Hi All,

 

It is time for the promised update again. A lot can sure happen in just 3 months and a lot has happend to Lorena in these last months.

 

In the last 3 months Lorena has made great progress. At the beginning of May we removed her feeding tube and have not used it since then. Yes, it was very difficult to get the food and drink in her and that still remains a struggle. Yet she has made progress with that as well. She is still taking most food very mushed and thin like the baby food 1 stage but she is  liking homemade food now since 2 months ago. She is also demanding to try anything we are eating, which is great. Some she chews and spits out but some she actually eats. Still her weight remains a concern as she did not gain much the last months and the doctor told us she needs to gain over the summer or she will not have any reserves to go on if she may get sick next winter. Still we are able to give her more food at once and less feeds in a day so we are gaining back our normal family life slowly.

 

The best news by far we received this month was at our last cardiology appointment. The doctor told us that Lorena will NOT need heart surgery, what an answer to prayer! I cried al the way home with relief, thankfulness and happiness. The 7 mm hole had grown closed to 3 mm and we are hoping that it may close even more or all the way. In worst case scenario she can live with this 3 mm hole in her heart. Her next appointment at cardiology is not until 2 years from now.

 

Lorena had her 1st accident. She moves (walks & runs) around so quickly and she had pulled a bicycle on herself and somehow it lifted her whole finger nail up from the nail bed up. We rushed her to emergency at the children's hospital where they had to put her out. Lorena however is our little fighter girl and she would not be put out so easily, they needed to give her an other dose of the medication before she was finally out and the small operation could begin. The doctor lifted her nail and shoved it back in her finger and then put stitches on both sides to keep the nail on. We were send home and told that the doctor was not sure if she would actually get a new nail or not. Well just 2 days ago as we were taking my parents out to see the mountains in Kananaskis Country Lorena peeled off the band aid and then the nail. It was probably loose already. All along we were hoping and wondering if she would get a new nail and sure enough a new nail is growing back. We are still protecting it with a band aid as it only covers 1/2 her finger yet.

 

We have had other stresses to deal with as well in the last 3 months. As Jeremy had fallen behind in school on his English subjects we took him for an educational accessment. With the results that we were informed that Jeremy needs to go to a private school for kids with learning disabilities. These schools are for kids with a normal IQ or average kids but with some disability which is holding them back in certain areas. We were informed that his eyes seem to be a problem for him and would probably be able to correct it with 3 months eye therapy. As it turned out Jeremy is what they consider to be a severe case as he had trouble in 6 out of 7 possible difficulties. Since then we have started doing eye therapy with Jeremy each day. The 30 min. eye therapy we do with him each day (takes more like 1 hr) is helping him a lot and every 2 weeks we go in for an appointment and we get new eye exercises to do and take home. This all has caused a great deal of stress and organizing but now we are so glad that finally after 5 years of struggling in school we have found a solution and we are able to help him. The private school (Rundle Academy) he will be going to next year will be so good for him as he will be in a class of no more then 6 people with 1 teacher and they will make special allowances for what ever his needs are. We did have to swallow hard when we heard that the cost was $12000.00 a year for this school but so far we are thankful that Lodewyk has been able to keep his job at Nortel.

 

As Nortel in Calgary closed the doors at the end of May Lodewyk is 1 of the few Nortel employeees still working from home. Still changes are happening and it looks like Nortel is selling off and coming to an end. Nokia put in a bid on the Nortel division Lodewyk works for and he is hoping for a job transfer along with the deal but we will not know for sure if he will still have a job at the end of this deal in August but he was told it is looking pretty positive. So we hope Lodewyk will not loose his job.

 

We recently had a big celebration as I organized a surprise 40th Birthday party for Lodewyk. About 40 people came and it was a wonderful Birthday party and a great surprise for Lodewyk. It was so exciting to plan everything for him as he has been a great husband and father especially over the last difficult 17 months. We had much to celebrate as in the same week  of both of our birthdays we also heard the news that Lorena did not need heart surgery. Also after all the stresses our lives finally seem to be coming back to normal again. Just this week Janita told me, mom it is so nice because it finally feels like our lives are back to normal again. And just last week Jeremy told me, mom I am so happy because you and dad are finally starting to smile again and have fun with us. I knew we had been stressed out to the max but I did not realize it had effected our little family so much but as our kids told us this, I knew they were right. It is so good again to have fun with the kids. It is so good to know that Lorena's heart is healing and no surgery is needed and it is so good to have finally found out what Jeremy's troubles were and to be working on a solution for him. It is so good to be rid of all those stresses and to finally be having fun again together as a family.

 

We are very much due for holidays as our last one was 2 years ago and so much has happened in this family during that time. We will soak in our camping trip at Sylvan Lake this year like never before. We all look forward to some relax time at the Lake.

 

We want to thank you all for your prayers for Lorena. Our Lord has answered these prayers and also the prayers we had concerning Jeremy! 

 

God is good!

 

We wish you all a great summer and last half of 2009!

Lodewyk, Rena, Janita, Jeremy & Lorena

 

As things are going so well with Lorena and we are only going to the hospital for her feeding difficulties yet I will not send an other update until after her 2nd birthday, January 16, 2010.