Prayers for Liam

Kerissa • September 3, 2012

Hi everyone,

Could you please keep sweet Liam in your prayers?  He needs prayer badly.  He has hypoplastic left heart syndrome, and his story has been heard all across the nation.  His facebook page has over 60,000 “likes.”

https://www.facebook.com/pages/I-Love-Liam-Lyon/137992366273067

His family loves Jesus, and they asked for prayer for him 12 hours ago, and we haven’t heard since then..

Liam’s life continually inspires me as I go through my own little trial.  He is so precious and such a fighter.  Here is a little paragraph about him that I copied from his facebook page:

William Elijah Lyon, affectionately dubbed Liam, was born February 18, 2011 at 3:25am to Whitney and Brody Lyon in Ft. Smith, Arkansas. Although he was about 5 weeks early, he was a perfect size weighing 6 lbs and measuring 19 inches long. But it was quickly apparent there was a serious problem. Thanks to Dr. Seglem and his diagnostic skills – Liam was quickly diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Our boy had a congenital heart defect that is fatal if left untreated. He was transferred that evening by Life Flight to The Children’s Hospital at St. Francis in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The doctors spent a week trying to decide the best course of action and decided he needed a transplant instead of the first of three palliative surgeries (Norwood, Glen, Fontan) and he was transferred to Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock, Arkansas. He and his mom were transported by an awesome Angel One team sent by the hospital. He has been there ever since. The doctors here thought he should have the surgeries to try and make his heart work as long as possible – maybe even until he was a teenager! He had the Norwood, but it wasn’t working quite right and they had to operate again. It quickly became apparent that the palliative surgery iwas not performing as expected and he was listed status 1A for a heart transplant. He had the Glen, got better for a week, and got much sicker – and then he had a heart transplant. This is his journey and we love him. There are so many people who have followed his story and encouraged us with their prayers. We love you all.

PLEASE pray.  Here’s a song that comes to mind when I think of Liam.  It was originally written for a little 5 year old girl with brain cancer.  Her website has received over 14 million visits.  Here’s her story: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/mcraekate

Please watch this video and read the words.  And most of all, please keep Liam in your prayers.

God is near, little Liam.

Surgery Update 😊

By Kerissa Lee • August 21, 2026
Dear friends, I just wanted to thank you all so much for praying for me during my abdominal surgery on August 6th! 💚 All of your messages/emails really encouraged my heart! If you missed my previous post, I had to have an unexpected surgery to take down the jejunostomy tract and repair an enterocutaneous fistula (a rare complication from having a j-tube for 12 years). I truly felt your prayers, and the Lord answered so many of them as well! 🥹 My surgeon only had to remove about 1 1/2 inches of my small intestine which is great news! I was in the hospital for 4 days because my blood pressure was low and pain control was rough (it’s a long story, but pain management is complex due to a specific medication I take daily at home..). But aside from that and having an allergic reaction to the surgical glue, I’ve been healing well. Thank you again for praying!! God has been so faithful throughout this journey. I got a visit from my sweet foster nephew when I was in the hospital (2nd picture)! 🥰 I can’t wait until I can show you his face—he’s so adorable. 🩵 I’ve mentioned this before, but an important medication I take causes severe insomnia (still not falling asleep until anywhere between 3 AM-9 AM). 😞 But I saw my naturopath this past Monday, and she’s going to treat me for suspected cortisol spiking up during the night (which disrupts the body’s circadian rhythm). I’m thankful for the wisdom God gives her, and I’m excited to see if this treatment will help! It will take 6 weeks to see if there’s any benefit, but I first have to specially order it.. 

August 6th Surgery Prayer Requests 💚

By Kerissa Lee • August 6, 2026
"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." -Psalm 46:1

Another surgery 😞

By Kerissa Lee • July 25, 2026
Hi, friends, I thought I wouldn’t be posting for a while since I’ve been doing really well, but I’ve hit a bump in the road again and would appreciate your prayers. 💚 This past Tuesday the 21st, after nearly 12 years living with it, I had my jejunostomy tube removed completely. I thought it was going to be a simple process and that the stoma (hole) would close quickly within 30 minutes like they said. That didn’t happen, though, as the stoma started draining a ton! I couldn’t even leave the lobby and had to go back up to the clinic on the 8th floor to have an ostomy bag placed to collect all the small intestinal digestive juices that continually drained. Unfortunately, I’m experiencing a very rare complication called an enterocutaneous fistula. 🥺 I’m disappointed this is happening, but I’m not exactly surprised since my whole medical case with Mitochondrial DNA Depletion Syndrome has been rare from the very beginning.. I also don’t heal well due to connective tissue problems from Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (case in point: my port site issues back in May when I had to have a new one surgically placed on the other side of my chest).. 😞 The clinic told me to keep emptying the ostomy bag and monitor the output. It wasn’t a fun 2 days. This whole process has definitely made me so grateful to God that I’ve never needed something like an ileostomy! TMI, but I lost almost a whole pound of fluid because so much was gushing/spurting out of the stoma every time I ate or drank. Losing so many electrolytes, I started experiencing symptoms of dehydration—weakness, high heart rate, and headaches. So yesterday, I had to go back and see the surgery resident who basically placed another j-tube (it was so painful again!). 😭 This is a temporary “plug,” and I’m bummed to say that I have to go to the operating room to have the jejunostomy tract taken down and the fistula repaired. This surgery will be happening as early as next week (it depends on my surgeon’s schedule).. She said it will be complex, especially because adhesions (scar tissue) form when a person has multiple abdominal surgeries.. I lost count what number this surgery/procedure will be, but I do know I’ve had more than 20! 😞 I know God is with me wherever I go and will supply me with the strength to endure yet another surgery like he always does. But, I’m still sad that I have to have more incisions added to my body. I shared the lyrics to this song before on an old blog post (the song is called It Is Well With My Soul by Matt Redman), but it immediately came to mind again when I was thinking of scars. As the song below said, it’s a reminder to me that my scars can be a testimony to others of God’s grace in my life and how he has brought me through every single pain and sorrow. In the Bible, I’ve always thought it’s so neat that Jesus still had his scars after he rose from the dead—he had a new body, and yet, his scars were still visible. ❤️ Our scars are a sign of grace in our lives Oh Father, how You brought us through When deep were the wounds And dark was the night The promise of Your love, You proved Now every battle still to come Let this be our song It is well (it is well) With my soul (with my soul) It is well, it is well with my soul