June 9 Friday
It was a busy day with lots of visitors in and out of the hospital
room. Friends, family, the
chaplain, nurses, doctors, and tonight Timothy is spending the night at home
while Laura sleeps over. I have warned
them not to stay up too late into the night giggling and doing sleepover stuff,
but Danielle was already starting to sail half-mast by the time we got off the
phone, and Laura will have to change from sleepover mode to babysitting mode
and perhaps be the one to monitor that delightful green PCA button all night
long. Haha. Danielle and Timothy were very touched by a
visit from a very special Dr N from St. Joes, the doctor who cared for Danielle
at the beginning of this journey and whose task it was to deliver the initial heartbreaking
test results from her liver biopsy. His
compassionate care at a devastating time was memorable and greatly appreciated.
Abdominal discomfort continues to be a difficult thing as Danielle’s
intestines have been slow to come back online.
This has caused significantly more pain than recovering from the
surgical incision. On a positive note,
we are attributing the passing of some long awaited gastrointestinal breeze to
the highly inspirational artwork recently installed on her TV.
A PICC line was put into day, which will reduce the number of
needle pokes Danielle gets, and will be used to give medication, do bloodwork,
and eventually administer chemotherapy.
They were also able to hear Ava’s little heartbeat again, although it
was difficult to hear at times due to all the kicking and moving around she is
doing. She’s a busy little girl!
Other positives of the day included a beautiful sunrise over the
city; Danielle watched the sun come up over the city and the city waking up
from the hospital hallway on a solo walk early this morning. She was also able, with Timothy’s help, to
enjoy another shower – two days in a row now – a definite high point of the
day.
They have been struck numerous times by the perfect timing of
events around them. They had been
discussing how to talk with Martha about what is happening with Mommy, as she
is a smart little girl and is bound to start asking some more difficult questions
as time goes on. Danielle and Timothy
went on a walk to the hematology ward she has worked on for many years, and
they happened to run into the nurse practitioner who just happened to be
staying late, and who just happened to have a book in her office that a co-worker
just wrote, and it just happened to be about talking to kids of different ages
about serious illnesses like cancer. We
could put it all down as an interesting coincidence, but we can also recognize
the hand of God in providing resources and help in His own perfect timing.
Devotions tonight were another example of God’s perfect
timing. They read a devotional tonight
based on Psalm 41:
Blessed are those who have regard for the weak;
The Lord delivers them in times of trouble.
The Lord protects and preserves them –
They are counted among the blessed in the land –
He does not give them over to the desire of their foes.
The Lord sustains them on their sickbed
And restores them from their bed of illness”
Psalm 41:1-3
In this illness, there have been doctors
and nurses standing at the bedside, coming and going, but we have a Great
Physician who is always there and never leaves us. We believe that God is in control of all
things, including health and sickness, and all things come to us not by chance
but by His Fatherly hand. Because of His
providence, “we can be patient when things go against us, thankful when things
go well, and for the future we can have good confidence in our faithful God and
Father that nothing will separate us from His love. All creatures are so completely in His hand
that without His will they can neither move nor be moved.” (Lord’s Day 10,
Q&A 28). Even on a sickbed, knowing
that the Lord is in control of all things, He gives the grace to be patient and
be content in our hearts.
Prayer requests:
For continued restoration of intestinal
health (If we shall keep it polite, some more “gastrointestinal breeze” would
be a sign of great progress)
For continued grace to rely on the Lord
for every need and request
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