > the procedures or suffer brain damage.   
   >   
   > But the Altinterims are Jehovah's Witnesses, and to them, blood is   
   > sacred. The religious group interprets Bible passages as commanding   
   > them to abstain from receiving blood, even if it means dying without a   
   > trans- fusion. So they settled on the second option.   
   >   
   > "We planned a funeral," Maria said.   
   >   
   > The baby was supposed to live hours or days. Certainly no longer than   
   > a month.   
   >   
   > On June 23, Robin Altinterim was born with a healthy heart. His   
   > brother, Kevin Altinterim, was born six minutes later, and his parents   
   > began waiting for him to die.   
   >   
   > Kevin lived through the night. He lived all through that week. Then   
   > the next one. He had his 1-month birthday, shocking the doctors. On   
   > Aug. 23, he turned 2 months old.   
   >   
   > "I cried every day. Every single day," Maria said.   
   >   
   > Kevin was now a gurgling baby with huge brown eyes, skin a little blue   
   > from his body's lack of oxygen. His parents decided they would try to   
   > save him.   
   >   
   > "He was fighting," Alex said. "We had to do our part."   
   >   
   > Swedish doctors still said there was nothing they could do without   
   > transfusions. So the Altinterims called the Jehovah's Witnesses   
   > Hospital Liaison Committee in Sweden, to see if anyone in the world   
   > could help their baby.   
   >   
   > They found one person, in Columbus, Ohio.   
   >   
   > A matter of days   
   >   
   > Dr. Mark Galantowicz, co-director of the Children's Hospital Heart   
   > Center, looked at Kevin's tests and scans Sept. 17. Four days later,   
   > he called the Altinterims. I can help, he told them, and I can do it   
   > without transfusions. But you don't have months or weeks to get here.   
   >   
   > "This is a matter of days," Maria remembers Galantowicz saying.   
   >   
   > The Altinterims began calling friends and family members for money to   
   > make the trip. They raised $50,000 in a few hours. As an afterthought,   
   > they called their Stockholm doctors. One told them that a flight, with   
   > its changing air pressures and oxygen levels, could kill Kevin.   
   >   
   > It's true, Galantowicz's assistant, Erin Williams, told Maria, but it   
   > was the only hope they had.   
   >   
   > "You've got to believe," said Williams, who has a child with the same   
   > heart condition.   
   >   
   > The next day, Alex, Maria, Robin and Kevin boarded a plane.   
   >   
   > A loving stare   
   >   
   > Alex first saw Maria during a church service in Stockholm 10 years   
   > ago. Neither looks like a stereotypical Swede. Both have dark hair and   
   > olive skin. Alex immediately noticed Maria's eyes, which are so brown   
   > they are almost black.   
   >   
   > "We liked each other from the first time we saw each other," Alex   
   > said.   
   >   
   > Maria remembers it differently. "I didn't like him at all," she said.   
   > "He was staring at me so much."   
   >   
   > But Alex kept working on her, and she fell in love with him. They   
   > married seven years ago.   
   >   
   > In the rare moment when Maria is searching for a word in English,   
   > she'll say it in Swedish to Alex, and he'll translate. She does the   
   > same for him.   
   >   
   > Eighteen months ago, they felt their lives were set. Alex, 34, was in   
   > software development at Ericsson, the telecommunications corporation.   
   > Maria, 30, was a manager of a clothing store. They were building their   
   > first house.   
   >   
   > And so, they thought, it was time to start a family.   
   >   
   > Nervous flight   
   >   
   > Alex and Maria had heard that they couldn't tell the airline about   
   > Kevin. An airline wouldn't want a baby dying on one of its planes.   
   > They boarded with the twins - one of whom was blue from lack of air -   
   > without an oxygen tank.   
   >   
   > During the 10-hour trip, Kevin's lips turned nearly black. Alex walked   
   > him to the emergency exits, where he had learned there was more oxygen   
   > during flights. Kevin slept most of the way. Maria took care of Robin.   
   > Both parents prayed.   
   >   
   > Kevin, as he had his entire life, fought his way through.   
   >   
   > The family landed in Chicago late on Sept. 22. The U.S. Hospital   
   > Liaison Committee had arranged for Jehovah's Witnesses to drive them   
   > from Chicago to Indianapolis. Then Jim Hunt, a committee member from   
   > Blacklick, drove the Altinterims to Columbus, where they are staying   
   > with a host family.   
   >   
   > "They have helped us so much here," Alex said.   
   >   
   > On Sept. 23, Galantowicz saw Kevin for the first time. The next day, a   
   > Friday, Kevin had surgery.   
   >   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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