The Short Version Of Debi's Story
In February of 2002, Debra Moretta, age 41, was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). Within only two days after getting the diagnosis, a pick line was installed in her right arm and the chemotherapy treatments began. The treatments ran twenty-four hours a day for the following seven days. During this entire time Debi did very well and had even mentioned that she was feeling better than she had before being admitted, however two short days after completing her treatments something went horribly wrong. It was later determined that Debi had suffered severe brain damage and the family was told she would not survive. Debi and her family however did not give up and against all odds she is still alive today. She spent over 10 months in five different hospitals before going home in January of 2003. Although she still cannot eat, talk, or move her body very well, Debi continues to make progress and her leukemia is currently in remission.
Debi's attitude was excellent even though she knew her life was at risk. She said, "I’ve had a wonderful life, but I’m not done yet." Her motto was "One Step Closer" as she was referring to all of the pain and discomfort she was going to have to endure to get through this nightmare.
Her husband, Nick, has been there every day to take care of her. This was due to the fact that his employer, Southern California Edison, drafted a letter informing his co-workers of the tragedy and their response was overwhelming. As a matter of fact, all told the Edison employees have donated enough of their own vacation to give him nearly two years off work in order to take care of Debi and their two children. May God bless each and everyone of these wonderful people.
To learn more about Debi's journey, please read the detailed story.
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Debi's Prayers
Please take a moment to Pray for Debi and add her name to your churches prayer list.
When Debi first went into the hospital, she told me that she could "literally feel all the people praying" for her. She said it was the most awesome feeling in the world. So please let us give her that feeling again. I think she is literally "Living On A Prayer".
Your prayers are greatly appreciated. If you'd like to write Debi a prayer and have it added to this page, please e-mail it to this address prayers@debramoretta.com. Thank you
The first 17 below are some prayers people wrote for us & the last two are prayers that Nick has been reciting with Debi each night before going to bed.
- Father God I pray for Debi, i pray that the leukimia would be taken from her body Lord and that the doctors will be able to tell her family that the cancer is gone. I bind the evil that has caused Debi this illness Lord and pray that this evil will leave Debi's body so that she can begin to be healthy again in Jesus' name. Lord God i also pray that you will be with Debi and her family as she takes that One Step Closer each day to being well again, and give them the strength to support Debi and get her talking, walking and feeding herself again Lord. We believe and trust in you Lord and pray that you do everything in your power to make Debi well again Father, nothing is impossible for you Lord! AMEN!!!
- Father, we come today, asking for healing for Debi. Lord, we know that You can heal where doctors fail. They make mistakes like the one made with the chemo therapy but Lord, we know that You do not make mistakes and this situation rests soley with You at this point. We just pray to You now and ask that You will heal this lady and comfort her family. Thank you for the laugh she was able to emit and we pray that there will be many more in happiness about her improved health. Lord, You made these bodies and You can heal them. You and You alone are able to do that.
We just pray this in the precious name of Jesus, Amen.
- Dear Lord I come to You in prayer for Debi to receive Your healing hands to be laid upon her, and heal her body. That she may once again have laughter and joy in her life with her family. I pray that You will comfort her family to keep them strong and there for Debi and to know we are gathered in prayers for Debi. This I pray in Your name Lord Jesus. Amen
- Dear Heavenly Father, Please surround Debi with your Angels. Comfort her and ease her pain. With you Lord all things are possible. Please heal her body and make her healthy and strong again. Shine your Heavenly white light on her and please shower her and her family with your Love... Thank you Lord. Amen
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- I pray our Lord continues to strenghen you in mind, body, heart and soul. I pray you will be yet another miracle that we the Body of Christ will be witness to. I pray that any pain you may be in will subside, and what pain you do have you will be able to endure and offer as a sacrafice for someone else. I also will remember your family, your husband and your children, whoms hearts must be broken to see you go through all that you have. Praise God for all He is doing to bring you back to all those who love you. May our Lord continue to Bless You.
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- Our Dear Heavenly Father, we are so thankful for our families and friends and the love we have for each other. We are thankful to live on this earth to grow and learn each day new things. Father we ask at this time to comfort the Moretta family. At this time in their lives they need your guidance, love and support each and every day. Please be with Nick, John, and Kris to give them the strength they need and require during these difficult days, and days to come. Please give Debi the strength and power to overcome the obstacles that stand in her way of healing, and please give Nick the strength to help Debi with her trials. Father I ask for these things with a sincere heart and love for my family that these things if thy will may be done. I say these things in Jesus' name. Amen.
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- Dear Lord, I pray for this young woman, for miracles in her life, and for Your All-Powerful Healing. You, alone, Lord, are the Healer, and only You can help here. We come to you in humility and confidence that You will bring this young woman back to her loving family in every respect. I also pray for this woman's husband and children. So faithful in their love, please surround them with love and caring. Help them to stop and take care of themselves while they are spending so much time taking care of their wife and mother. Give them the blessings of good food, good sleep, and good friends to be there at all times and to understand what they are going through. This is a group effort of love, Lord! Please help all here and send them Your overwhelming peace and understanding. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
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- Dear Lord,
Thanks for all the good things you have given us, especially your salvation, for those of us who do believe in and on Your Son, Jesus Christ. Lord, thank you for the resources you have given to me that I may gladly share them with Debra and her family. Dear Father, may you hold on to Debra and her family, would you add an extra measure of faith, confidence, and comfort to her and her family during this overwhelming trial. Help her during the difficult and painful times through her recovery. I pray you would grant her a strong and healthy recovery. WE know that we will all leave these frail bodies someday, however, thank you for the love in our relationships we have had on the way. Thank you for being with us in our grief and pain, may Debra experience an extra measure of Your love through the love of all those around her. In Christ Holy name, I sincerely pray.
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- Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help or sought your intercession was left unaided. Inspired by that confidence I fly to you oh Virgin of Virgins. To you I come, before you I stand sinful and sorrowful. Oh Mother of the word incarnate despise not my petitions but in your mercy hear and answer me.
I pray to you, Mary, that you will ask your son Jesus to hear the many prayers being said for Debi and her family -- please ask him to answer these prayers with his wondrous miracles. Thank you, Mary, for always listening and granting our requests.
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- Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank You Lord for being such a mighty and powerfull God. We pray that you use your might to heal Debra and make her whole. We pray that you be with her family, God. Comfort them and protect them from harm. Thank You God for answering this prayer.
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- Jesus said "Whenever two or more are gathered together in My Name, there I Am in the midst..." He also said if two or more agree on anything, it shall be done. Let's ask for the Faith to accept His miracles.
We Thank You Lord that your Everlasting Arms enfold Debi every moment of every day, now and through eternity. Let us relinquish her utterly to your Love, and entrust her to You without reservation. We Praise you and Thank You for the constant miracles - including those which our limited senses cannot yet perceive.
We know you will NEVER leave us or forsake us. Thank You for Debi's life. You came to give us life, and that more abundantly...pressed down, shaken together, running over. Life so full that we can hardly contain it.
Thank You for the Angels watching over Debi every moment. Fill her heart and mind with Your healing love and joy. You have already given us the Greatest Gift of all - Eternal Life. Help us remember that each day - Your work on the Cross in our behalf is finished.
Amen
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- Father, I thank you for Debi....for holding her in a place close to your heart where her story can reach others like me. Through you Debi, I have yet another reason for communicating with God and the Universe for peace and love and caring for each other. You are yet another one of his miracles that teaches me the important message that if I change the way I am looking at things, the things I'm looking at will change. Your love and your story are already healing others in a far more important way than just their bodies........allow all of that to come back to you now Debi. You already are a miracle. We all love you.
- Debi, I pray that you make a full and miraculous recovery and that you lead a long and healthy life with your family. God bless you.
- Jesus I trust in you will be our motto for we are still young and are life is not finished here on earth. I thank you heavenly Father and without any doubts we will by the Grace of God be healed. Amen
- Father, In the name of Jesus we ask for total restoration for this sister. You said in Luke 10:19 that she has authority over snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the powers of the enemy...NOTHING can harm or hurt her. We receive this now for Debi and we thank You Lord for restoration. We Exalt your name Lord because you God have imposed your will on everything concerning Debi. In Jesus name. Amen.
- Father I pray for debi's strenght,you said in your word that in our weakness you are strong, Lord we realize that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, so lord i speak divine healing and restoration in my sister's body, you said we could call things that are not as though they were. So Father let the healing begin in Jesus Name.
- God, thank you so much for Your amazing healing power. As i read this webpage i can truely see how You have the awesome power to heal. although i only have been on this earth 17 years, i know life without You would be a HUGE struggle. I thank You for hearing everyone's prayers, and i pray that Debi and her family will continue to look to You for comfort and grow in You AMAZING love. I pray in Your almighty healing name, Amen.
Efficacious Novena
To The Sacred Heart Of Jesus
O my Jesus, you have said: "Truly I say to you, ask and it will be given you, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you." Behold I knock, I seek and ask for the grace of the healing of Debi.
Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen
Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all of my trust in you.
O my Jesus, you have said: "Truly I say to you, Heaven and earth will pass away but my words will not pass away." Encouraged by your infallible words I now ask for the grace of the healing of Debi.
Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen
Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all of my trust in you.
O, Sacred Hearth of Jesus, for whom it is impossible not to have compassion on the afflicted, have pity on us miserable sinners, and grant us the grace which we ask of you, through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, your tender mother and ours.
Pray Hail, holy Queen, Mother of mercy, hail, our life, our sweetness and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve: to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears. Turn then, most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus, O merciful, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary! Amen.
"St. Joseph, foster father of Jesus Pray for us."
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
A Husbands Prayer
Heavenly Father, Lord, Jesus, Please watch over Debi and protect her while I'm away and unable to do so. Please give the nurses the strength to take care of Debi and treat her with kindness and dignity. Please give her doctors the strength to make the correct medical decision so as not to hinder Debi's performance. And please keep us well and give us the strength to continue to be able to help Debi through this healing process.
Above all Lord, Please keep the cancer away and rid Debi of any bugs that might be infecting her body. Give Debi the strength to speak, to eat, to laugh, to cry, to move her arms and legs, to loosen the muscles in her back, neck and shoulders so she can move her head more freely, communicate her needs and return home to raise her children as she was meant to Lord, and someday hold her grand children.
We love you very much Lord and we’re asking you for the complete healing of Debi. We’re asking that you to remove any cancer that may be lingering in Debi’s body and that you put her brain back as it was before this tragedy took place because we know that nothings impossible in your name. And we're asking you into our hearts Lord, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Footsteps In The Sand
One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the LORD. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene, he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand: one belonging to him, and the other to the LORD.
When the last scene of his life flashed before him he looked back, at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times of his life.
This really bothered him and he questioned the LORD about it: "LORD, you said that once I decided to follow you, you'd walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life there is only one set of footprints. I don't understand why when I needed you most you would leave me."
The LORD replied: "My son, My precious child, I love you and I would never leave you, During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."
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The Cross Room
A young man was at the end of his rope. Seeing no way out he knelt in prayer. "Lord, I cant go on," he said. " I have too heavy a cross to bear." The Lord replied, "My son, if you can not bear this weight, just place your cross inside this room, Then, open that other door and pick out any cross you wish."
The man was filled with relief. "Thank you Lord," he sighed, and he did as he was told. Upon opening the other door he saw many crosses, some so large the tops were not visible. Then he spotted a tiny cross leaning against a far wall. "I'd like that one Lord," he whispered. And the Lord replied, "My son, that is the cross you just brought in." 
This Poem Was Taken From The
Tramatic Brain Injury Website And Hangs Above Debi's Head board
| "Untitled" By: Deb Dickenson & Garry "Puffman" Andres
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Stop and listen, I'll not lie You'll see my smile, just look inside Though not appear upon my face A vacant look steals it's place.
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| Though my lips remaining still Shun me not, my own strong will. I sing, I dance, I laugh, I play And defy what fate took away.
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My desire comes out inside Through character and sense of pride, I can love, and be loved as well As never to stay in my shell.
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And yes, I am a happy soul Despite what fate had thought she stole
I can be fun and even witty too Just like those that smile may do.
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Search within my heart or eyes For my smile of enormous size So get to know me just awhile And look inside and see my smile.
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Several months ago we received a letter from Dave Hallock. Dave had explained to us that he was a spiritual man and had learned about our situation through one of our family members. He went on to explain that he had recently learned that he had the ability to dispatch Angels to people in need and that he had just sent one hundred of them to Debi’s bedside. Within a day or two Debi gained the ability to laugh and has been laughing ever since. In all Dave has dispatched 111 Angels to help with Debi’s recovery and asked nothing in return. Dave has also kept us in his daily prayers and from time to time sends us an e-mail just to let us know that we are not forgotten. If you feel like Dave may be able to help you or someone you know during troubled times, he can be reached at this address DHAngelMan@Hotmail.com.
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Janine Stolze is a good friend who participated in the Portland Marathon with "Team In Training" and walked in Debi's honor. If you'd like to read more of her story or learn how you can get involved with Team In Training, click here.
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| This site was created as a loving tribute to my sister Debi. If you'd like to read more about my relationship with my sister, click here. |
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| | Sheila Huggins |
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