Requiem Mass

Tomorrow morning, at 7:15 Eastern, a Requiem Mass will be offered for our Jacob/Henry. Please join us in praying for him, grieving his loss, and rejoicing in his being with Jesus.

Travel Preparations

The countdown has begun and we are preparing for travel. In 3 weeks and 1 day, we leave.
Still to be completed: get Matt, Jacob and Joey into Stepping Stones Camp. We got a postcard yesterday that none of them made it in, but it COULD be a mistake, which we are praying it is.  They need to be actively involved in something like that while we are gone.
Still have to get James registered for his Camp experience. He is really looking forward to 2 weeks of sleep away camp, including some whitewater river rafting!
We got Jim a Kindle for father's day, so I will be looking at what books I'd like to download.
Work responsibilities, including possibly adding another, temporary work assignment.
Of course, the regular...cleaning, packing, etc.... before a trip.

I can't wait to meet these boys and am already very sad at the thought of then having to leave them.

Mary

Prayers for Camp

Please pray that Jacob, Joey and Matt get into camp on the days necessary this summer, while we will be gone.
When I called a week ago, they said there were "plenty of openings" for every day.
Today, I got an email that said they didn't know if there were openings for any or all of them on the dates requested.
It would make our trip much less stressful if I knew they were all at camp, having a great time, together!

Mary

There are WHAT, WHERE?

We are searching the internet for some translation phrases that we can begin to learn for our trip.  We do have enough residual Russian and Ukrainian to help us get through, but learning a some key words in the local dialect is not only useful, but also respectful.
The main idea is "key".
One page had some "useful" phrases translated.
One such "useful" phrase was "My hovercraft is full of eels".

Still trying to picture the appropriate time to use THAT one!

Better order the CD of "helpful parent phrases".

Mary

Flights? Check!

We are going to Eastern Europe!
Got the flights booked.
Making arrangements for camp for the kiddos here.
Notified work responsibilities of need for days off.
One step closer!

Mary

More Medical Updates on Jacob/Henry

We received more information about the circumstances surrounding Jacob/Henry's death. I postulated earlier that a cause may have been refeeding syndrome, based on the information I was given at first. With the additional information we now have, it appears that this is not the case, but they were trying to treat him for severe malnutrition when he died.
It seems they performed surgery, and from what I can gather, his esophagus was narrowed. This is probably why they were performing surgery, to widen this. They did put a "tube" in, I assume a "g-tube" or a tube that goes straight into his stomach through which formula can be given, bypassing the esophagus.
An incision got infected, I believe from the report, peritonitis set in, and that was a major factor in his death.
It does not appear as if they ever got enough food into him to trigger a refeeding syndrome reaction, but they were treating him.
I did find out where he is buried and we plan on visiting his grave while we are in the country.

Mary

TRAVEL!

YIPEE! We got our travel dates. We visit one of our new sons from July 18-22, and the other from July 25-29.
So, now, Jim gets to work his magic and find us the best airfare.

YIPEE!

Mary