Angelika has been a personal friend of mine and also Clan of the ShaddowHorse and CORD when they were still active. Those of you who attended The Parliament of The Worlds Religions in 1999 may remember her, she attended a number of workshops with Selena Fox and myself. She immigrated to the UK with her husband and two children 2 years ago.

Her youngest child (Saskia) is in hospital with a very rare type of Aplasmic Anaemia - this is just as life threatening as Leukaemia. At present she has a 40% chance of survival. She has also been plagued by a rare form of fungal infection, never seen before in the UK in a child so young (she is 2 1/2). Her only chance of survival is to have a stem cell and bone marrow transplant, but here comes the crunch, when they begin the chemo process at the weekend, to kill her immune system and dry all her existing bone marrow, she will have no immune system to fight off infection and if the fungal infection re-appears during this period, even the size of a pin head, she will die.

I am begging for you all to send her healing, whether you know Angelika or not. We are beside ourselves with anxiety since she went down with this on during the 2nd week in December - this being one of the reasons I have not emailed or responded to any emails during this time. I am attaching a photograph of Saskia with her brother Dante taken two months before she was struck down with this dreadful disease, if Damon or somebody could upload this to the site, I will be so pleased.

The stem cells are arriving from New York and Barcelona on Friday, and Angelika is being hooked up to the harvesting machine on Saturday to start the bone marrow transplant. I am beside myself at present, please send as much healing as possible.

Please feel free to send this request to as many people as possible.

Blessings and Peace to you All.
Epona Moondancer/Carol Nowlan

3/27/08 Update on Baby Saskia

Thank you to everyone who has sent healing to Saskia, a 2 1/2 year old girl from South Africa now living with her parents in the UK.

A photo to use as a healing focus as well as information about her condition is on-line: http://www.circlesanctuary.org/healing/Saskia.htm. Additional photos will be added to the site as they are available.

Email additional well wishes to Saskia & family: epona@circlesanctuary.org

Here is the latest info (as of March 27):

Saskia's dad, Bill, an American citizen from New England, relays the following update today:

"Well, the second BMT (Bone Marrow Transplant) does not appear to be working (it has four weeks now). Her white cell count has not changed and we are still not seeing any neutrophils. So, we are now preparing ourselves for the third BMT. We will use Angelika’s remaining stem cells for this. Yes, it is a very challenging time for us. Yes, the strength of my Saskia is inspirational. How can we not be hopeful when we see her battling and fighting (two infections now - pseudomonas and streptococcus)? My little girl has truly been an inspiration - how can we not trust or remain strong for her?

She will have her temporary line removed tomorrow (the source of her second infection) and have another temporary line put in. Her doctors are worried about introducing a permanent fixed central line due to her temperatures spiking and her condition. Saskia is enduring 40+ C (104+ F) degree temperatures and lives through Paracetimol administered every six hours. She has infections all over her body due to either: the bacterium, anti-virals, antibiotics, or the anti-fungi medication she is given. The doctors can not be sure what is causing the swelling and the rashes.

One day we may understand this, but maybe we never will. Ultimately, we are not asking what the meaning of this ordeal is, but rather recognize that it is we who are asked. I think when we are questioned by this challenge; we can only answer to this by answering for our own lives. Saskia is teaching me things about myself - her strength and her courage.

So we hope and pray.

Thank you once again for your thoughts and prayers - it is overwhelming."

Update on Baby Saskia

Thank you to everyone who has sent healing to Saskia, a 2 1/2 year old girl from South Africa now living with her parents in the UK.

Here is the latest info:

From Carol/Epona in the UK on February 1: To all who have send good wishes to Saskia and her family via email to me - heartfelt thanks. I have passed on all messages to Bill, who in turn has printed them and taken them to Angelika who is at the hospital with Saskia. They are overwhelmed with the response and kindness. Thanks for your prayers, please keep them going!

Email additional well wishes to Saskia & family: epona@circlesanctuary.org

Saskia's dad , Bill , an American citizen from New England , relays the following update:

Saskia has had her bone marrow transplant yesterday and now we wait. The BMT is a very simple procedure. My wife , Angelika, had a very successful ‘harvest’ of stem cells last Monday. Now we wait for Saskia’s bone marrow to start producing neutrophils. The wait can take up to three weeks but we can start seeing results as early as ten days (very optimistic).

Saskia may develop ‘Graft versus host disease’, or GVHD, is a problem that may occur after the bone marrow transplant.

When Angelika’s stem cells (the graft) were given to Saskia, the new stem cells travelled ( and are still travelling) to Saskia’s bone marrow and begin to grow there and produce new blood cells (engraftment). These new blood cells include the white cells that form the immune system. This means that Saskia will have the immune system of Angelika. Saskia will also have my wife’s DNA. Saskia’s immune system normally will recognise my wife’s cells and attack them. Or Angelika’s white cells may attack Saskia’s. This is GVHD.

The doctors want to see GVHD initially and to a small degree - that means Saskia’s immune system is producing the neutrophils. Then they have contingencies in place to combat GVHD. Symptoms can vary from jaundice, dry mouth, rashes or blistering, stiff joints, stomach pain, and can affect the liver.

The doctors are very pleased at Saskia’s improvement. Her attitude and spirit are excellent. Phil and I spent most of the day with Mother and Baby – both are amazing. I am so fortunate to be blessed with two beautiful and perfect women."