Woman's surgery, recovery credited to Daughters of St. Paul's prayers

Published: 2004-07-16

HONOLULU (CNS) -- For three Daughters of St. Paul from Hawaii who are serving in Boston, the decision to visit a fellow islander with a life-threatening illness at Massachusetts General Hospital was easy. What they didn't expect was that after their visit to Penny Felimer Kalani and their prayers for her she would get the heart transplant she needed to live. Sister Lily Remedias Duhaylonsod and the other two sisters first heard about Kalani during Holy Week when Sister Lily saw an article about her while she was reading the Hawaii Catholic Herald in her Boston convent. The story reported that the 37-year-old woman suffered from a rare blood disease called amyloidosis. It had weakened her heart to the point where she needed a transplant to survive. She had been confined to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston for months, hoping a heart would become available before her own failed her. On May 10 Kalani had a successful heart transplant. She is still hospitalized in Boston and her recovery is going well, said officials at Massachusetts General July 14.

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