Through The Waters

    It's Sunday afternoon here at the hospice.  I write to you with the window open, the breeze gently poking it's head in, the birds squabbling over the food in the feeder and the clouds providing a spectacular background to my thoughts.  I hope you all look up and appreciate the skies above, where God paints the world with love, that's how I know He lives (words from a very old song on a kids record).   And in our devotions the other day, there was a reminder and a call to look beyond the clouds, the flowers, the birds and look to the Master of Creation, to the God who loves us, who creates beauty for us to appreciate and enjoy and who teaches us to appreciate these beauties.\             I     have to admit that this picture is not one that I took...I looked through my archives for a suitable image but there was none.  I need to acknowledge that the image is not my own and I want to be honest abou...

A brief update from Rachel on how things are going: Danielle was able to move to a room at the Bob Kemp Hospice on Wednesday afternoon. We are very thankful for the compassionate care, welcoming environment and the peaceful setting here. It is a difficult place to be but they have made it as comfortable as possible, with cozy rooms, home cooked meals, and thoughtful access to the lush outdoor surroundings. Danielle continues to struggle with pain and fatigue, and finding a suitable balance of pain control with alertness. There are many people who would like to see her and also people she would like to see. It is hard for her to balance this with the very important task of preparing for her future and spending precious time with Timothy, Martha and Ava. We have set up a schedule to make important visits manageable for Danielle. It is necessary to limit visiting to those who are especially close to her, and also to limit the length of visits to 15 minutes. Out of love and re...

It's Timothy, Danielle's husband writing again. Danielle's been in the hospital since the 7th now, a total of about ten days. As of the last post the doctors were working to restore her blood levels and find a good balance with the pain meds. On Wednesday Danielle had an x-ray to see if there was excess fluid in her abdomen which was causing the pain. This was inconclusive so on Thursday a CT scan was ordered, and the results came to Danielle and her mother on Friday afternoon: Danielle's liver had almost entirely been replaced by the cancer, and there were new and bigger spots in her lungs and the abdominal wall. The doctors set 11:00 am on Monday as the time for a family meeting, to determine the next steps of Danielle's care. While it was helpful to know there was a point at which some decisions would be made, it was difficult to understand how the disease had progressed this much, so quickly. On Friday night I didn't get the news from Danielle and her Mom ...

It's Timothy, Danielle's husband writing this evening. A lot has happened since Danielle wrote the last post on the Thursday following our appointment in Toronto. We spent the long weekend with Danielle's parents and her sister Rachel's family at their place outside of London. We had been hoping to do something as a family this summer and backyard camping seemed to fit the bill since it had the most flexibility in case things went differently then planned. As it happened, Danielle's younger sister Lauren's daughter got chicken pox the Thursday before the weekend so, in an effort to reduce the chance of infection, it was decided that Danielle and our family would go up over the weekend, and then Lauren's family would come up after we left on Monday night. We had an appointment with the oncologist on Tuesday so this seemed to make the most sense. The highlight of the weekend was undoubtedly a pig roast on Saturday, an all-day affair which culminated in ...