Bravery Beads

Tuesday 7:30am

Today’s picture shows Jack wearing his “Bravery Beads” necklace.  This is a program run by the hospital which allows children to accumulate a bead for every procedure, test, hospital stay, scan, therapy, or surgery they endure.  You can see how many beads Jack has accumulated!  It is shocking to me to reflect on how much Jack has gone through to earn these beads and makes me proud of Jack for the courage he demonstrates every day.

Jack ate a little bit yesterday and cracked a couple of smiles.  He’s making baby steps every day and the doctors are still confident he will make a full recovery with his speech and muscle weakness and it will simply take hard work over time to get there.

I would like to ask for prayers for Jack’s 3-yr-old brother Christopher today.  He misses Jack a lot and has now told me several times that “Jack is never coming back”.  He understands that the doctors are making Jack better, but he doesn’t understand the separation.  It is also hard for him to not have me around and because he has a cold he has only seen Jack and I briefly over the past couple of weeks.  We know that Christopher will be incredibly blessed to have a healthier brother return home, but for the next 6-8 weeks please pray that the time away from us isn’t too difficult.

Jodi

8 Responses to “Bravery Beads”

  1. June says:

    Jack, these beads are like medals – the awards they give soldiers for being brave! Everyone is very proud of you. Way to go!
    This is a message for Christopher. Want to thank you, Christopher for doing such a great job of looking after your Dad while Jack is in hospital. This is a very important job and we all thank you for doing it so well.
    Take care of yourself, Jodi as you care for everyone else. Your whole family is firmly ensconced in the prayers of our household. June

  2. christy shake says:

    dear jodi,

    reading what you wrote about christopher makes me wonder if you know what skype is? if not, you can set up a free account and it allows you to talk over the computer or laptop with video. it is free and you can “call” long distance, too. it could allow you and jack to talk to and see christopher at home and visa versa. i highly recommend it. it is how calvin’s relatives who live far away get to see him. your computer just needs to have a web cam. you can buy one separately if it does not.
    check it out! it is super easy to sign up:

    http://skype.com/

    good luck,
    christy

  3. Diane says:

    I came to the comments to say something about Skype but see that Christy Shake beat me to it… it is amazing! It would allow Christopher to talk to you and Jack and see that you are there and that Jack is doing better. It might cheer up Jack too.

    Jack might also have friends from school with Skype if he has a best friend who might cheer him up. It is free an easy to use! We use it free to talk to relatives in Europe, it is fantastic.

    Good luck, hugs,
    Diane

  4. Rev. Mike says:

    Hey Christopher, you must be so proud of your big brother, and it will not be long before he is back at home bossing his ‘wee’ brother around.

    Hey Jack, you have so many bravery beads you are not going to be able to lift them all soon – you’ve earned everyone of them, so well done.

    Hey Jodi and Dave, every day brings a new ‘adventure’, just keep riding the wave knowing that you do not travel alone. The Lord is with you, as also are we.

    Yours in Christ,

    Rev. Mike

  5. Gwen says:

    wow you can almost play jump rope with your beads…that is a lot to accumulate…maybe more then all the doctors and tests than I have ever had.

  6. Tamsin says:

    Hi Jodi,

    I was looking for you to say ‘good bye’ before we left today. You must have been having a well deserved break. I hope you found a pomegranate martini somewhere!!

    Will be keeping track of Jack’s progress through the blog and hoping the rehab goes well. Everything seems to pointing in the right direction so fingers crossed.

    Too bad Christopher couldn’t come for a visit- he and Gemma could have hung out together!

    All the best,

    Tamsin

  7. Rob Gaudreau says:

    Jack is really something special Jodi, but he must get some of that from his mother. I read your posts and am really pleased to hear things are turning out well. I can only imagine the stress you’ve been feeling over such a prolonged period of time. You are doing a wonderful job, keep it up. As a new father I can say there’s nothing more important in life that you could do than to devote so much time to your child.

  8. michelle says:

    It is both heart breaking and inspiring to follow Jack’s journey to recovery. Thanks for sharing your story with us. We are praying for Jack’s full recovery and for all of you. Much love, Chris and Michelle Dias.

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