47

So it seemed only fitting that we were back together on a Tuesday, here in the house with the Japanese maple out front. As I readied to go, I mentioned this to Morrie.

"We're Tuesday people," he said.

Tuesday people, I repeated.

(an excerpt from Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom)

We're Thursday people.

It's been Thursdays for 8 years now that I have had company for supper, visiting and television.

It was on a Thursday when we discovered how well we worked together as a team. J-L wasn't even invited for the meal that day and yet he helped me clean and cook prior to my guests arriving and his slipping out.

It was a Thursday we cooked a large portion of our wedding meal.

It was the wee hours of a Thursday morning when I went into labour for my firstborn.

It was a Thursday when they discovered the growth.

It was a Thursday when he was pulled from my womb.

And, it was a Thursday when Jack's Children's Hospital medical file was closed.

"I don't need to see him anymore." A simple little statement but J-L and I both had tears in our eyes when Dr. Wiseman said it. You see, it's gone. There is still some loose skin there where it once was but nothing more - certainly not enough to make surgery worthwhile. Dr. Wiseman was stunned when he looked at Jack's back. He wasn't comfortable with J-L referring to it as a miracle but nonetheless he was shocked and amazed. That's fine, doctor, you can fall back on your science, we'll fall back on our God.

47 weeks. That’s how long that thing was a part of our lives. 47 weeks. I have a friend who gets rather introspective at the beginning of each year. She's made the comment to me more than once that you "just never know". You just don't know what lies ahead. You don't know what the next year will bring. We had no idea at the beginning of 2008 what would affect the majority of the year. And yet now here we are at the end of the year and the end of the growth.

We've been blessed.

For those of you who couldn't make it...

Here's a slideshow I did up for the baby dedication. (Hopefully at some point I'll get other parts of the service up on here.)

If you happen to be in the neighbourhood...

We are having a baby dedication for Jack (and us as parents) this Sunday, September 7th, at our church, 10:30 am. (It will happen during a regular Sunday service.)

The address:

891 St. Mary's Road

Winnipeg, MB

Canada

Come on down, you KNOW you want to see how cute he is.

Nearly 2 months!

It's hard to believe, how our lives have changed. How monumental that tumour was for 20 weeks and how minuscule it's been for the past 8 (literally and figuratively). Amazing. I nearly forget that there were times we weren't sure whether we'd get to hold our son. Nearly... probably never completely forget.

I don't have much time at the moment as we're heading out camping shortly. The 4 of us. 4! A few months ago we had no idea how our life would turn out and wondered if we'd be able to do regular summer activities or if we'd be spending most of it in NICU. And now we're going camping. We are blessed.

Thank you again for all your prayers and love and support. It looks as though Jack will have his growth removed close to his first birthday. The surgeon thinks that's the optimal time. I'll try to update the blog sporadically between now and then but if I fail PLEASE be sure to (a) check back in April of next year and (b) email me if you're wondering about That Boy You Prayed For.

2 weeks

It's been 2 weeks since our little baby boy charmed (or squawked, depending on the moment) his way into our lives. I keep wanting to come on here and post something about how lovely it is that he is home with us and that his tumor is not life-threatening. But, for the most part I am just recovering and learning how to be the mother of 2. Oh yeah, and sitting around with a silly grin on my face. So, this will be a quick one.

In a very short amount of time (I would imagine) the glow will come off the joy of having a baby brother but for these days I can't even tell you how much it pleases me that Abby has taken to having her naps in our bedroom so that she can sleep beside her brother. And, as always, it comes down to song lyrics for me. Cue Elton John's Greatest Discovery.

In those silent happy seconds
That surround the sound of this event
A parent smile is made in moments
They have made for you a friend

And all you ever learned from them
Until you grew much older
Did not compare with when they said
This is your brand new brother
This is your brand new brother
This is your brand new brother








Also, to those of you who have taken the time to send us a postcard, thank you. The pile is steadily growing and it's a thrill every time I see one of them in the mailbox. To the rest of you, please send one on our way. We'd so love to be able to show Jack one day how many people from around the world were praying.

Cynthia Plett or J-L Laurendeau
221-294 Beliveau Road
Winnipeg MB
R2M 1T4

It’s Sunday!

Some of you may remember this post. Sometimes we are called to Good Friday. And sometimes we are called to Easter Sunday. It’s Sunday here in the Plett Laurendeau residence. And the tulips are up!

On January 10th we felt as though our world shifted. We were told some shocking news about our unborn son and from that point until May 23rd we felt a heavy load that affected every aspect of our lives. Our son had a very large tumor on his back and we had no idea what our future would look like.

I was very guarded about showing a photo of the tumor on this blog as I felt rather protective of him. I didn’t want people to come on to gawk at my son. I showed close friends and family but that was it. That has changed a bit now and I’ll explain why later.* Below is what the tumor looked like in February. It might be tricky to understand the image completely but at the top is the back of his head and neck and then his shoulder comes off into his arm. As you can see, the tumor covers a large part of his back, basically from his neck down to his elbow. It also sticks out quite far. (If you click on the photo it opens up larger and the labels might help.)

The next photo is Jack directly out of my womb. Already not as dramatic.












And the third photo is Jack on Friday, May 23rd, a day after his birth – a completely different looking growth than what we saw in the womb.









We felt less worried the moment we saw it. And yet, we didn’t know. We waited. Yes, it seemed much less dramatic but perhaps it would still affect his heart a great deal. Or, perhaps he would still have to spend some time in NICU and be poked and prodded and tested. And perhaps he would still have to have surgery or not be able to go home with us as the growth would be too sensitive or tender.

But, just as our world changed dramatically on January 10th it did again on Friday, May 23rd at about 12:15. The pediatric surgeon made his way to our room to take a look at Jack. He removed his sleeper and turned him over. And basically the first words out of his mouth were "that’s it?" And we exhaled. He went on to tell us that he no longer thought it was an AVM at all (it was so hard to tell in ultrasound photos) but that it was an angioma and that it had shrunk dramatically since the first image. (Angiomas are a lot more common and a lot less frightening than AVMs.) In his opinion (and we’ll keep it since he’s one of the top pediatric surgeons in the city) Jack doesn’t even need to go for an MRI at this time and… HE CAN GO HOME WITH US. And there is a chance that he might never need surgery! (Or, if he does it will be more for cosmetic reasons.) Basically, right now we’re just to keep taking photos of the growth to see if it changes and then in a month we are to meet with the surgeon again to see where we go from there.

Life is just so very, very good. J-L and I had moments of dreaming of the best case scenario (maybe he can stay in the room with us! maybe he can go home with us! maybe the tumor won’t look all that bad after all!) but we rarely allowed ourselves to imagine it could be this good.

We’ll always remember Good Friday as we are called to do but for today we are putting on our Easter Sunday clothes and enjoying the tulips.

Thank you again for all of your prayers. We serve an amazing God. (One that shrinks tumors.)

* I felt it necessary to show the original tumor photo so that you could understand how frightening it looked and how banal it looks now.

A quick update

Just came home to water the flowers, grab a bite to eat, and drop a quick note. I'll keep it short:

Jack is great, Abby is great, Cynthia is great, the future for Jack...great.

I will post more (much much more, and photos too), but not for a couple of days as I help out at the hospital.

Thanks all of you. At the risk of sounding cheesy, we love you all.

Thank God.

J-L