Daughter of the King- Madilyn's Journey

Adam and Laurissa wrote this and wanted it passed on... We would like to express our wholehearted gratitude toward all those who have shown us love, care, support and encouragement over the past several weeks. It had been a truly humbling experience to see how much thoughtfulness has been extended to us by so many people. There honestly are too many people to thank individually. We think of our families, close friends, colleagues, community, church family and even people we have never met. Thank you all for your thoughts, messages, prayers, offers to help and generous support.  We hope this message is able to reach all those who have been there and graciously taken the time, effort and resources to support our family.

 After over 2 weeks in the hospital, Madilyn was finally able to come home! She's doing fine with the radiation treatments and now gets a few full days away from the hospital. Adam and Laurissa do have a some medications that they need to get Madilyn to take during this time, which isn't easy. They also have to be careful, Madilyn is considered immunocompromised and should not be around others who are ill. Even the slightest fever means a trip to the ER. They will be heading back to London on Sunday evening, as Madilyn's next treatment is at 8:30am on Monday (December 29th). She's now considered an outpatient, which means she does not have to stay in a hospital room. They will be staying at the Ronald McDonald House between treatments, which gives them more freedom.  Adam, Laurissa and Madilyn drove straight from London to Palmerston for the Boonstra family Christmas. It was bittersweet. We were so excited that Madilyn was able to come. We are all so thankful we could c...

Madilyn's surgery (biopsy) was successful! After a day under observation in the PCCU, Madilyn was able to head back upstairs to her princess hospital room. They were able to take samples of the tumour and send them off to be analyzed. The results will hopefully identify the type of cancer/tumour and allow for more targeted radiation therapy. While the results won't be ready for a bit, they will still be starting radiation next week. For next week, the doctors are planning to do radiation on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday (Dec 22-24). If Madilyn responds well to radiation and is healthy enough, she will be allowed to come home for a few days over Christmas (Dec 24-28). Radiation would continue on the 29th.  Please pray that Madilyn would respond well to the radiation and that the family would be able to return home for these few days! After almost two weeks in the hospital, everyone is ready for a break, especially Madilyn. It would be such a blessing to be able to spend Christma...

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9  As God's children, we confess that his ways are higher than our ways. And yet, when something like this happens, it's impossible for us to understand what his purpose and plan are for Madilyn. Why? Why is God allowing such a young child to face such an awful disease? Countless tears and prayers and laments have gone up to God's throne with these questions in the past week. Although our human minds cannot possibly understand God's ways, we strive to take comfort in knowing that he is King. He is sovereign, and has chosen for himself many people to be his sons and daughters. That is exactly what Madilyn is. She is a daughter of the King. Yes, she is also a beloved daughter, sister, granddaughter, cousin, niece and friend to many here...