June 8: Thursday evening

Sitting down at home tonight after a trip up to Hamilton to visit with Danielle and Timothy at the hospital - it was a good day together, but of course not the circumstances that we would prefer to have brought us together for a visit.  We had intended to write a blog post together, and Danielle did manage to get one sentence written, but the day just didn't lend itself to writing and so I will give you her one lovely sentence, and then continue from there:

As I write this update on Thursday afternoon, it feels like such a long time ago since I've written but in reality, it's only been a week since we embarked on this journey of thoughts, ideas, and prayer together. 

I am sure she will have more opportunity to write - it can be a form of therapy in itself to get your thoughts out - but the exhausting first few days of recovery after Monday's surgery have left both the body and the mind weary. 

Yesterday was an extremely difficult day dealing with uncontrolled pain.  The day started off fairly well, but over the course of the day the epidural was no longer providing any relief, and the pain became overwhelming to the point of crisis.  The doctors decided to switch Danielle over to a PCA pump (patient controlled analgesia), and once this started to take effect, the pain became more manageable.  Timothy was able to fiddle with the thermostat in the room and cool it off a bit, and a dear friend made an emergency run in to the hospital with a fan to move the air in their room and make things more comfortable.    

It was good to see that Danielle was experiencing some more effective relief from pain today - of course, she is far from comfortable, but we were able to do some walking around which is also helpful for recovery.  I arrived at the hospital this morning and after catching up a bit, we enjoyed a speaker-phone conversation with Martha, who has been staying at Opa and Oma's house.  So sweet to hear her bright little voice, much missed by her mommy and daddy.  Timothy left the hospital to get some things crossed off his to-do list.  I was able to help Danielle take a shower - so nice to feel freshened up again and feel a bit more like herself.  Lauren arrived and we had a really enjoyable afternoon visiting together, laughing, crying, praying.  We went for a walk together and plunked out a few tunes on a piano in the hall, accompanied by some lovely operatic solos.  We turned the hospital room into a spa and enjoyed pushing Danielle's buttons (she has this lovely green button on her PCA pump that delivers an extra shot of pain relief).  We waited until Danielle fell asleep and then proceeded to do some arts and crafts using a few hospital supplies and the random crayons and items in our bags.  The lovely inspirational piece of art which resulted from our craftiness is now hanging on the hospital TV, an exclusive gallery of sorts.  When the dinner tray came in, we wondered if they really wanted to increase any patients appetite?  Danielle did eat a bit more than broth and Jello today - some cereal for breakfast, part of a sandwich for lunch, a few bites of potato stuff for dinner.  These things have to slowly work their way through her system and shake it back to work.  One very special thing today was hearing little Ava's heartbeat when the nurse practitioner from McMaster came to check in on Danielle.  What a beautiful sound, and even the little kicks of protest she was giving the Doppler.  19.5 weeks now, and a little fighter.  Altogether today we had an enjoyable time together as sisters, encouraging one another in these heavy circumstances, and perhaps Danielle was glad to see us leave at the end of the day since every time we made her laugh she got us in trouble for hurting her stomach.    

Danielle and Timothy's pastor came for a visit this morning and read a section of Deuteronomy 33 with them.  In this passage, Moses is blessing the Israelites before God took him into glory.  What a beautiful comfort:  

The eternal God is your refuge,

and underneath are the everlasting arms

Deuteronomy 33:27

The eternal God with everlasting arms - can we even wrap our minds around that?  Through all our trials, pain, troubles and sorrows He holds us in His arms.  Even when we struggle against the lot we have been given, when we are angry and questioning and hurt, He continues to be our refuge.  He sends us blessings in the form of compassionate nurses bringing hot packs to ease pain, in the form of doctors doing all they can to help, in the form of prayers from all over the world, in the form of meals and babysitting and cards and lawncare and the list goes on and on.  Blessings fall like rain, and for these we are so very thankful. 

Prayer requests:

For continued healing for Danielle - both for her incision and for her system getting back in gear properly, and if the cancer disappeared we wouldn't mind that either

For Timothy as he prepares for his new job which starts on Monday - the timing of a new career in the middle of this storm has been a challenge and a blessing, and he will need time and mental stamina to prepare for his new position while continuing to care for Danielle and Martha.  

For the doctors and specialists researching and working on a plan of treatment for Danielle and Ava