Update on Zander Initiative Campaign

Dear Friends of the Zanders,

We’re just over halfway through the Zander Initiative campaign! Thank you for your faithful support of the Zander family. God is definitely at work and His Faithfulness is evident in what we’ve seen this week! As of today we have raised about 50% of our goal to help support the Zanders for both 2008 and 2009. Our desire is to keep the family whole, covering both Dieter and Valerie’s salary and benefits, so that they can focus their energies on helping Dieter get better. We realize that this is an uphill climb and with your help we can help make it easier for them. Please also continue to pray and ask God to bring full recovery for Dieter!

Blessings,
Eric Nyberg
Director of Outreach
BayMarin Community Church

For additional information on the campaign, visit the Zander Initiative campaign website (dieterzander.wordpress.com).

New Zander Campaign Now Underway Through June 8th

Dear Friends of the Zanders,

 

Thank you for your continued love and support for Dieter, Valerie, Kyle, Conrad, and Christopher!  For those of you who may not know, we have officially launched the Zander Initiative, a campaign started by BayMarin Community Church to help support the Zanders financially through both 2008 and 2009.  The campaign runs through June 8th, and we would like to invite all of you to participate as God would lead you.  It’s exciting to see what is already happening — as we started the campaign, we were given a lead gift of $20,000!

 

We have launched a new website (www.dieterzander.wordpress.com) to keep you updated on how the campaign is going.  You can get to the website via the links on this page or by copying the address and pasting it into your web browser.  This new site is not meant to replace the update blog and you can continue to check here for updates on the Zanders’ journey as Dieter continues to recover.

 

Thank you again for your continued support.  If you have any questions about the campaign, please feel free to email me at eric@baymarin.org.

 

Blessings,

Eric Nyberg

Director of Outreach

BayMarin Community Church

Update

Dieter asked that this photo from May 7 be posted; I would never allow a photo of myself in the blue hat to be out in public! On May 7, doctors removed a filter that had been placed in Dieter’s abdomen as protection against the blood clot he used to have in his leg. Since the clot is gone, the filter had become unnecessary. We have been lobbying for over a month to have it removed, and last week we got 24 hours’ notice of a chance to have it come out. Everything went well, and we are so glad to have one item crossed off the list.

A new item on the list of medical questions that need attention is the chance for Dieter to participate in a clinical trial of a device that would move his right wrist and fingers while vibrating the muscles. The idea is that the combination of assisted movement and vibration will help the brain to re-engage with the hand. Dieter has decided to go ahead with participation in this trial, which will last about 2 months. He’ll go to San Francisco 2 or 3 times a week for the treatments.

Finally, we aren’t seeking any more opinions on whether to put a stent in Dieter’s carotid artery or not. It’s clear that, no matter how many doctors we ask, they are going to divide 50% for and 50% against, and, in the end, the decision is Dieter’s. This week and next, Dieter will have some tests to measure blood flow and oxygen delivery in his brain, and we are hoping the results of those tests will bring clarity to this decision.

Thank you for hanging in there with us. Val