Update from Jeroen's place

Ingrid, Judith and I have just had dinner with Jeroen, Levien and Sera. Trout a la Jeroen - done with tomato, onion and lots of parsely and even more garlic, then eaten with Turkish bread. I have never been particularly partial to trout but this was delicious. I am now doing the necessary job of keeping the blog updated while the others do the cleaining up and packing the dish washer.

Ingrid, Vince, Jeroen and I spent most of the afternoon (the weather was miserable) looking around the Thermo Museum in Heerlen and chatting over coffee and Limburgse vlaai while Judith, Levien, Marjoke and Ruben went off and did more interesting things.

Yesterday (Wednesday) we all went by bus to Maastricht where we looked at some of the oldest parts of the city - the first church, the city wall - what's left of it. When walking around these old cities you really feel yourself in the presence of history. Of course we also did a lot of eating and drinking and talking and laughing. Posting pictures will have to wait till I get back to Canada.

Now I have to get back to the others. Judith is on a mission to teach everyone Euchre. Filling in the gap between yesterday and Christmas will have to wait for another time.

Tomorrow we drive back to Blaricum and Opa, and a visit from Jan Haen, the priest who led the ceremony for Oma's cremation.

Terry

Boxing Day update

Five days have passed and this is the first time I have touched a computer since my last update. Our flight was uneventful - the way I like it. I miscalculated the sleeping part. Just as I was about to put the eye cover over my eyes to get a bit of sleep they switched on all the lights to allow passengers to get ready for breakfast.

Sonja, a cousin of Ingrid's, fetched us from Schiphol airport after we landed on Friday morning and took us to Blaricum when Opa stays. Pretty-well the first thing we did was go to bed for three hours. The rest of the day was spent relaxing, chatting to Opa, and going for a short walk around the area. In the evening Rob another of Ingrid's cousins, and his wife brought around the car (Suzuki) that Opa used to drive. Meanwhile Judith had developed a temperature along with a sore throat and went to bed early.

We had planned to spend the Saturday touring Amsterdam but started off instead with a drive (my first time ever to drive in Europe) to the hospital for a doctor to look at Judith. The doctor diagnosed a viral infection and suggested we just treat the fever symptomatically and proceed with our plans to go to Amsterdam. This we did, going by bus and train, meeting up with Sonja and her husband, Giljam, and their two children, Rebekkah (18) and Daniel (13). We did a boat tour through the canals, looked at the oldest church in Amsterdam and then, by way of contrast, took a stroll through the famous(?) red-light district of Amsterdam with its "coffee shops" (where you can legally buy and smoke marijuana) and large windows where prostitutes stand or sit in lingerie, typically, or in one case a skimpy Santa Clause outfit.

On Sunday we drove the 200km from Blaricum to Heerlen where Ingrid's brother, Vincent, and his family live - Marjoke (15) and Ruben (14). Jeroen and his two children, Levien(17) and Sera(13), live nearby. They came across and we spent the rest of Sunday chatting and catching up. It is 18 years since I last saw Jeroen though I have spoken to him on the phone a few times since coming to Canada.

Well, I am going to accompany Vincent on a stroll (23:00 at night) to the local bus station to see the times of buses tomorrow when we plan to go to Maastricht so I will catch up on Christmas day next time.

Happy Christmas

To all of you, our family, friends and colleagues, who have shown such love and support this past year, we wish you much joy and happiness over this holiday season.

To Jewish friends, Gut Yom Tov for what remains of Hannukah.

To all those of you who celebrate the birth of Christ at this time, a blessed and happy Christmas.

And to every single one of you, may the new year bring you peace, joy, health and properity.

...from all the McCann's.

Cancer Survivor !

Judith, Ingrid and I went to see the oncologist, Dr. Zibdawi, yesterday (Monday) afternoon. He gave us the results of the last round of tests. The Gallium scan was still negative - as it had been the previous occasion- which was very good news. The CT scan was also unchanged from the previous occasion other than 2 cysts which showed up. Given the Gallium scan being negative and the cysts being very common in young women, Dr. Zibdawi is confident that these are benign - not cancerous. He has called for an ultra-sound for the cysts - normal procedure, and told Judith to come back for a follow-up visit in six months.

When asked by Ingrid if Judith could call herself a "cancer survivor" at this point, his response was, "Absolutely!"

I wish to thank all of you, family, friends, colleagues, acquaintances, for your support and prayers ever since Judith was told of her diagnosis back in May. May God bless you all and keep you in that peace that only his love and protection can bring.

Terry and all the McCann family.

Kevin Minnie, an old friend, seriously ill

Kevin Minnie and his wife, Cynthia, are old family friends going back to the 1980's. I received the following email from an even older friend, Des Lange, concerning Kevin's health.

From: Desmond Lange
To: kwamccann@gmail.com
Date: 13-Dec-2006 16:09
Subject: News on Kevin Minnie

Hi Terry + Ingrid + all,

Thanks for the consistent news. Pat Prinsloo contacted
us about the sad loss of your mom, Ingrid. We are
sorry that we were not in touch with you at the time
and pray that you and the family have all the love and
support you need as you go through this experience. It
is good to hear the progress on Judith’s condition,
praying that she continues to grow from strength to
strength.

Right now we find ourselves frantically trying to
contact a whole lot of our old friends to reconnect
and pass on the news about Kevin Minnie. We heard
today that he had surgery to remove half of his kidney
last Saturday including two large cancerous tumors. He
is in ICU at the Linksfield Clinic at present.
Apparently, they thought they were going to lose him
yesterday. Today he is slightly better, though heart
rate is racing at 160 and blood pressure is way up. He
has been in and out for treatment through most of the
year.

Please join the prayers for his recovery and healing
and also for comfort and protection for Cynthia and
the girls.

Will keep you posted.


Love from Des and Steph.

Sinterklaas 2006

Last Sunday, 10 December, the whole family and significant others got together to celebrate Sinterklaas - the affectionate Dutch name for Saint Nicholas. Even Stephen made the pilgrimage by bus from Kingston - 300km east of Toronto. This is the first time since coming to Canada 8 years ago that the whole family has been together for this celebration of gift giving. Judith's boyfriend, Mark, came last year, but for Luisa and Geoff this was a rite of passage with the requisite singing, in unpronounceable and incomprehensible Dutch, of kiddies' songs about Sinterklaas and his Zwarte Pieten. Check out the Sinterklaas photo album.

On Monday 11th, Judith went for her CT scan and blood test. This was uneventful other than that she nearly puked while the scan was going on. After fasting for 4 hours you are given this stuff to drink... Anyway.

Tomorrow afternoon (Monday) is the appointment with the oncologist who will give us the results of this latest round of tests done since the chemo-therapy came to an end. We are praying for good news.

On Thursday Ingrid, Judith and I fly off to Holland to spend Christmas with her two brothers and other family there, and then to Scotland for New Year with her oldest brother and his family. Much anticipation...

Belated update on Sean

A couple of you have asked about Sean and Whistler and I realised that this change of plan went unnoticed and unannounced with all the other major events that have been going on.

The day before Sean was going to hand in his notice - something he felt rather ambivalent about - he phoned his prospective employer in Whistler who had promised him a position and discovered that Sean would not have the job after all. He and I discussed this turn of events a few days later and took the view that this was not necessarily such a bad thing. For one thing, it would enable him to finalise his co-op requirements for completion of his college studies. "Co-op" is a period of employment, typically six months, in the industry of your major college course, and is a requirement for certification. So...., Sean is still at home with us and expects to be in Ontario through until the beginning of summer - May/June. Anything beyond that is simply crystal ball gazing..

Judith has a CT Scan Monday 11th, and an appointment with the oncologist on Monday 18th. We are praying and expecting that everything should indicate no more cancer. Meanwhile she is impatient for her hair to return. There are some brown strands but they are still few and far between...

Sinterklaas
It's time to put out shoes and sing Sinterklaas songs. The whole family sans Stephen will be gathering at our house next Sunday night, singing liedjes (Dutch songs) and having Saint Nicholas himself throw pepernoten (gingernuts) into the sitting room and, hopefully, drop off some presents and chocolate letters. Dutch shades of My Big Fat Greek Wedding with adult children of ex-pats keeping Dutch traditions that their cousins back in Holland wouldn't want to be seen dead doing!!! Ingrid would be happy to let it go but the kids and I won't hear of it.

Zie ginds komt de stoomboot...

Jeroen has worked out how to put pictures onto his blog. You really should check them out :-)