Susan Shaughnessy 1978-2008

It is with a very heavy heart that I post today.

Our very dear friend, Susan Shaughnessy, passed from this life on November 17, 2008. She died peacefully in her sleep surrounded by family and friends on Monday evening.

Funeral arrangements are currently being decided upon. Services will most likely be held at the end of this week in St. Louis, and we have been told that a memorial mass will be offered for Susan in Washington D.C. sometime in December.

Susan's family wishes to extend their thanks for all thoughts and prayers that have come their way in this time of need. Your outpouring of support and love is greatly appreciated.

We have a few photos from our wedding that we will be putting together tonight sometime, and hopefully we will have it up on our site tomorrow. Check back again later.

If anyone is ready for life eternal, it is Susan. God is getting quite the angel.

You will be missed, Susan.

Exciting news

As some of you know and for those of you that do not know yet, we are pleased to announce that we are expecting our 2nd child on March 2, 2009. Sorry for the delay, it's amazing how much attention Gillian takes away from informing people of important developments like this (yeah, that's right, I'm blaming it on an innocent little girl). We will post sonogram pictures just as soon as we can (hopefully tonight). But....no promises since it took us 4 months to post that Michelle is pregnant :)

Halloween Costume

No one saw this coming did they? Gillian was a dog for Halloween. Her very first trick-or-treating experience is captured on film below....Shaun and (Dr.) Lisa (note the shirt...) were first on our list. We also visited Jason and Sara, Margie and Dan, and Megan.

Pre-game photo opportunity with Mommy.
All fired up for candy!!!

Mom? Dad? Are you SURE this is gonna work?You tell me, who's more excited?

Pumpkin carving

In the happenings of last week, I fell a little behind in posting pictures, so here are some from our pumpkin carving endeavor. In the beginning Gillian didn't quite know what to think...then she decided she would help...
Uh, Gillian....why don't you pull the seeds out not put them back in.
Finally got it figured out but quite obviously Gillian thinks the inside of a pumpkin feels precisely the way that I do -- disgusting.

The latest on Susan

We received this email on Friday, so I apologize for the latency. Please continue to keep Susan in your prayers. The email...

Mr. and Mrs. Shaughnessy had a family meeting with two of Susan's doctors yesterday (a critical care doctor and a neurologist), who went over some more details about Susan's condition.

The doctors showed them the MRI and explained that there is extensive inflammation in the brain and the brain stem. The intravenous delivery of steroids will be discontinued after seven days, then steroids will be given in decreasing oral doses for two weeks.

Susan had another MRI late last night. The doctors did not see any increase in brain swelling. They did see some new areas of inflammation, but these could have appeared before the steroid treatment was initiated. She also started her second round of plasmaphoresis today and will receive her third round on Sunday.

Susan's brothers are now in town to visit.

One of Susan's doctors walked into her room and said she felt something special happening in the room, that she could feel God's presence and had gotten goosebumps when she walked in. The nurse accompanying her pointed out all the holy images friends have brought to keep in Susan's room. It turns out the doctor is Catholic and had offered her prayers for Susan today!

As you can tell by the email, all of the prayers and good vibes are making their way to Washington D.C. -- so keep it up!