Terribly Poetic

Well it’s day 3 of our family’s adventure and it felt very strange (and wonderful!) to get a little break from the hospital today!  We were able to sleep in a little, relax in the morning and do a little shopping (got some great deals on some clothes for Libby for next year!).  Today also gave us a little bit of a chance to look around the Ronald McDonald house a little.  I guess I never thought about it before, but it has been such a blessing to have a wonderful place, with all the things we need, and we don’t have to worry about the price!  A hotel like this (without all the amenities) would be at least $100 (conservative) a night and when your looking at two weeks, that would be a lot of money!!!

Staying around here today also gave us the chance to see a lot of other families.  I can’t explain how I feel, knowing that all these families have a little child that is sick.  You see families that are trying to have some form of normality in a very abnormal situation.  And you also can’t take anything for granted… there are many families that are just trying to make the best out of a very sad situation.  There is a little girl here, named Hannah, who seems to know everyone!  She is very friendly and chatty, and is a very typical 2 year old, including the tantrums   BUT, it breaks my heart to know that the reason she is fairly grumpy (although she rewards us with a smile now and then), is because she got one (of many) chemo shots today and it makes her nauseous, tired and sore.  She is such a beautiful little girl and such a joy to everyone here!  Please pray for Hannah and her family that she will be able to battle the cancer in her body!  We are continually reminded that it can always be worse and God is with us every step of the way.  We are not without hope, because we know the Healer, the Maker and the All Powerful!!

We were told today that Norah’s surgery is tomorrow at 8:20am (which is 9:20am Sask time).  We will be at the hospital at 7 in the morning, and then we won’t see her for about 5-6 hours.  The surgery itself is only about 2-3 hours, but in the beginning they need to take her to put her to sleep and then after the surgery the nurses will set her all up in the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit).  After that, we can go in and see her…. please cover that moment in prayer for us!  I can’t even imagine all the emotions that we’ll go through at that time!!

So tonight we are in pre surgery mode.  Norah has already had one bath with some special soap, and then we’ll give her another one right before bed, and then it’s bath #3 before we leave for the hospital tomorrow.  She is going to be one squeaky clean (and sterile) little girl before that surgery!

Prayer requests:

That the surgery would go well, that Norah would be safe and that they WOULDN’T have to open up her pulmonary artery.  (If they have to open that up, there is a much bigger chance of complications afterward).
For Daryl and I as we wait during the surgery, and when we see Norah for the first time after.
That Norah would heal quickly, would stay infection free and that she would recover properly.
-For little Hannah, that her body would be restored and the cancer would be taken away.

Thank you all for all your prayers!  We are so thankful for how you’ve all encouraged us and cared so much for our family!  I’m not sure how much of a post I’ll do tomorrow, but we will try our best to update everyone.

Blessings,
The Grunau’s

Here is the first post by Dawn as she wrote on our Carepage….

Well, we made it to Edmonton safe and sound!  We had a great dinner with my cousin and her husband and now are all settled in the mennonite guest home.  It is a nice big house with about 8 guest rooms.  It is very clean, and we have a nice room.  It is very quiet here, and all the people staying here (that we have met anyways) are all older.  The only thing is there is no tv or internet and they actually don’t even want you using it in your rooms.  As you can imagine, Daryl is going crazy!  It’s a good thing we got the data plan iphone!
So tomorrow is our first (of many) busy day(s)!  We are planning on leaving here at 6:15am, and then all the pre operation testing will start at 7am.  We have been told to expect to be there until around 1 or 2 in the afternoon (over 6 hours… YIKES!).  The dr’s will give her a mild sedative so they can do tests and get a nice clear picture of her heart.  Then we will meet both the surgeon and the anesthesiologist and get a tour of the PICU (where Norah will stay after the surgery).
So far our spirits are up, and I am personally looking forward to tomorrow to get some questions answered and see where we will be.  I would just love to zoom ahead a few weeks and forget about this part, but I know that the future will come soon enough on it’s own!  I was just telling Daryl today that I don’t know how my heart can feel so strong and so weak all at the same time!  I am amazed at how well I am taking this all (and I know it’s only through God’s strength – thanks for praying!), and at the same time I feel completely helpless, weak and out of control.  At the same time I have been reminded that it’s a good thing I don’t have control, and I can also completely trust the One who is!  Praise God, that I know my loving Father is watching over Norah, because I don’t know if I could handle this otherwise!
Well I’d better go, Norah is quite unhappy right now and we are going to try to get her to sleep.  I feel bad for the gentleman that is next door to us…. I’m sorry!
Here’s hoping we get a good sleep in tonight!
I’ll post here tomorrow to let you all know what time the surgery is happening on Thursday!

-Dawn

So it’s been awhile since I’ve updated everyone. Mostly because not much has changed around here. This will probably be my last website update while in Saskatoon. The next ones will come more frequently when we get to Edmonton. Holy Cow we are leaving for Edmonton on Tuesday and Norah is having open heart surgery!!! I’m still having a hard time wrapping my brain around this all. Somehow I haven’t really freaked out completely yet, however stress levels are obviously higher around our house. Even Libby has noticed a time or two where Mom and Dad seem to be different, yes, that’s how I’ll put it, different. Please pray that we continue to have peace and that stress levels can stay “normal.” Wait, what the heck is normal stress levels in a time like this?

I’ll just stop writing like that as I might have begun the “freak out” if I kept that up. Whew. Anyways, thank you so much for those that have already helped us out financially. We have raised over $700 to help cover expenses. If you still wish to donate please visit here and just add a comment for what the funds are for. These funds will go through my work at Ranger Lake Bible Camp which has set this up, all gifts will be tax receiptable. Again, thanks so much for those that have helped out.

We will be doing our best to keep everyone informed about what’s happening while in Edmonton. From my twitter to facebook to this site you should see updates. Also Dawn has setup a “Carepage” here, which is a website hosted by the hospital as we are told internet in the hospital has been known to block facebook for some weird reason. We shouldn’t have issues with hospital internet as I have added a data plan onto my iphone and we will be getting most of our internet that way. So their should be no problems with us updating in a few different places.

Thank you for all your prayers and support. We look forward to coming home and celebrating when this is all over.

Praise God! We have been granted a surgery date in Edmonton of February 4th. This is sooner than we where expecting and it just goes to show how God is listening to our prayers and looking after our little girl. Right now we are still excited to have a date set and the reality of what is going to happen in surgery isn’t setting in yet. We are still at peace that God is in control and we know that He is with us every step of the way. We are so thankful for getting this date as early as we have.

On a related note: Yesterday while attending the Saskatoon Evangelical Youth Workers monthly meeting, myself and my family received an outpouring of love and prayers as I was surrounded and prayed over. I don’t think it is a coincidence that we got word of surgery date the very next day. God is so awesome! When I told them about how we had applied at Kinsmen Telemiracle for funding to cover our travel, accommodations, and other expenses they felt led by God that the Body of Christ should help rather than relying on another organization to help a brother in Christ. Therefore, Ranger Lake Bible Camp is taking donations to help cover our expenses. We have already received over $200 and are feeling so blessed by this act of love and generosity. If you would like to help with our expenses, which could be close to $1000, you may donate online to Ranger Lake here and just add a note in the comment box to let us know that’s what the funds are for.

Thank you for all your prayers and support. Please remember to mark down Feb 4 on your calendars to pray for us. Also please be praying that our family and Norah stays healthy. Any sickness, even if only small, will delay her surgery. Which also means that if you are visiting us, please just stay away if you have any cold or flu symptoms, and remember that we still love you and will happily have you come visit us after the surgery is over or you get better.

Donate to Ranger Lake Bible Camp to help the Grunau’s

Most of you know this already from my many facebook status updates this past week, but in case you missed it. On Tuesday we went into the hospital to have Norah’s NG tube put in. We have been trying to do whatever we could to avoid this, but Norah just wasn’t gaining weight. We realized that this was the correct decision and as unpleasant as it seemed, it was necessary. God continues to give us peace about how He is walking us through this journey.

Tuesday late afternoon the tube went in. Watching this was the hardest thing I’ve had to see Norah go through. However, once it was over (it is very quick), and once Norah stopped screaming and we stopped crying, it really wasn’t as bad as we thought. Norah actually screamed louder each time they had to take her blood pressure. So after a couple nights in the hospital we finally got to leave. We had to stay for so long to get the feedings down, learn how to use the feeding pump, how to put in the NG tube (Dawn did it once), and to make sure she was gaining weight in a healthy manner. On the first day she actually gained weight too quickly. Weird. Here we had been trying to get her to gain weight and she goes and pigs out first day in the hospital. What we didn’t know was that gaining weight too quickly could be really bad. So they got that figured out and we are at home now. Norah is taking to the new feeding schedule very well and had gained 8oz just in the time at the hospital! We are so thankful to all the nurses, dietitians, and doctors at the hospital. They made our short time there so much easier. It makes me appreciate all the nurse friends I have so much more. Who knows, maybe I’ll go back there to volunteer some day.

So now we just continue to wait for Norah’s surgery. And we also hope we can figure out how to get some rest in the meantime. Please pray that a date would be given to us soon. Thank you for all your prayers and support.

Just wanted to give everyone a quick update to pray for us as this afternoon we had Norah admitted to Royal University Hospital to have her feeding tube put in. While it was difficult to watch the tube go in for the first time we are seeing that she is taking a lot more food in already. In just two feedings she “drank” 6 oz, which before would have taken most of the day. So we are beginning to see the advantages, however, we are still getting used to having Norah hooked up to machines and equipment to monitor her.

As I write this I am at home alone as Libby has gone to the grandparents until Norah can come home and there is only room for one parent to sleep on the peds ward. It is very weird to be at home alone. While one would think that I should be able to catch up on all that sleep I’ve been missing, however, I’m not sure I will get much rest tonight.

Please pray that our hospital stay can be cut as short as needed and that Dawn and I will feel comfortable to bring Norah home soon and continue tube feeding on our own. After seeing the tube go in, I just can’t think of one of us having to put the tube back in when she pulls it out or it needs to be changed. Thankfully we know some nurses

Lastly, pray for Dawn tonight as she is alone at the hospital.

It seems like such a long time since my last update. I feel like so much and yet so little has happened since my last update. Holidays was mostly relaxing as I was able to be at home with the family. However, it was also very exhausting and in some ways continues to be. In an effort to do whatever we can to avoid a feeding tube we have been feeding Norah as often as possible. We continue to wake up and feed her in the night, which is the job I get to do. While the routine has set in and we are somewhat used to it, we still continue to fight the lack of sleep we are getting. But, it is all paying off because Norah doesn’t need a feeding tube, yet. She is finally over 9lbs!! (She was 7lbs 13oz when she was born) Now we are in the waiting game as we wait for her surgery. While there is some paper work we can do like Ronald McDonald House, Kinsmen Telemiracle Funding, etc, etc to keep our minds off the actual surgery itself, in the back of our minds is still this one big thought…. Norah is getting OPEN HEART SURGERY!!!! Please pray for our energy levels, while we are leaning on the peace of God and feel like He is in control, we still have moments and need to continually reminder ourselves that we are not in control. And for that fact we are thankful.

The next step now is to keep doing what we are doing to help Norah gain as much weight as possible before her surgery. Until next time.

Hey everyone the LOVE adoption shirts are now available for purchase for $25. Buy a shirt and know that the proceeds are helping a wonderful couple in their quest to adopt from Ghana. In fact, we are having a fundraiser this coming weekend. To get your shirt and your tickets to the Steak Night, please contact Kathy at 306-222-8731. Please get your tickets before this Wednesday as that is the cut off date.

Let’s all show this couple how much we love and support them as they get ready to fly to Ghana in less than 2 weeks time. And don’t they just look great in those shirts? Who wouldn’t want one?

In a stunning turn of events the Grunau’s ended up getting a Nintendo® Wii this Christmas season. It has been more than a few years since I sold my Xbox and my old Playstation has been collecting dust in the garage for quite a long time. So once again, we are the proud owners of a Wii. While I will admit that a PS3 with its Blu-ray and assortment of games did entice me, but the creative game play, the “get my butt” off the couch ability, added with the ability for my kids to play video games from my childhood ultimately won out. So far we just have the Wii Sports and Mario Kart as we bought it in a bundle. But we plan to join my parents (that’s right, my parents had one before me) and get Wii Fit.

So for those of you out there that already have a Wii, what games would you recommend? If you own one I would love to become friends on the Wii and try out some online play. Especially if you have Mario Kart too. The other games I will one day own will of course be a version of Rock Band or Guitar Hero, but until then, I will be mastering Mario Kart. The other thing I plan to do is get a classic controller and buy a few of the original NES® games. Then my kids can really learn to appreciate great games. Afterall, Nintendo® keeps proving itself as a world leader in video games, and has proven that faster, better hardware and graphics don’t make games better. Great game play, and design do! Thanks Nintendo® for years of entertainment and many more to come at the Grunau’s.