While We're Waiting® - Hope After Child Loss

I am pleased to have Joni Robbins as my guest again today.  She is the author of "In Grief:  A Mother's Fight to Choose Joy", and the mom of two sons, Anson and Ethan.  In last week's episode, Joni shared the story of her "gentle giant", Ethan, and how he lost his life due to an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound.  Today, we talk about the difference between happ...

I never knew that life with cancer could be so "normal."  On the days that Hannah was treatment-free, life seemed to go on as it always had.  It was summertime, so we were moving at a little bit slower pace, but there were still school workshops to attend, dentist appointments to keep, cheerleading routines to practice, and basketball camps to sweat through.  We celebrated Bethany's...

I'm pleased to welcome Joni Robbins, author of “In Grief – A Mother’s Fight to Choose Joy” to the podcast today!  Her son Ethan was a gentle giant and a friend to many, who dreamed of being in law enforcement someday.  He died at the age of 17 in a tragic accident in their home in the spring of 2021. In this first half of our two-part conversation, Joni shares who Ethan was, and talks about t...

Round One of Hannah's oral chemotherapy treatments was complete, and it felt good to get it behind us.  It had been rough ... no doubt about that ... but we had a nice stretch of treatment-free days ahead of us now before Round Two would begin.  We were encouraged.  We could do this for eleven more months if that's what it took for Hannah to be healed. Thank you for joining me for anothe...

I remember the exact moment my teenage daughter became my hero. She had already been through brain surgery, 33 radiation treatments, and several MRIs. She had begun an oral chemotherapy protocol where she took a dose of a drug called Temodar for five days out of each month. One evening, as I watched her bravely swallow those five giant capsules, one by one, knowing they would make her terribly sic...

Robert and Linda Hall are my guests again today, as we continue our conversation about the loss of their only child John to addiction.  They talk about how this experience has changed them, and how important it is to look at their grief through the lens of eternity, knowing that one day we will be free from suffering, pain, and sin, and that we will live with the Lord and our children forever in H...

Hannah had finally completed her radiation treatments, triumphantly capped off by an "all clear" MRI report, and our family settled into a much more normal lifestyle.  We enjoyed a nice stretch of days where the girls were both attending school regularly, Brad and I were back at work, and we were able to resume our typical family activities.  For the time being, at least, we could push o...

My guests today are Robert and Linda Hall from Auburn, Alabama. The Halls struggled through eight years of infertility before they adopted their only son, John, at four months of age.  John was a remarkable child who loved the Lord and loved people and brought great joy to his parents.  When he was a young teen, however, a perfect storm of the traumatic loss of a friend, a prescription for Oxycont...

MRI Day was finally here.  Everything felt so surreal as we made our way into the bowels of Arkansas Children's Hospital to the MRI area.  There's something very jarring about watching your daughter being strapped down to a narrow table and then slid into a claustrophobia-inducing tube ... especially knowing that the results of these scans could potentially forecast life or death for her...

Hannah's blood transfusion rejuvenated her to such a degree that it was almost possible to forget she was sick ... almost.  There was a big reminder hanging over us, and that was her upcoming MRI.  Every cancer patient and his or her family understands the term "scanxiety", and there was definitely some of that going on!  This would be her first MRI since the day after her surgery,...

My guest today is a mother who shares a very different kind of child loss story than what is typically featured on this podcast.  Sylvia Blakely has experienced the loss of two babies … one to abortion and one to miscarriage.  In our conversation today, she shares the circumstances that led her to choose abortion and the years of shame and regret she endured before finally finding forgiveness and...

Up to this point, Hannah had handled everything that had come her way with remarkable aplomb ... the discovery of the tumor, brain surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, weekly blood draws ... but the news that she would have to have a blood transfusion really threw her for a loop.  She didn't know what to expect, and was uncharacteristically nervous about the procedure. Thank you for joining me f...

Thankfully, clinic day brought some answers for Hannah's ongoing malaise.  Today I share an email I sent sixteen years ago ...  Thank you for joining me for another bonus episode of the While We're Waiting podcast in this year-long series in which I share our family’s experiences as our teenage daughter Hannah battled glioblastoma brain cancer from February 2008 through February 2009.  M...

The day we'd been waiting for had finally arrived.  Yes, it was Mother's Day, but more than that, it was Carrie Underwood Concert Day!  Hannah had been a huge fan of Carrie's ever since she first walked onto the stage to audition on American Idol.  She had her picked as the winner from the very beginning of that season ... and spent two hours on the phone after every episode voting...

The debut of the Magnet Cove High School Choir's performance of Alice in Wonderland was scheduled for this evening ten years ago.  Hannah had missed a lot of the practices due to our numerous trips to Little Rock for radiation treatments and doctor's appointments, but had a small role as a flower.  She had always enjoyed theater and drama, performing in several plays when she was younger...

Susan Morrison is my guest again today in the second half of this two-part episode.  She shares about the loss of her only sibling, her sister Stacy, when she was a teenager, and the impact that has had in her life.  We also discuss the “before” and “after” of child loss and hear some of Susan’s favorite scriptures.  Finally, she shares about the Hope Dawning ministry she founded for bereaved moms...

At this point in Hannah's treatment, we were really enjoying living a "normal" life.  We were nearing the end of the school year, and were fully involved in all the busy-ness that brings.  Between the two girls there were field trips, track meets, academic banquets, and cheerleading tryout meetings.  Hannah was in the high school choir, and they were preparing for a performance of A...

Susan Morrison's daughter Miranda was a young wife and mother when she began experiencing some puzzling health issues and was ultimately diagnosed with glioblastoma brain cancer.  In the first half of this two-part episode, Susan talks about walking that difficult journey with her daughter, the crisis of faith she endured knowing that she would inevitably lose Miranda, and the experience of g...

At this point in Hannah’s cancer journey, we entered an idyllic period.  She had completed all her radiation treatments and had taken 33 out of 42 scheduled doses of the chemo drug Temodar, before her platelet levels dropped dangerously low and her oncologist said she had had enough.  We knew that there were more treatments to come, but for now, we were able to focus on fully living life.   During...

After two months of balancing the twin burdens of daily chemotherapy and radiation treatments, the news that they had come to an end sooner than expected (even if only temporarily) was reason to rejoice!  It was such a relief to think of getting back to some sense of normalcy in our family.  Even sixteen years later, I clearly remember the relief we felt, knowing that our load had been lightened....

If you’re a regular listener to the podcast, you are probably aware that my husband Brad had a near-fatal incident with an ATV a few months ago right before Christmas.  To mark this special 200th episode of the While We’re Waiting podcast, he joins me to discuss what happened that day, share a little bit about his recovery process, and talk about how God has used it to sharpen his purpose going fo...

At this point in treatment, we could not have foresesen how much of a battle Hannah would have maintaining her platelet levels.  Low platelets caused ongoing issues for her the entire year she was sick.  But at this time, we had no reason to believe this was anything other than a little speed bump that would quickly be resolved.   Thank you for joining me for another bonus episode of the While We&...

Verses about joy abound in the Bible, and I'd like to share ten of my favorites with you in today's bonus episode.  As you listen, I want to draw your attention to how many of these verses have the word "joy" juxtaposed with grief, tears, trials, and affliction.  Maybe I've drawn to verses like these because of my own experience, and that's why these are my favorites....

It was so important to Hannah to be able to take her end-of-course geometry exam on this date sixteen years ago!  When she got home that day, she described feeling like her desk and her chair were tilted as she took the test, and she had to hold on tight to keep from sliding out.  It wasn't a complaint on her part ... just an observation.  It was hard for us to imagine how these radiation and...

By April 21, 2008, Hannah had been undergoing radiation treatments five days a week and taking an oral chemotherapy drug daily since mid-March. The intensity of these ongoing treatments was finally beginning to take a toll, as you will hear from the email update I sent on this date sixteen years ago ... Thank you for joining me for another bonus episode of the While We're Waiting podcast in t...