Thursday, October 13, 2011

His Love Endures Forever...

Our Very Last Blog......


The Lord will work out his plans for my life—
for your faithful love, O L
ord, endures forever.
Don’t abandon me, for you made me. Psalm 138:8


Yesterday, Mom was able to take her first, hot shower in 7 weeks, walked with a cane, under the guidance and assistance of her therapist. She participated well in group therapy with upper and lower strength exercises, and continued to gain confidence in balancing with a 'fishing' exercise. Her swallow test allowed her to go from 'puree' to 'ground' food and last night, for the first time, she actually asked when dinner was, because she was hungry and wanted to eat. And she ate well. 


Last night, Reta said her 'aloha's' to Mom, Rena and Renee's, and their ohana, as she makes her way to meet Al and Alex in Southern California. While it is very difficult for Ray and Reta to leave Mom, there is an overwhelming peace and understanding that Mom is in the very best hands at Whittier Rehab, our siblings & ohana, and most importantly, she is in the arms of our Lord. He has her exactly where He wants her. It has been shown to Mom and each of us over the course of the past 7 weeks, that Mom is His beloved, and that He will continue to shower her with His love.


On the afternoon of Saturday, August 27, by the grace of God, our mom was found in bed and rushed to the hospital, where we later learned that she suffered an aneurysm. A hole in a blood vessel in the brain, as big as a pencil dot, busted, bled, and on Sunday August 28, Mom underwent a 'coiling method' procedure to stop the bleeding. In the following 2 weeks, she underwent 3 additional 'angiogram' procedures to prevent further damage. The bleed was was located in the frontal, left lobe, which provides the functions for problem solving, multi-tasking, emotions, and movement. The past month, she has worked with the greatest caring therapists and nurses to re-learn the most simple tasks of the day as sitting up, keeping the eyes open, and pressing the 'call button' to the nurses station. The progress of our Mom in a such a short time has been nothing but miraculous, as she has blown away the neurologist, nurses, and staff, with what she's been able to accomplish. If all continues to go well, the tentative plans include her discharge on Thursday, October 20, as she will live with Rena and Mark, temporarily, as she continues to receive In-Home Occupational, Physical and Speech Therapy. As a family, we will continue to assess Mom's progress and as she decides her long-term plans, we will honor her in that, and work together to reach the goals that she sets for herself. 


Mom may be contacted up to October 20 (tentative plans):
Ramona Chin (Room 224B)
c/o Whittier Rehabilitation
150 Flanders Road
Westborough, Massachusetts 01581
Tel 508.870.2222 (Ramona Chin Room 224B)



Mom may be contacted after October 20 (tentative plans):
Ramona Chin
77 Main Circle
Shrewsbury, MA 01545
Tel 774.275.0759
Emailing Direct ramonachin@gmail.com (Please note that her responses may be delayed),

She has only really begun her journey towards complete healing.
Mom continues to work so hard every day at what is placed before her, while praising Jesus for the multitude of blessings that flows only from Him. The past 7 weeks, our mother and our family found ourselves in the deepest valley and then back up into the highest mountain, and at every turn, God drew closer to us, as we chose to seek Him. There are a multitude of blessings to that we received, as we sought to Look for Him through this time:
  • Our Mom is healing and is still with us, loving us, and loving God.
  • This circumstance caused our family to come together physically for the first time in 8 years, giving us the opportunity to surrender to this situation, kick our egos to the curb, and rely on God for our strength and His wisdom.
  • So many loved ones were invited into this story and gave our Mom and this family the blessing of experiencing the incredible ripple affect of tangible love.
  • We embraced the chance to reconnect with loved ones and express our deep appreciation in words and deed.
  • This time raised our awareness, deepened our compassion and encouraged us to pray more for those who live this life without the blanket of love and support from family, and/or a relationship with the Lord, whose strength and guidance we relied on.
Each of us is part of Mom's journey, and through her experience, we get to look at our own lives to see how this story may change who we are, and who we are in our own relationships. May Mom's unexpected health issue cause you to look deeper at yourself, your relationships, and your responses to those who you truly love and those who God places on your path for a purpose.

Just like Mom, today, we each get a second chance with ourselves and to one another to love deeper, to give grace generously, to surrender willingly, to appreciate wholeheartedly, to forgive like we've never forgiven until now, and to seek God completely. 

We pray that her story blesses you as it is a blessing to our family as we continue to heal and restore our relationships with one another.

Thank you all for your love and prayers.
We ask that God bless each of you.

Love, Love, Love,

Ramona Chin
Renee, Jeff, Aria & Tyler Hatfield
Rena, Mark, Alex, Jeremy & Jared Guerin
Ray, Beth, Chloe, Tessa & Marshall Ann Chin
Reta, Al, Vince, Ben, Jamie, Alex and Tigger Chiarella

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 1 Corinthians 13: 4- 7.


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