The River Church Community

1/12

As you know Rod lost his position last year the day before Hannah Jane's 1st surgery.  Since returning from Duke he has been applying to many positions without any serious replies. 

His background is in purchasing/procurement/buying & project management.  If a company is open to it, Rod is super willing to change career paths too, so whatever you think he would be a good fit with, even outside of this area, please let us know.  :)  I'll post his here when we get it back from Jennifer.  Also, we're signing up for Linkedin.com, so if you are on it and are willing to network with us, that would be a blessing too!

I know things are tight for many companies, but we believe that God has a plan for us in this area too.  Your love and support mean so much to us!

We had a LVN (licensed vocational nurse) helping us at home for a couple of weeks while Rod and I caught up on some zzzz's, rested up, while I went to hand physical therapy, we went to our christian couple's therapist once a week, grocery shopping, errands and such so that Hannah Jane could stay at home on her schedule.  The nurse was sent to us through an agency, but we would prefer to hire a nurse (LVN or RN) directly ourselves who is someone we know or knows someone we know and who is loving and compassionate, and of course, loves babies!  :)  Brain trauma experience is not required, but pediatric experience is needed in that blood pressure readings, CPR etc. is quite different for wee ones than it is for adults.

There are many things I need to get done too and since Hannah Jane was diagnosed in utero and I was put on bed rest, I never got the house all cleaned out and sorted when we made the craft/computer room into sweet Hannah Jane's room.  It would be a blessing for me to get this completed while the nurse cares for Hannah Jane.

The nursing is paid for through Early Start (San Andreas Regional Center) because of Hannah Jane's diagnoses.  The rate is in the $20's/hour for a LVN and $44/hour for a RN; I can't find the paper with the exact number right at the moment.

We are looking for someone for more hours to start with and then would taper down in a couple months.  We are flexible with days/times. 

Although a super, duper blessing would be someone who could come on Sunday too so we could attend church together, instead of taking turns while our sweet pea rests at home!  Dr. Chinn would like Hannah Jane to stay home until flu season is over approx. March 30; that's a long time that we would miss being there together.

If you are a nurse and are interested or know someone, could you let me know?  Please email me in reply here, directly at 2shannon@att.net or call me on my cell at 408-569-8788. 

Thank you SOOOO much for you amazing love and prayers! 

I'll be posting Friday again after her oncologist; hopefully with some very good news...

Until then Blessings and Love,
Shannon

1/11

Praise the Lord, thank you for all your prayers for this past week's vaccine and opthomology appointments; God was merciful and loving and saw us and her through with good news.  I had remembered that long ago a nurse warmed my shot in her hand before administering it and asked if we could do the same for Hannah Jane's if it wouldn't affect the vaccine.  I have had shots before that were cold and I thought the cold hurt a lot more than the needle poke.   I didn't know that the vaccines come right from the freezer, I thought it was just the fridge; so we're super glad to have found this out; perhaps it can help you too. 

So Rod took two, I took one and held Hannah Jane as we got the chill off.  While she cried for her vaccines, she recovered quickly as I was able to nurse her there in the waiting room right after. 

I'm sure we were quite a sight in blurry action!  :)  I held her during the shots and soothed her the best I could,  then after they were through Rod swooped her into his arms while I raced out the waiting room and got ready to nurse her.

And, that night she didn't have the constant screaming nightmares that she had the last set of vaccines.  Prayer answered; thank you!

2nd Prayer
We went to the opthomologist about her eye twitching and knew that she would have to have her eyes dialated, which stings going in and disrupts her vision for 24 hours as well as needing an exam of her eyes held open with speculums for 1-5 minutes each.  We were concerned that there was optic nerve damage from the cranial pressure prior to last surgery.  Well, God's mercy and love shone brightly yet again.  Hannah Jane is showing no signs of optic nerve edema.  Her eyes seem to be seeing normally.  While she remains having the twitching when looking to extreme right or left, there is hope that it will resolve over time the further time that passes since her 2nd surgery.  Prayers answered again.  And, even a prayer that I had not asked for was answered.  Her eyes did so well that they did not have to use the speclum that I had the nightmare about 2 weeks ago.  Thank you for your prayers so much!!!

Upcoming Prayer Request
This Wednesday Hannah Jane will get an IV and be fully sedated for her 1st MRI since October.  Please pray for an easy IV insertion.  I will do all I can i.e. nurse her and get her very hydrated to plump up her veins, your prayers would be deeply appreciated too for the IV and for the results of the MRI.

We will see her brain oncologist in Oakland on Friday for the results.  During this appointment will find out if the tumor is growing and if her lateral ventricles are still severe in size.  I'll be sure to post after we find out.

A very special thank you to each of you for your love in following our journey.  I pray that you know we pray for all of you.  I believe that God has asked us to be angel helpers to each other.  We were not meant to walk alone.

A verse that I'd like to share with you about my appreciation for each of you is:

1 John 4:12
No one has ever seen God.  But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love has been brought to full expression through us.

I pray that you know we are here for you too and are honored when you share your prayer requests too.  It is a true joy to love you!

Blessings and Joy,
Shannon