I'm heartbroken to have to report to you that I've just heard that Baby Susan Torres died last night of sepsis.

She was in the arms of her father.

We are comforted only in the thought that she is now with her mother, and in the strong arms of her heavenly Father.

God bless the Torres family as they confront this fresh grief.

UPDATE: Here's the Washington Post with a statement from Justin Torres.

The Torres family website is here.

All of the posts on Susan Torres on one page here.

Posted by Charmaine at 12:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (1)

Susan Anne Catherine Torres

Isn't she beautiful? Truly, beauty from ashes. . .

She's got a fight ahead of her -- the hospital says she'll be in the NICU for the next three months until her original due date -- but the Washington Post is reporting that wee little Susan Anne is "vigorous" and doing well!

There is a vignette from this story that will endure for me -- it is Jason's description of his last conversation with Susan before she collapsed. That evening, Jason had taken Susan to the emergency room because she didn't feel well. After she was discharged and sent home, Jason propped Susan up in bed and she said she was hungry. So he fixed her a steak and cheese sandwich.

When Jason brought the sandwich to Susan she said, "I'm sorry I'm so much trouble."

And he replied: "No problem, this is what husbands do."

Then, she slumped over and stopped breathing.

This is what husbands do. We reflexively describe this as "love." But it is more than that.

It is Duty and Honor. Making Susan the sandwich was Jason honoring his wife. Duty was what Jason did when Susan "died," as he sat a lonely vigil by her bedside for three long months in the hospital, fighting for the life of their unborn daughter. . .

The end of the story, Susan's death, is not what we would wish. But that one moment between the two of them -- one of them making a sandwich; the other receiving the gift with gracious humility -- speaks volumes of the giving and receiving that undergirds a loving marriage. One moment . . . simple, ordinary, yet beautiful.

The spirit of our age is one of a tally sheet, who did what for whom how many times. In their love story, caring for one another, Jason and Susan demonstrated a better way.

Obviously Susan Anne's care will be expensive, so if you are able, please stop by the Torres web site and contribute.

But more importantly, this is a baby who was carried through the power of love, and sustained and delivered by the power of prayer. . . let us all remember Jason Torres in the difficult days ahead, after the publicity dies down and he works to raise two children without their mother.

After the jump, the statement Justin (Jason's brother) read at the press conference on Wednesday:

Continue reading "She's So Beautiful: Susan Anne Catherine Torres" »

Posted by Charmaine at 07:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (4)

Fox News reporting that they have indeed taken Susan Torres off the life support and that she has died. So sad. We knew that was the inevitable next step, but it is so sad to get the official word.

But thank God for His precious gift of life -- little Susan Anne Catherine Torres -- in the midst of sorrow.

It's such a metaphor for God's redemptive working in our lives.

Beauty for Ashes, from Crystal Lewis, is a song that has meant a lot to me over the years:

He gives beauty for ashes
Strength for fear
Gladness for mourning
Peace for despair

When sorrow seems to surround you
When suffering hangs heavy oer your head
Know that tomorrow brings
Wholeness and healing
God knows your need
Just believe what He said

He gives beauty for ashes
Strength for fear
Gladness for mourning
Peace for despair

The news reports are that the Torres family has accrued expenses totalling something like $1 million. You can contribute at www. susantorresfund.org. And, if you can't contribute, let the family know about your support -- there will be people who criticize them for spending the money to save the baby. . .

Posted by Charmaine at 02:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Wonderful news . . . Susan Torres delivered her baby today and the tiny girl, Susan Anne Catherine Torres, is "doing well," according to an email Jason Torres sent to the Associated Press. (Full thread with background here.) The baby is only one pound 13 ounces and was delivered by C-section. The report from CNN doesn't say why the doctors delivered today.

The Torres website is one place to get information about the baby and how to provide financial support for the family.

When my daughter walked in and I told her the news, she said: "Don't cry, Mom."

It's such a bittersweet story -- just as the Torres family welcomes little Susan Anne Catherine into the world, they will soon face saying goodbye to her mother. They will need our prayers.

One of the parts of this story that moves me is the quote I've seen from Jason, Susan's husband that she has "really been fighting" to give this baby a chance to live. I mentioned this to my husband and said I'd like to know what Jason has seen by Susan's bedside that has made him say that.

Jack's response: "It's something immeasurable. Only a spouse would know."

That to me is the soul of this story -- this couple fighting together for the baby they both have loved.

* * *

I'll post more information as soon as I hear it.

***

UPDATE 10:15PM: The announcement from the families . . .

The Torres and Rollin families are proud to announce that Mrs. Susan Torres gave birth at 8:18 am on Tuesday, August 2, 2005 to Susan Anne Catherine Torres. The baby weighs 1 pound 13 ounces and measures 13.5 inches long.

There were no complications during delivery. The baby is doing well and is being monitored in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Virginia Hospital Center.

The Torres family will hold a press conference tomorrow, August 3, 2005, at 1:00 p.m. eastern time at Virginia Hospital Center. Further details will be available at that time.

Thank you all for your care and support which has helped both families reach this wonderful day.

* * *
This is why 74 percent of doctors believe in miracles . . .

As always, thanks to Mudville Open Post for helping spread the word.

And thanks also to Outside The Beltway and Traffic Jam.

ProLife Blogs has been following the pregnancy.

Posted by Charmaine at 09:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (5)

This is great news from the Torres/Rollin family -- the baby has made it to (Lord willing) viability:

The Torres and Rollin families are happy to announce that Susan and the baby have made it to the minimum delivery date for baby girl Torres. From here on out, the doctors will monitor the baby's progress on a daily basis.

Susan's cancer is progressing, but she is fighting all that much harder to give the baby a chance. The cancer has spread to her liver, but the family believe Susan will fight and deliver her baby in the next three to five weeks.

Virginia Hospital Center has refitted to room next door to Susan's as a delivery room in order to take no chances.

Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers. We will be keeping everyone updated on a more regular basis as everything progresses.

Posted by Charmaine at 01:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Since I've been gone this last week, I just checked in to see how things are going with Susan Torres and her baby. The latest update was posted on July 6th and said that both Susan and the baby were okay. And the doctors were saying that they would deliver the baby some time between the 11th -- that's today! -- and the 18th.

Also, on June 30th, Jason, Susan's husband and Justin Torres, her brother-in-law, were on Larry King Live, to talk about her case. I saw it and was so impressed with their dignity and faith.

Please keep this baby and the Torres family in your prayers this week.

Steal the Bandwagon has more.

Myopic Zeal reminds us that Jason is the real hero.

Posted by Charmaine at 05:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It's a girl! The Torres family has announced that the sonogram shows that the baby we've all been praying for is a little girl. We always Thank Heaven for Little Girls, but I believe this baby has a special destiny.

When the sonogram was done for Baby Boo, we discovered that the technology of picturing babies in the womb keeps improving dramatically. This isn't the sonogram picture of Susan and Jason's baby girl, but it might have looked something like this one:

Baby's First Picture

Of course, not quite everyone is happy about Fetus Torres . . some say the fetus in the sonogram is not a person and has no right to life. And that the Torres family should not be trying to save her.

In writing on this story, The Washington Post reports that some believe that "...it is demeaning to use [Susan's] body as an incubator." And others "have questioned the enormous amount of money being spent..."

These quotes illustrate the feminists' philosophy that the child is a parasite feeding off the host body -- costing precious dollars that could benefit society on products other than conception.

Although I understand that the Torres' situation is unusual, and I believe braving new ground medically, making heroic efforts to save a baby before its birth isn't new. In 1999, Samuel Armas was a 21- week-old fetus, and needed surgery to correct spina bifida before his birth. A famous picture of the surgery shows Samuel reaching up, out of the uterus, and grasping the surgeon's hand. Read the whole story written by the reporter who took the picture.

Susan and Jason Torres also declined tests for birth defects. These test are used overwhelmingly as a rationale for abortion. Dr. C. Everett Koop called the tests "Search and Destroy Missions."

Each person has value beyond measure. Here's how to support the effort to save Baby Girl Torres: donate to the Torres fund.

This is my boy: Baby Boo

Same Baby Boo . . .
. . .Different venue

See more sonograms at Extreme Truths at 4D Technology

Posted by Charmaine at 11:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Do you live in the DC area? Or, even if you don't, c'mon over anyway. . .

Tomorrow, (Wednesday the 29th) Chevy's Restaurant in Falls Church is hosting a fundraiser for Susan Torres and her baby. Susan is the young pregnant woman who collapsed last month from a cancerous tumor at the base of her brain. She is now brain dead, but doctors at Virginia Hospital Center are trying to keep her body functioning long enough for her baby to reach viability -- they hope to make it to mid-July.

Surprisingly, the Washington Post is following the story closely and yesterday published an update, "Weary Father Left To Count the Days." The sad headline nearly says it all . . . all except that the baby continues to grow, and on Thursday, the family saw it kicking on a sonogram.

Susan's husband, Jason, and their two-year-old son, Peter, do need help. Keep them in your prayers, and, if you can, come to Chevy's on Wednesday. The fundraising event is organized by Preemies Today and 20% of your bill will go to the Susan Torres Fund, if you mention either Susan Torres or Preemies Today any time between 3 o'clock and closing.

More information about helping the Torres family, is available here.

Posted by Charmaine at 01:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

Susan and Peter Torres

Susan Torres was 17 weeks pregnant when she collapsed and stopped breathing the day before Mother's Day. Her husband performed CPR and she was rushed to the hospital, where they discovered that she has a stage four melanoma cancer invading her brain.

The doctors have told her husband, Jason, that they cannot save Susan. But they are working valiantly to save her baby.

Even as Susan declines, the baby appears to be well -- yesterday Susan's family reported that they have felt the baby kicking . . . Susan and the baby need to make it to July 11th to give the baby the best chance of survival.

Please keep this family in your prayers. Susan and Jason have a two-year-old son, Peter. How hard it will be for them to welcome the baby, and say goodbye to Susan at the same time.

And if you can support them financially, they do need help with the cost: their expenses are mounting with at least $1500 a day that is not covered by their insurance. Details on how to contribute, and to get updates on Susan and the baby are available here. There is a link there for donating via Paypal; checks can also be sent to:

The Susan M. Torres Fund
c/o Faith and Action
P.O. Box 34105
Washington, D.C. 20043-0105

Peter Torres

The family notes at the website that they don't want Susan's story to turn into something political. So I won't say much about this. But it is striking to me that in all of the stories I have read about this tragedy, the reporters always refer to the precious life tenaciously growing, developing and kicking within Susan as. . . a baby.

Steal The Bandwagon on the issue early as always

Posted by Charmaine at 01:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)