Wednesday May 20th, 2015 update form Saskia and Bill

Today Natasha starts her first radiation treatment. Natasha is feeling fairly optimistic about the process, please keep her in your thoughts and prayers today, thanks from our heart to yours.

We are asking for some help from our Calgary community. Most that hang out with us in the morning know there is usually a green smoothie blending up in our trusty vita-mix blender. Unfortunately Natasha has never warmed up to drinking green smoothies with us because she can't handle the texture. We are looking for a Juicer to experiment with. If you can recommend the best one out there and/or if someone has one that they are not regularly using we would hope to borrow it to see if it can work for Natasha. Natasha as you may have read in her last blog is on a quest to eat healthy. 

We as parents are on a quest to help her body heal from the radiation and build her up as strong as possible.

Thanks, Saskia and Bill

Friday May 15, 2015 Update form Bill and Saskia

Thanks for all your continued prayers and support. We have heard of many people (adults and kids) praying for and supporting Natasha in practical ways. From the bottom of our hearts thank you and please continue to pray and share with your circle of family and friends prayfornatasha.ca

On Wednesday May 20, 2015 Natasha will begin radiation treatments  5 days a week for 33 treatments. At first Natasha was very scared but she is now feeling more confident that she can handle the process.

Getting an orientation on how the radiation treatment  room works

Getting an orientation on how the radiation treatment  room works

Natasha saw her Oncologist at ACH this week and we are starting to taper off the Dexamethasone (helps reduce the inflammation in her brain but has weird side affects; increased appetite and mood swings)

The overall side affects Natasha has is weakness in her left arm and leg and seeing double. Seeing double has been the most frustrating for Natasha. We have tried different things to help her, such as having her wear an eye patch, alternating eye to eye.  Thankfully our friend and eye doctor has fitted Natasha with prism adhesive on a new pair of cool Ray band glasses. At first Natasha did not notice a positive difference but an hour into wearing them her brain adjusted and she can now look straight and not experience double vision.

Natasha working on a blog sporting her new glasses

Natasha working on a blog sporting her new glasses

The next job for us as parents is to research and review natural remedies to support Natasha and her body through the radiation treatments. We are grateful that her Oncologist is open to review these remedies we suggest.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding ; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make you path straight

God Bless!

Saturday May 9...Update from Bill & Saskia

Yesterday, one week from the day we started this journey, we had a follow up meeting with Natasha’s Oncologist at Alberta Children’s Hospital.  During the 2.5 hour discussion, we wrestled with the question of whether or not to participate in clinical trials.  We were made aware of some of these trials through emails from friends and family (prayfornatasha@gmail.com).  It is no surprise that the Oncologist was familiar with such trials, and the people conducting them.  Professionals within the world of DIPG are well connected. We reviewed a number of trials, set aside the ones that were not applicable to Natasha’s specific condition, and discussed the few that were. 

It was not an easy discussion, and it was a thorough discussion.  With the guidance from the Oncologist, and the support of two dear friends who are doctors, we have decided that Natasha will remain in Calgary to begin radiation therapy.  Alberta Children’s Hospital and the Tom Baker Centre are highly regarded facilities.  We know that Natasha will be receiving the best care available. 

We continue to be in awe at the amount of people sending us messages of prayer, hope and support.  We are also constantly amazed by our children.  Natasha and Liam are quickly becoming shining examples for us to follow. 

We continue to focus on prayer: Faith, Hope and  Love. Faith in the things we cannot see. Hope that comes from God. Love conquers all!

Thursday May 7...Update from Bill & Saskia

Tomorrow will be 1 week since we learned that Natasha has this horrible brain tumour. So many things have happened since. We have received support and prayers from within our community, and way beyond. We have heard of prayer groups as far away as Africa, Europe, and throughout North America.

To be clear, we are praying that God will remove this brain tumour so that Natasha's story will be a miracle of God's grace and that she will live a long and healthy life serving the Lord. 

We are having our first consult at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre this afternoon.  We expect radiation treatment to start the week of May 18th , five days per week for 31 treatments. We are exploring every option in addition to radiation treatment.

Natasha is scared, but she also has a positive outlook. She is a writer at heart and is starting to tell her story in 'Natasha's Blog' on this site (www.prayfornatasha.ca). Please continue to share our prayer requests for Natasha with your circle. God is good and almighty.

We will do our best to keep you up to date on our journey.