Victoria Grace Living with victory through childhood cancer

Wendy Robinson (University of Exeter UK), Rebecca Heininger

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English

Wendy Robinson
14 November 2018

Disability: social aspects; Teaching of physically disabled students; Popular medicine & health; Coping with illness; Child care & upbringing

What's going to happen to our daughter? How do I tell my husband?

I desperately wanted the doctor's words to be wrong. I wanted to do a delete of the last six hours and return to our normal, slightly chaotic life as a family of six. But we don't live in a fantasy world. This was reality. I had just been told that our three year old child had a mass in her brain.

I want this all to go away. I can't believe this is happening to us. I'm frightened.

Perhaps you've had thoughts similar to these during a tough time in your life. Or you could be thinking them right now.

Fear, pain, anger and grief may be consuming you. I have felt these emotions many times during our journey of having a child with a brain tumour and its ongoing implications.

Fear of what could happen to our child and how we as a family would make it through; the pain of witnessing a child who was seemingly healthy suddenly become physically disabled, requiring hours of rehabilitation; Anger, asking why did this happen to our child? And the grief of witnessing a childhood that was no longer carefree.

But alongside these emotions there has also been perseverance, faith, hope and love. Perseverance to do all that was possible to help our child physically and emotionally; A rising faith, although wavering at times, faith to believe that there is a God in Heaven who is on our side; Increasing hope in a God who has a plan that is good; Learning to receive love, the love of family, friends, church family, school community, neighbours and the love of strangers through charities. But most importantly the love of Jesus Christ, who laid down His life for us so we could confidently declare Romans 8:37, Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us (NKJV).

This book chronologically covers the first three years of our journey of having a child with a brain tumour. During that time, I as the mother, have learned much including strategies to help care for the emotional and physical needs of a child on chemotherapy, and who also has hemiplegia (left side weakness); as well as strategies to overcome the mental health strain of being a primary carer; and to maintain a marriage and care for the emotional well-being of our other three children. None of this we have done perfectly, but we have by the grace of God, made it through to the other side with our family still together!

At the end of each chapter there is a reflection in which I have endeavoured to explain these strategies along with examples of how we implemented them. In the appendices I have included the practical checklists I created for our family and those who lovingly came to help in our home. These checklists enabled us to keep some sense of order in the chaos. If you've found yourself on a similar journey to us, my prayer is that the inclusion of these practical strategies and checklists will be of great benefit to you and your family.

Finally, as you read our story, I pray that you will be encouraged to persevere despite the fear, pain, anger and grief. And that you will be inspired to grow in faith and hope, and fully receive the love offered to you by other people and Jesus Christ.

Victoria Grace is also a very well written story of human strength and resilience - I couldn't put it down even though I knew the story. Thank you Wendy for providing so much meaningful assistance to other parents, extended family and support networks! Linda Brown, Senior Social Worker - Redkite (Redkite, an Australian cancer charity providing essential support to children and young people (0-24 years) with cancer, and the family and support network who care for them).

By: Wendy Robinson (University of Exeter UK)
Cover design or artwork by: Rebecca Heininger
Imprint: Wendy Robinson
Dimensions: Height: 216mm, Width: 140mm, Spine: 28mm
Weight: 612g
ISBN: 9780648247609
ISBN 10: 0648247600
Pages: 488
Publication Date: 14 November 2018
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Wendy Robinson lives in Lake Macquarie, NSW, Australia with her husband Ken and four children. In 2011 their third child, Victoria, then aged three, was diagnosed with a brain tumour. Brain surgery, physical rehabilitation, chemotherapy and emotional trauma became commonplace in their lives. Wendy drew on her twelve years of project planning in the corporate sphere prior to having children, to develop strategies, processes and checklists to help her family navigate through this season. Throughout this journey Wendy shared her thoughts and experiences on her blog, which has formed the basis of this book. More than a story, this book is filled with practical survival tactics and tips for parents who find themselves in a similar situation, or people who are struggling with challenging on-going life circumstances. Today Wendy continues with mothering including supporting her child winning the fight against cancer, working alongside Ken in their business, volunteering at their local church, and still continuing to turn to God each day, sometimes each minute, to get the strength required to make it through. Wendy writes and podcasts, to find out more, please visit her website: wendyrobinson.com.au. To contact Wendy please email her at wendy@wendyrobinson.com.au Rebecca Heininger is a Graphic Designer with over 20 years experience in providing creative designs to clients across a diverse range of industries. Rebecca lives and works on the Gold Coast after spending 7 years in South East Asia working on a community development program aimed to get clean drinking water and better living conditions to those in very remote area's. During this time she provided marketing materials for a range of products from company logos and apparel, brochures, stationery, full page publications, flyers, banners, stickers, product packaging, fleet branding and more. Prior to this she worked in printing companies and pre-press departments in Sydney. She has produced various medical style illustrations for clients over the years and has a passion to do custom book design and typesetting and/or children's book design. She recently started Bek-on Design in which she brings with her a wealth of knowledge and well rounded expertise in typesetting and creative design making artistic idea's a reality, supporting her clients needs.

Reviews for Victoria Grace Living with victory through childhood cancer

Linda Brown - Senior Social Worker - Redkite* This book is a very helpful guide for parents who gather strength through their religion in times of severe challenge to assist them to maintain hope and sustain the energy needed to manage the treatment journey. It may also be helpful to those who might struggle with their faith during these times - particularly with relevant quotations from psalms. For those parents who prefer to find other ways to assist in staying strong, this book is full of lists of practical suggestions and plans which will save time and energy - both usually very scarce for most families. Wendy also lists the support resources available to all families support their children through brain cancer both through the text and in all appendices at the end of the book based on her own lived experience (including the mention of Redkite's telegroup program which is how I came to know her). Support strategies for siblings and for the the child with cancer are there too. Victoria Grace is also a very well written story of human strength and resilience - I couldn't put it down even though I knew the story. Thank you Wendy for providing so much meaningful assistance to other parents, extended family and support networks! *Redkite is an Australian cancer charity providing essential support to children and young people (0-24 years) with cancer, and the family and support network who care for them. Lydia Quirey** We don't get to choose all roads in life and can be confronted with uncertainty which we then need to navigate. Life can take an unexpected turn at any moment. What do you do when it is drastically interrupted? I found this book filled with hope and practical information. It inspires you to do your journey well, whatever that may be. Wendy's experiences and insights helps increase your faith to overcome adversities and challenges you or a loved one may face. This book is a valuable resource for any parent, spouse, caregiver, family or friend of a seriously ill child, teen or adult. **Lydia is my friend who initially suggested I take Victoria to see a doctor. Five years later, her daughter was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness.