TOMORROW!!!

Hey mom!! 

 k so guess what?? I fly in tomorrow!!!!!!!! 

I hope you guys dont have anything super important at 7pm because your eldest daughter flies into Louisville at 

7pm!!!!!!!!!  

Cant wait to see you guys!!!! :) if you have any questions just 

email elder K or elder Ferin! :) LOVE YOU AND CANT WAIT TO SEE YOU!!!!!!!

I'm Coming Home!!!

Hey! They just told me I’m coming home on Aug 13th!!! I don’t know what time but as soon as we get the ticket and the times we will let you know. AHHHHHHHHHHH IM SO EXCITED TO SEE YOU GUYS!!! I LOVE YOU!!!! make sure to bring your camera haha :) oh man I cant tell if I’m just gonna jump up and down and scream when I see you and tackle you or if I’m gonna bawl like a baby bc I missed you guys and its an outpour of tears of joy... well, guess we'll see tomorrow!! :)

Coming home! I'm so excited.

Hey! They just told me I’m coming home on Aug 13th!!! I don’t know what time but as soon as we get the ticket and the times we will let you know. AHHHHHHHHHHH IM SO EXCITED TO SEE YOU GUYS!!! I LOVE YOU!!!! make sure to bring your camera haha :) oh man I cant tell if I’m just gonna jump up and down and scream when I see you and tackle you or if I’m gonna bawl like a baby bc I missed you guys and its an outpour of tears of joy... well, guess we'll see tomorrow!! :)

Week 65 - I'm Coming Home, I'm Coming Home - tell the world I'm Coming Home

Hey guys! Ok, so I'm sure a lot of you have heard by now, but I will be coming home probably sometime this week from my mission because of medical reasons. It was quite the shock to me and I have to admit I didn't take it very well at first, because you all know I’m pretty much obsessed with my mission and LOVE it so so so much, so I cried and pretty much begged to be able to stay on my mission, but they explained to me that I didn't really have a choice and it was going to happen. Once I realized this was really happening (and after A LOT of tears) I realized I can either come home and be upset or I can accept it gracefully and come home happily with a positive attitude, ready for the next chapter in my life. So now I've accepted it and I'm ok. I really am. I know this is God's plan for me and that he loves me. I loved my mission and served with my whole life. I know I did my best and I have no regrets. But, anyways, I just wanted you guys to here it from me. That way you all don't have to feel super awkward or walk on egg shells around me when I get back and wonder why I came home haha. So I just kinda want to share my experiences from this past week so that you guys know "the whole story" and so that I can share my feelings about my mission. For all of you (cough* mom *cough) who wanted longer emails and details and all that jazz, you are going to be sorry you ever wished that after this email haha. It's gonna be a long one…

 Sooo here goes... July 27th I was in my apartment washing dishes when I passed out and ended up being admitted into the ICU at the hospital for 3 days.(Ya that's the last time I do dishes haha) My blood pressure and heart rate was very low and they did lots of tests to figure out what was wrong with me. One of those was an EEG which looks at the brain waves in your brain. When it came back, it came back abnormal... figures... so they sent me to the mission home, and then to the MRC (missionary recovery center) in Manila to figure out what is going on. I've had many doctor appointments at St Lukes Hospital (one of the best hospitals in the world) with cardiologists, neurologists and who knows what else to take a bunch of tests. One of these tests was the Tilt-Table-Test, which is where they pretty much just strap you to a table, stick an IV in you and attach a bunch of wires to you to monitor your heart and blood pressure, and let you lay there for 20 minutes. Then they raise the table so that you are vertical and wait to see if you pass out or react. She said the fastest anyone has ever passed out was after about 6 minutes so just relax and just wait and see what happens. Well, I was pretty surprised because when they raised the bed, almost immediately I got super nauseous, dizzy, and blacked out. They laid me back down and found that my blood pressure went down to 70/30, my heart rate was about 40 per minute and determined that I have a form of Syncope. Syncope is just where when you stand  up fast sometimes your heart doesn't realize it needs to pump faster, therefore not enough blood gets to the brain and you pass out. So I was happy because Syncope is not really serious you just have to drink bucket-loads of water, and wiggle your toes before standing up. No big deal right? 

So, last Friday I was on my way to my last appointment with the neurologist and I was excited because I thought we had figured out the problem and that I would be able to go back to my mission the next day. So we walk into his office and the first thing he says is "I'm sorry but I have some bad news". Probably the best thing you can hear from a doctor right? ha... no. My heart just dropped and I asked what was wrong. He showed me my old EEG scan from when I was hospitalized in Olongapo and it showed abnormal spikes in the brain waves in the Parietal Lobe which could be causing me to have seizures. Then he showed me the new one that they took here in Manila and well... instead of it just being in the Parietal Lobe they saw epileptic or atonic seizure waves in every part of my brain... ya. And he said that's pretty rare. So I asked what I'm supposed to do about it and he said I can take medicine for it. Then Elder Morrison and Elder Kasteller who was with me, began firing away questions. Then Elder Morrison asked if I would be ok to go on a 17 hour plane ride home. I whipped my head around and was like what?? I don't need to go home, I'll be fine! They just kept asking questions while I stared out the window, trying not to cry. Once we got home we ate dinner and then Elder Kasteller told me he needed to speak to me after dinner... yikes. So he took me down to Elder Morrison's office and they sat me down and just sat there for a second. You know that's never a good sign. So he just started by saying they had been in contact with church headquarters in Salt Lake City and they had come to the decision that I needed to go home for my health and I would be having an honorable medical release. Well, that didn't go over well with me and I just started bawling. I was so not myself and just kept saying that "I can't go home yet, I only have 2 months left! please let me stay, please!" I told them I would do anything to stay and literally begged to stay on my mission. They even let me call Elder Ferrin who I tried to persuade to let me stay. I asked him if there was ANY way I could stay on my mission and just finish my last 2 months... he just said, "No, I'm sorry. This is for you're own good and someday you will understand why this happened." Well, after that I cried and cried and just couldn't believe it. But I did realize that it was now out of my hands and I needed to accept it and accept it happily. 

So Elder Kasteller, Elder Morrison and Elder Fepulea'i gave me a blessing and it made me feel so much better and I felt like this was supposed to happen and that God has a plan for my life. Later that night, before going to sleep, I knelt down by my bed and I poured out my heart to my Heavenly Father. I told him how I was feeling and how confused I was. I told him how I thought I was doing what he wanted me to and that I didn't want to go home, that I love my mission and the people in it. BUT then I remembered something I had read in Jesus the Christ earlier that morning about when Jesus Christ was suffering for our sins, the most painful and most agonizing event of the history of mankind. He asked if the cup could be removed from him, if the pain could be taken away, BUT NOT MY WILL, BUT THINE BE DONE. Christ was consecrated and humbled himself and submitted to the will of his Father. So then I told Heavenly Father I really did not want to go home early from my mission BUT it that was his will, then I would do it and be happy about it. Immediately I felt this overwhelming sense of peace and love and comfort  and was able to fall asleep smiling. The past few days after that have just been evidence to me of Heavenly Father's love for me and that he cares and is aware of me. 

This past Sunday at church I saw a family that I was super close with from Hermosa, they sang my favorite hymn (I Stand All Amazed) and the Primary children got up and sang my very favorite children's song (Heavenly Father Loves Me). They surprised me and called on me to speak and I was able to share my testimony, my love for missionary work, and my love for my savior. I know it seems small, but those small tender mercies made me feel so much better and at peace.  I was also able to return to my mission for 2 days and go out with a departing batch of missionaries. I got to see so many of the people I love and I got to participate in all the normal departing missionary activities like going out to dinner, devotional, sleeping over at the mission home, and the big send off. I just felt so much love for me coming from my mission president President Dahle, his wife Sister Dahle, my batch, my best friends Sister Burt, Elder Penano, and Sister Mack, Sister Barlow, Sister Lariosa, Elder Wettestrand, my other fellow missionaries, recent converts, Brother and Sister Querido and of course Heavenly Father. It's funny how things just work out. I have just felt so loved these past few days and have really felt all of your prayers. I just want you all to know (not that you didn't already catch on) that I LOVE my mission. It is the BEST thing that I have done for my life and the greatest experience of my life so far. I have grown so close to my Heavenly Father and to my Savior Jesus Christ. I have learned so much about myself, the gospel, about people, and most of all the power of the Atonement. I have been blessed by the companionship of the Holy Ghost and will be striving the rest of my life to be worthy of his presence in my life 24/7.  I love the gospel of Jesus Christ and know that through it families can be together forever and withstand the trials and darkness of the world. I love my family and I am so excited to see them :) I love you all and hope that in some small way, I have been able to help or inspire some of you. Mahal ko kayo! Thank you so much for all of your support for the past 16 months! I'm super excited to see you! See you all real soon!!!!!!!!!!! :D

Love,

Sister Lowe  

Letter from Brother Gorringe

Dear Family of our beloved Sister Lowe,

We are so sorry to lose this wonderful missionary, but understand that it is necessary and for the best. She even did a wonderful work while she was staying at the Missionary Recovery Center with other missionaries including one from our mission. She even discussed the Church with her nurses at the hospital. She is just a wonderful missionary no matter the location or the circumstance.

We are so pleased that she will be able to travel most of the way home with the missionaries from her new "Batch". That will be much more enjoyable for her.

Attached are two pictures of her and Sister Burt enjoying a brownie for dessert in the mission home. Tomorrow there is an employment seminar in the morning, a devotional in the afternoon and out to dinner (The Last Supper) in the evening with exit interviews whenever possible.

Tuesday morning come the tearful goodbyes and then off to Manila to catch their various flights Wednesday morning.

 Oh, how we will miss them. This is by far the largest group to leave since we arrived and probably ever.

I will post these and other pictures on Facebook, but I wanted you to see them first.

Best wishes to all of you,

Elder Gary Gorringe

Financial & Executive Secretary

Philippines Olongapo Mission

Val Chapman's response - such a good man!

Hi Betsy...

These are tough times, many questions and very little hard data.  With an epileptic focus on the last EEG, the doctors are

concerned that there is something irritating the brain tissue in that area which can set off an "electrical storm" of impulses

which travel in a chaotic manner across the brain causing loss of consciousness (fainting spells), jerking, twitching, abnormal breathing, and other signs.  This seizure activity usually terminates spontaneously but can go on for several minutes at a time. What her doctors are concerned about is some abnormality of the brain which could be causing her fainting spells....hence the

request for an MRI scan which is very sensitive for any abnormality in the anatomic structure of the brain.  Once that is done,

we will know much better what the situation really is...and what kind of treatment would be most beneficial.  Most of the time,

we never really discover what causes seizures to occur...only about 30% of seizure patients ultimately are diagnosed with a 

cause and most of those are due to some degree of brain trauma.  So, at this point, all we can do is wait for more data, ie. the MRI scan to see if we can determine an underlying cause and then move on from there...  Webmd.com is a good website to visit to begin your search and learn more about seizures, their causes and treatments...

Hope this is somewhat helpful.  Please keep me informed...

News - getting advice from Val Champman

Dr. Val Chapman, 

Sorry to write with this news but I just thought if you have insight it would be 
great ...

Jessica's second EEG came back abnormal with epileptic something in the 
different lobes.  They are sadly sending her home for an MRI and other tests.  

They haven't diagnosed her with anything but syncope at this point but we keep 
wondering what could cause this when she left a healthy happy young woman?  

There is just so much on the Internet.  Do you know what is a good source to 
answer our questions?  I don't even know what questions I should have.  

Thanks for letting me vent.  This is all new to us ... And we aren't even with 
her.  She is so sad, she doesn't want to go home. 

Sincerely,
Betsy Lowe 

A few days later ... but still at MRC

Ya I’m still here in the MRC and I have my last appointment tonight! So I should know pretty soon what’s gonna happen! I’m gonna be fine and hopefully go home to the mission on Sunday! … at least that’s my plan haha. but just wanted to say I love you and I'm doing fine :) love ya! MAHAL KITA!

Email from LDS Doctor - Dr. Morrison

Dear Lowe Family,

We are proceeding through the necessary tests for your daughter and have a consult with the neurologist to discuss her electroencephalogram results later this afternoon.  She continues to rest in the Missionary  Recovery Center and has been stable while so doing.   I will be in communication with you regarding all of her results  when they are available.  I just wanted to  let you know that she is doing well.  She is an impressive missionary.   

Thank you,

Elder Craig W. Morrison

Week 64 - Manila MRC

Hey everyone!

I'm still alive!! Whoooo! haha I'm sorry if I worried you guys... definitely not on my list of things I had planned to do haha. But ya so this past week has been a crazy one.

Sunday - Woke up, had personal and companionship prayer, went to the kitchen to wash left over dishes before I got ready for church, got sick and passed out, ended myself up in the emergency room and then the ICU. It was weird because I recognized everything from when I got sick last year at this time. I was happy to see all my nurses from before though! They all remembered me and were a big comfort to me while I was in the hospital by myself. I  was really happy because I gave a book of mormon to one of them last year and he said he was still reading it when he had time and actually went to church with his cousin! 

Monday: Still in the ICU... had a heartbeat of 40 per minute and a blood pressure of 80/60... apparently thats not good? go figures... haha. Later that day President and Sister Dhale came and visited me as well as my district and my zone leaders and Elder and Sister Gorringe. 

Tuesday: Woke up in the ICU again after spending the whole night throwing up. My bestie Elder Penano and his comp Elder Elenio came and visited me in the hospital which made me feel a lot happier and better, I also got to talk to Sister Burt on the phone which made me feel tons better too. Tuesday night I got released into a private room and got to leave the ICU! Best feeling ever. 

Wednesday: Stayed the whole day in the hospital connected to my IV BUT I got released from the hospital after persuading my doctor that I would be ok haha. (I had an important MLC meeting the next morning!) Sister and President Dahle came and picked me up and took me to the mission home where I stayed for the next 3 days to rest and recover. (yes mom i promise I did rest and drink lots of water AND take my vitamins AND my medicine :) haha) 

Saturday-Today: Then they came to the decision (against my will haha just kidding) that I needed to be sent to Manila because the doctors found problems in my results with my heart and also my EEG (my brain scan) came back abnormal... ya, everybody's dream to have their brain results come back abnormal haha. I mean i'm not surprised, but i didn't think it was that bad haha. No, but what happened was, they found some brain waves that were irregular which could be causing me to have mini seizures which could be the cause of fainting problems... at least thats what the doctors in Olongapo said, so that's why i'm here in Manila to be checked out at St Luke's Hospital which is like the 12th best hospital in the world.   SO I am now here at the MRC (missionary recovery center) where they send missionaries from all over the Philippines if they get really sick or have a serious health problem. Right now there are 8 of us, 4 elders and 4 sisters, Me and elder Fepuali are repp'n Olongapo mission, 3 from Quezon mission, one from Tacloban mission and one from San Paublo. Ive really learned alot from the whole experience and my testimony just grows everyday. I love you guys and feel your prayers! Don’t worry about me! :) I'll be fine in no time :) 

LOVE YOU!

love,

Sister Lowe

First Email from Manila (MRC)

Hey mom! just wanted to let you know that I made it safely to Manila and I'm here in the MRC next to the Manila MTC. Its like a place of recovery for missionaries here in the Philippines. There are 8 of us here (4 sisters and 4 elders.) There are 2 of us here from the Olongapo mission so at least I know someone.  But everyone’s pretty nice, it’s just weird because most of them are getting a medical release and are excited to go home while I’m here and just waiting to get the okay to go back to Olongapo haha. 

I had 2 appointments yesterday at St Luke’s and it was really helpful. I go back for a couple more tests on Monday I think to rule out some last possibilities.  But I really feel like I wont get sent home so I’m excited about that.  Well, I can email again tomorrow but they just wanted me to email and let you know that I’m ok :) love you and talk to you soon! :)

love,

Sister Lowe

Letter from LDS Doctor Morrison

Dear Lowe Family,

I have just had a long conversation with Sr. Lowe’s mission president’s wife, Sr. Dahle, who informs me that Sr. Lowe is  resting and asleep in the mission home.  I assume you have the lab reports from your daughter’s hospital stay and that she was discharged from the hospital  today.  In reference to all of your appropriate questions,  I can say that these reports were made available to me over the phone by Sr. Dahle only a few minutes ago.  Dr. Ablong has not returned my calls to her and I have had to rely on information  passed to me by Sr. Dahle.  I assure you that your daughter has had the testing available at this hospital  to allow the doctors to make the decision that she is stable enough to be discharged at this time.  The question which really needs to be answered  is when will she be able to travel.  Sr. Dahle will accompany Sr. Lowe to her appointment tomorrow and  again ask the doctor to call me  directly.  We would like to able to have her  examined by additional specialists at St. Luke’s Hosp. in Quezon City, a nationally prominent referral center hospital  with available sub-specialists.  This would be helpful in answering all of your questions and all of our questions in ensuring the best possible care for your daughter.  These plans would include transporting her personally when the time is best to ensure your daughter’s  well being.

Please be assured that she is being cared for and watched over at this time.

If you would like to contact me at any time, please email  or phone (cwmorrison@ldschurch.org     or 0917  869 4391).

Jessica is Relocated to Manila

Jessica called Friday night to let us know that she is going to Manila on Saturday to see the neurologist and cardiologist there.

She sounded upset - at first we were excited for her to be going to see some specialist so that we could get some answers, but then she told us that she has to take everything with her in case she has to come home from there.  She was in tears because she wouldn't get to say good bye to all the people she's met and come to love while serving in Olongapo.

I told her she is going to be fine!  We looked about both worst case and best case scenario, and in both cases it will okay!  It will be God's will and we hope to soon find out what His plan for her is.

Bother Morrison or Brother Ferrin drove her to Manila where she is staying at the Missionary Recovery Center (MRC) right next to the Manila MTC.  She was seen by both a cardiologist and a neurologist on Saturday early evening.  It is amazing that they took the time to see her then.  This first appointment was just a consultation.  She goes back on Tuesday for tests and results.

Doctor Appointment on Friday

Jessica went back to the doctors on Friday.  After her doctor's appointment the Mission President's wife and Sister Gorringe took Jessica to get a taco and a blizzard at DQ.

Here is the email I received from Brother Gorringe:

Non technical update. Sister Dahle and Sister Gorringe were with her for her appointment with Doctor DeLeon. President and I joined them for lunch. She had soft tacos and loved them. After that she had a DQ Blizzard. We took her home and she assisted Sister Gorringe in the office the balance of the day. 

Observation: Early on, she was tired, but improved as the day wore on. Amazing what a little ice cream will do. When she left the office for the mission home in the early evening, she looked, sounded and acted completely normal. I assume Sister Dahle has told you of the doctor's report and what the next step is.

I have included two pictures that I will post on Facebook for the missionaries families. They were taken yesterday at Mission Leaders Conference. As you can see, she looks fine. She is with Sister Quinlan Hess. I hope this gives you a little comfort.

We love her too,

Elder Gary Gorringe

Financial & Executive Secretary

Philippines Olongapo Mission