Nov 22

Dear Family and Friends;
My dad tells me (I am just about 50, and he still tells me what to do.) that I need to make one more post, The arrangements are as follows for those who wish to grieve with us:
Tues Nov 25 @ 2 - 4 pm and 7 - 9 pm at the Canadian Reformed church on Belsyde ave. Fergus.
The funeral ceremony will take place in the same building, on Wed Nov. 26 at 1:00 pm.
Again, Thank you all very much for the support that you have given to all of us over the last week and a half.
Jack Lodder and Family.

Nov. 21

Dear Family and Friends;

Our Love has gone home to her heavenly reward to be with our Maker, we have given her to Him. The pain that we feel as family, may at times feel unbearable, but our constant reminder is that when Margaret, Mom, Grandma, slipped from her earthly tent, her reward is the greatest joy that she will ever have. I thank God every day for the blessings I have had from Him in granting us 30 beautiful years together as husband and wife, and for granting us a wonderful love together. We also give thanks to Him in our 5 healthy children, and 3 wonderful spouse children, and for 2 ½ grandchildren. Our lives will be the better for knowing her, and for being a part of her life, we will never forget her.
Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers for Margaret and family, Margaret will not need your prayers anymore, but we do, so please pray for us to get over this void that has come into our life.
Again, thanks to everyone, now this Blog has come to an end.
Bless you all for caring.

Jack and Family.

Evening Nov 20

Dear Family and Friends;
There has not been much change since the last post, and we as family thank God for every moment that we can spend with Margaret. The support that we as a family receive from all the other family members, from Rev. Geurts, and all the emails, comments on the blog, and on face book. You do not realize how much easier it has been with all your support. Please continue to shower us with your prayers and love.

With love,
Jack, Margaret Lodder and family.

Evening Nov. 19

Dear Family and friends;
It has now been a week since our Wife, mother and grandmother was struck with the aneurysm, what a week this has been, I would not want to wish this on my worst enemy.
No changes today, tomorrow should be, I pray, full of changes.
Please continue to pray for us.
Jack and Family.

Evening Nov 18, 2008

Dear Family and Friends;
Today the Dr. told us that the CT scan revealed that Mom had more strokes than originally thought and this is coming to light with new tests. Things are not as positive towards a recovery.
Please continue to pray for us.

Love Jack and Margaret Lodder
Jenn, Bart and Jakin,
Geoff, Tom and Amy,
Nick, Heather and Gabriel,
Brenton.

Evening November 17, 2008

Dear family and friends,
There has not been much change in Margaret's condition today. She is still resting comfortably and they are still monitoring her closely. Today the Doctor ordered a CT scan again to see how things are in her brain. Hopefully they can see a bit more this time. We will talk to the doctor tomorrow about this test. Thank you once again for all the prayers and messages of encouragement. Please continue to pray for us and Margaret.

In Christ alone we pray,
Jack, Margaret and children.

ps. Jenn and Jakin are doing well. She is now in a ward room and visitors are most welcome. Jakin is still in his incubator and breathing on his own. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Nov. 17 AM

Dear Family and Friends,
I talked to Joyce, The current night nurse for Margaret in ICU, There has not been any change in Margaret's condition overnight. Please keep praying for us.
Love Jack and Family

Nov 16

Dear Family and Friends;
Today started off hard for me, but as the day progressed and there was no news from the doctors it occurred to me that in this case no news really is good news..
Margaret was running a bit of a fever this AM, but the great hospital staff was able to bring her back to normal. Tomorrow (Monday) is day 5 of the 3-5 days of being critical. We hope and pray that Our Heavenly Father will be with her, and that there is no brain damage, We keep hearing encouraging stories from people who "know" someone who has gone through this same thing, and are 100% normal after rehabilitation.
Please continue to pray for her.
Love Jack and family

PS: we are thankful for all the comments, but some people don't sign them, and we have no idea who you are, so please, put your name under your comment.

Thanks

IT'S A BOY!

Jakin Edwin Vandenberg
4 lbs, 4½ oz
17 ½" long
12:20 AM Nov 16 2008 (5 ½ weeks early)
Born by c-section
Proud parents: Bart & Jennifer Vandenberg
Prouder Grandparents: Jack & Margaret Lodder and Johan & Afien Vandenberg

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Evening Nov. 15,

Dear Family and Friends;
As many already know, the next 3 days are critical to see how Mom does. She is still being closely monitored and we are waiting patiently to see God's will for our lives. Thank you for all the support and prayers, we will surely need God's strength for the next days.

All our love,
Jack and Margaret Lodder
Jenn and Bart, Geoff, Tom and Amy, Nick, Heather & Gabriel, and Brent.

....

Mom's vitals have returned to normal from this morning.

Bad news this morning.

Dear Family and friends.
This morning dad got a call from the hospital.
Mom is going downhill again. The nurses said that she started twisting her arms and legs this morning, they say she might be trying to come out of the coma to hard, and it can be hurting her tremendously. She had to be resedated. This is just a quick message. We have to get going. She needs us there, we are her strength, and so are you, the amount of family is phenominal, and we thank each and every one of you. Family, friends, we thank you for your prayers and support, please keep praying, please keep supporting us in this time of need. More will be posted tonight by dad.
Love Jack Lodder Family

evening of Nov 14

Dear Family and Friends;
God is good, God is great!
This evening Margaret opened her eyes, and tried to talk to me. It was incredible!
This afternoon she went for another CT scan, this time to make sure that there is no damage to her spine, from when she fell. I'm sorry that I do not have any information on the results, as we missed the doctor. The night nurse checked the computer, but it had not been posted yet, I hope to have the results tomorrow, but of course I will not be able to post anything until tomorrow evening.
Thanks to everyone who has put Margaret in their prayers, we are overwhelmed by the emails, calls, and the comments on the blog.
Geoff tells me that I should not be so sketchy on the details of how our Heavenly Father is looking after us. Margaret was able to get into a CT scan (with the dye) The Doctor came up to me after the test was done, and told me that there had been a cancellation in the CT room for a CT angogram, and that there was 2 angogram specialist that had nothing to do, and were quite willing to work on Margaret with our neurologist specialist. She told me that since Margaret also had the tubes in her neck from the angogram, that it would be easy to continue and "coil" the anyurism. She also told me that if she could do it right away, it would obviously be better for Margaret, If we did not do it, it might be a week before they could schedual it in.
It did not take me long to sign the paper!
Anyways my poor fingers are plumb wore out from all the typing, and I would like to go to bed, and get rested up for tomorrow. I can't hardly wait to see what is in store for us!
Bless all of you who have us in their prayers.
Love Jack and Family

Nov. 14

Dear Family and Friends;
I talked to our nurse Joyce this morning, she said that Margaret is still in a coma, They have changed a few of her meds, to see if she will respond better to them.
Please keep praying for us.

Nov 13 08

Dear family, and friends
Last night (Nov12) Margaret had a brain aneurysm rupture. Geoffrey found her in the exercise room. The ambulance picked her up and took her to the Fergus hospital, she was stabilized there and then taken to Guelph to get a ct scan done on her brain. From Guelph they sent her to the Hamilton General hospital, They worked on her all night to keep her alive, this morning(Nov. 13) they did a ct scan using a dye to see where the damage was. They then had an opportunity to do another type of ct scan - an angiogram which can then find the place where the blood was coming from. Once they found the location of the aneurysm, they were immediately able to go in and 'fix' the weak portion of the blood vessel using a wire coil. This is said to prevent any further bleeding. She is now in a coma and we are waiting to see God's will in her life. She is relatively stable and comfortable right now, but the next week is critical for her recovery. Please remember her and our family in your prayers. God is our Strength and Rock right now and we know Him as our Great Physician.
Love, Jack and family.