Category Archives: Zach

by | May 26, 2011 · 2:33 pm

Zach update # 6

Healing and grieving

Zach’s healing continues.  His face looks as though all is healing well.  We thank the Lord for that and are glad to be free of complications.  As his eye heals, he is beginning to open it more and more, which has brought us face to face with the reality of the loss.  He is so precious and so beautiful!

Seeing Zachariah having lost his eye is is so difficult.  In my opinion, no part of the of the body is so beautiful as the eye.  Each eye God has designed in every person is like a jewel its setting.  Zach will experience that loss so differently than we are now.   Today we are the ones grieving.  No doubt many of you are grieving too in your own ways–family, friends, people in our congregation.   Grace and peace to you.

This morning Sarah and I spent some quiet time entering that grieving.  It’s a process.   Thank you for your ongoing prayers.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.  For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.

(2 Corinthians 1:3-5 ESV)

We are also very thankful for those who have helped our family this week.  Meals, help with kids, and other loving actions are a testimony of your love.  We’ve also received some postal mail from others with beautiful cards and heartfelt messages.  In a digital age, that is correspondence we truly treasure.

Tim and Sarah

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by | May 25, 2011 · 12:08 am

Zach update # 5

Sarah’s comments (with a splash of Tim)

No place like home

What an amazing day…Today, Tim read Psalm 138 and 139 which brought us to tears as we considered how God has been every moment of this journey fulfilling those promises. We were living in the midst of them!

2″I bow down toward your holy temple
and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,
for you have exalted above all things
your name and your word.

On the day I called, you answered me;
my strength of soul you increased.

The strength of our souls has been miraculously increased. I am in awe of the stability of my spirit right now. It is no testimony to me – only the greatness of our God! But my flesh is weak… 🙂 Even though we had a decent night sleeping (thank you for praying for that!) by about 11:00 AM I started to feel the incredible fatigue in my body.

We checked out two hours sooner than we thought we’d be able to! God is so in the details.

Change of pace

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My brother Jeremiah (age 21) came to visit just as we were getting ready to check out so we were able to go and get breakfast together before heading over to Kellogg Eye Center where the doctor would check the eye and remove the patch. We had a WONDERFUL time at Angelo’s in Ann Arbor around the corner from the hospital.Thanks Betsy Howell for that AWESOME recommendation! It was outstanding! Crab cake and eggs benedict anyone???? That’s what I’m talking about… 🙂 It was a really nice reprieve from the intensity of the past four days. We got to talk about life and relationships and good stuff.

I think we’ll hit Angelo’s whenever he has his monthly exam under anesthesia (EUA). A friend of ours from CCS has a daughter who had RB when she was a baby also and shared, among so many other helpful things, that they’d always make the day she had the EUA special by going to a special restaurant, bringing a special stuffed animal or doll etc. Angelo’s will the restaurant of choice i think… 🙂

Zach’s first outpatient visit

His eye looked good when we took the patch off. Mostly puffy and shut so it wasn’t too traumatic. As we’ve been home he’s been able to open it a bit more and it just looks kind of pink and glassy. After they take the eye out they replace it with a porous ball to which they attach the eye muscles and which becomes covered with eye tissue. Eventually the body just absorbs that piece as the new eye and you never really see it anymore-it gets covered by the prosthesis.  It sort of becomes the new eye ball and the base of the new prosthetic eye, which is actually more like a thick contact lense that covers it. For right now, there is a clear plastic “place holder”–a spacer holding the place of the prosthesis covering Zach’s “special eye” that keeps his lids from losing their shape while he heals.  At six weeks he’ll begin the process of fitting for the prosthetic eye.  There’s a little clearish discharge, but he seems to be doing well.  He’s on tylenol to keep him comfortable, arnica for bruising, Pre/Post Surgetone (I love homeopathy!) for post-op recovery etc. Tomorrow I’ll start him on euphrasia, a great homeopathic eye remedy… 🙂

He paints the wayside flower…

We’re scheduled for a follow up next week and then in 6 weeks we go again for a EUA where they’ll check the other eye for cancer and also take the impression of his left eye for the prosthetic.  By God’s grace Greg Dootz, the ocularist who makes the prosthetic eyes, went out of his way to meet with us briefly and show us where we’ll be working with him. He also showed us his wall of patients (their pictures!) over the years. We’ve heard from numerous people that he’s simply wonderful to work with. He was so kind and encouraging.  He reassured us, as many others have, that kids who grow up with a prosthetic eye live totally normal, productive and healthy lives. We are believing it!

When you walk through the hall at U of M next time, look for his banner.  He personally designs and crafts every prosthetic fitting for each patient as their eyes change through time.  He’s a genuine artist.  Zach will have multiple prostheses through childhood and beyond.  If you look closely, you can see examples of his handiwork.  It reminds Tim of how we say God paints each lady bug.  Here is God’s helper to paint some eyes.

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God is awesome and we love to give him the glory in all of this. Tomorrow I think, I’ll share some other thoughts on the specific mercies we’ve seen in Zach’s condition.

More in the morning. I must sleep…

Sarah

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by | May 24, 2011 · 10:32 am

Zach update # 4

Good news

Good news!  We’re being discharged from the hospital this AM.  Zach did great overnight and seems to be his chipper self.  We will visit the opthomology clinic before coming home, but are on our way.

Also, we got back the report about the spinal fluid sample already.  That test showed no sign of cancer in the spinal fluid.  Praise the Lord!  We’ll receive a pathology report about Zach’s removed eye as well as a bone marrow sample.  The one year mark from today would mean we’re likely out of the woods with concerns of any cancer.

Thanks for your support and prayers.  You have all been a wonderful blessing in these past few days.  We’ll keep writing new updates and ruminations as news and thoughts come to us.

Here’s a Psalm my friend Jason shared with us.  Psalm 138

I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart;
before the gods I sing your praise;
I bow down toward your holy temple
and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,
for you have exalted above all things
your name and your word.
On the day I called, you answered me;
my strength of soul you increased.
All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O LORD,
for they have heard the words of your mouth,
and they shall sing of the ways of the LORD,
for great is the glory of the LORD.
For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly,
but the haughty he knows from afar.
Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve my life;
you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
and your right hand delivers me.
The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me;
your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever.
Do not forsake the work of your hands.
(Psalm 138 ESV)

Blessings,

Tim and Sarah

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by | May 23, 2011 · 10:55 pm

Zach update # 3

We are so thankful to all who are praying and helping us through this time.  We are overwhelmed with gratitude!
The following update is written by Sarah.  I’m so thankful for her love and insight.  Enjoy!

Recovery and Room Assignment

Lynley Champion arrived just as Dr. Archer was giving us the update on the surgery as Zach was in recovery (around 4:00).  Our parents left and she came up with us to recovery.  She had 83 days of experience here at Mott when her nephew dealt with some radical issues that eventually took his life.  She was a great encouragement and friend to have.
In the room, the Resident (doctor in training) took Zach’s history and enjoyed getting to know our family in this brief synopsis form 🙂 Zach is doing well.  They’re managing his pain with a little Morphine and Tylenol.  He nursed at 4:30 in Recovery and then again he took one side at 7:30.  Praise the Lord!  Nothing like mamma’s milk.  Donna Alberta (our pastor’s wife and sweet friend who came around 7:00) and I were joking about the meds.  We joked that he’s on a cocktail of morphine and mamma’s milk 🙂 mmmm….  we should coin a new drink name 🙂
We are tired and heading to rest soon.  But the overwhleming feeling is one of peace and contentment right now.  Later I’ll share some reflections on John 10 as I was reading today.  But for now, we are well.  We are being upheld by our great Saviour Jesus who is interceding on our behalf before the Father and is hearing the prayers of his saints (that’s all of you!).  There aren’t words to express our gratitude for your care and prayers.  Thank you…

Discharge hopefully tomorrow…

We have been told we will be discharged tomorrow.  If you’ve been in the hospital or known someone else who has, you know how easily that can shift!  We haven’t seen his eye socket yet.  It’s still covered with the gauze pressure patch.  He opens his good eye and looks at us, still pretty groggy.
After leaving we’ll visit the opthomology clinic–Kellogg Eye Center–just around the corner here and the doctor will remove the patch and inspect it, making sure it’s healing well.  All it needs for care is antibiotic ointment.  I think that moment will be very hard.  I’m anticipating a feeling of my heart breaking and overwhelming loss I think…
We’ll have the option to patch his eye if we desire.  I think we might do that for a bit.  Perhaps easing into the new reality…We’ll see.  For now, pray we would all sleep in heavenly peace tonight.

Meanwhile back at the ranch…

I spoke with Rebekah (our oldest – almost 12) this evening to let her know Tim would stay here the night with Zach and me.  As I asked her how the day went she so articulately and beautifully described the flow of the day, the comings and goings of helping friends, meals, naps, school pick ups and drop offs, daily routines…She was so stable and confident.  I was struck with pride at the mature young lady she’s becoming before my eyes.  Then she shared, in such a genuine, concerned and thoughtful way, that she thought this whole thing was really much harder on us as parents and adults then it is on them as kids.  How teary we would get when we talked about what was  happening and things… It was so sweet to me to see how she was tuned in to the differences in our experiences because of age and relationship etc.
Love to all,
Sarah

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by | May 23, 2011 · 3:55 pm

Zach update # 2

Surgery Finished

Zach is out of the operation and the surgery was successful. After consulting with our doctor midway through the surgery, it was clear the removal of Zach’s left eye was the wisest option to arrest the growth of the cancer. The growth had already spread to consume over 80% of his left eye.

There are two things for which we greatly rejoice:

  1. As far as we know the cancer is completely contained in that left eye. With that eye removed, we are hopeful that we have successfully removed the cancer in its entirety.
  2. Secondly, and most importantly, Zach’s right eye looks completely healthy. This means that the cancer was only in the one eye and not both. There is a big difference between one eye and no eyes! Lord willing, he will have one healthy eye to give him ongoing sight through his life.

Zach will have many challenges ahead–regular exams of his right eye to scout out any cancerous growth in that good eye, learning to adapt to using one eye. We are thankful that God will be with him (and us) every step of the way.

The surgery today included a sampling of spinal fluid and bone marrow sample to look for any evidence of cancer elsewhere. Please join us in praying that there be no cancer anywhere else.

We haven’t seen him yet. Please pray for us as we know that this will be the beginning of a very hard reality that will take a long time to adjust to. Pray for God to sustain us today emotionally, spiritually and physically.

Yet, in all, we are so blessed! Here in the hospital, we see many others whose troubles far surpass our own. Our hearts go out to them.

Thank you for praying…

Much love,

Tim and Sarah

PS. I’ve included a picture below of the exam under anesthesia of Zach’s eyes. The one on the top is his healthy eye (right), the photo on the bottom is the eye with cancer (his left eye). As you can see the radical difference between the two is extreme. We’re thankful for the healthy eye.

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