Mad Russian Posted December 1, 2004 Share Posted December 1, 2004 Tom Grace is known to the CM community as Warmonger. He has been active every since the CMBO days. Right now his 14 year old son Matthew is fighting for his life. Matthew and the Grace family need our prayers. This is the last email I got from Tom: Hi Some of you may have heard already but Matthew has spent the last three weeks in the Calgary ICU. During this time he has weaken greatly. He has had two more surgerys. One to drain excess fluid from his brain which was successful. He also had a operation to put in a trach and a feeding tube as he could no longer protect his air way. He lost his gag reflex and was getting lung infections from breathing stuff into his lungs. We learned that the Doctors are extremely worried about his heart and lungs. They told last friday that he could have a heart attack. However they are continuing with his radiation treatment. He has currently had 10 of 31 treatments. We have no way of knowing if it will work but we are praying for success. They have noticed that over the weekend Matt improved a little. We hope this is a indication of some kind of success. We are staying at the Calgary Ronald McDonald house. We have taken our other boys out of school and the entire family is here in Calgary until the new year. Please continue to pray for Matthew. A Christmas miracle would be so great. Tom, Wendy, Micheal, Matthew and Nicholas The Grace family email is, twgrace101@hotmail.com Please pray for Matthew and drop the Grace family a small email to show our support. Thank you. Steve Overton 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Russian Posted December 3, 2004 Author Share Posted December 3, 2004 Originally posted by Spookster: Steve, Just called the Ronald McDonald House. Left a $100 donation to the facility. (Apparently, Wayne Gretzky is a big Calgary Ronald McDonald fan. So I am in good company.) Talked to a Ronald McDonald associate, who told me, "Matthew's doing pretty well." Good news. The associate offered to connect me to the room, but since I've never met the Grace family, I said it was enough to tell them that the "CM Community has them in their thoughts." Somehow, I think "Warmonger" is the least fitting name for Tom..."Good Father" should be his moniker. Peace, Mike DUH!!!! I never thought about calling Canada. It is treated the same as a call in the US on my cell phone. I have gotten the number for the Ronald McDonald House... 403-240-3000 and also left messages and donations. They said that in the past week that there have been an influx of calls and donations. THANK YOU!!! All of you!!! Keep the prayers coming. It can't hurt!! I will update again this weekend. Steve 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Russian Posted December 4, 2004 Author Share Posted December 4, 2004 I talked with Tom on the phone twice yesterday. The family has been amazed at the emails and calls to the Ronald McDonald House. The number is 403-240-3000 for the Calgary RMH. They told the Grace family that good wishes and donations are pouring in from the United States. Not sure what they consider pouring but it must be a lot more than they are used to seeing. Matthew's condition has started to improve as well. Imagine that... Last week they tried to sit him up in a wheel chair and his heart rate and pulse soared to the point that they were worried that he would have a heart attack. When the family met with doctors last week they were very concerned about Matthew's condition. In the last part of this week his heart rate and pulse have stabilized, he has taken his chemo-therapy treatments without any problems, he has sit up in the wheelchair with no complications, he is a lot more active and his father said, "he looks better." That says it all. Keep the prayers coming. Also, the messages to the RMH in Calgary are a source of support to the family. The donations are nice and I'm sure they are more than appreciated but this isn't about money. We need to continue to pray for Matthew. His battle isn't over yet. Thank you for your immediate and caring response. I know that it has meant a great deal to the Grace's. When I asked Tom if he had gotten any emails he replied more than he could answer. Here is a letter that Tom's wife sent out. There is reference to a TV news cast but I have yet to make it work. Tom couldn't find it either. Both of us use the computer for hours a day. His wife, who is rarely on the computer, went straight to it. If someone can figure out where this is I would like to see it too. Here is the letter that has the relevant Matthew Grace parts to it. Subject: Link for Matthew's newscast on web Date: Fri, 03 Dec 2004 07:40:53 -0700 I checked on the BC TV website and I see that the version of the news I was able to tape was edited from the full one that showed at 7 p.m. (mine was taped at midnight). However, on the internet there is the full version at this link: http://www.bcctv.ca/streamnews.jsp?id=/news/streaming_news.htm Click on the CTV News Button, then on THURSDAY. You can move the slider to 20:25, which is when Matt's newscast comes on. I tried using the search for news option but Matthew Grace didn't bring up anything. Once again thanks for your support of the Grace family. Steve 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Russian Posted December 6, 2004 Author Share Posted December 6, 2004 This is the latest news about Matt... Hi Just wanted to let you know that Matt's condition has improved enough in the last 10 days to allow him to be moved from the ICU to a regular room. (Yeah!!!!) The Doctors are greatly pleased that Matthew has regain some strength and some movement and his breathing and heart beat are back close to normal. We are still not out of the woods but this is a step in the right direction as Matts radiation treatment will be able to continue. So far he has had 14 of 31 treatments so he is almost half way. He is starting to loose his hair but considering he was suppose to loose his hair but didn't with the chemo and that didn't work we are taking this as a good sign. However we won't know how effective the radiation is until after it is done. We would like to thank everyone for thier support , prayers and visits. This has really helped bring up Matt's spirits. We are hoping and praying that God will give us a Christmas miracle Tom, Wendy, Micheal, Matthew, and Nicholas Keep those prayers coming. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Russian Posted December 9, 2004 Author Share Posted December 9, 2004 Just talked with Tom. Matthew has been moved to a normal room and has had another radiation treatment today. That makes 17 out of 31. When he was in such bad shape he had only had 10. They are a very happy set of parents and thank everyone for the continued prayers. Steve 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Russian Posted December 15, 2004 Author Share Posted December 15, 2004 Matthew Grace update...he is continuing to improve daily. His radiation treatments are progressing as well. He has now taken 21 out of the 30 he needs. He is still wheel chair bound and continues to be feed using a trach. He is able to talk though. Our prayers are making a difference in his life. Continue to pray for Matthew and the entire Grace family as the Christmas season progresses. It has to be hard to spend this season in the hospital for them. On the other hand it has to be a happy time for them since Matthew is making such progress over the past few weeks. Thanks for your continued prayers. Steve 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Russian Posted December 18, 2004 Author Share Posted December 18, 2004 Another Matthew Grace update: HI I am happy to report that Matt is continuing to slowly improve. Matt has completed most of his Radiation with only 8 radiation treatments left to do. His last treatment will be on December 31st! Today the doctors actually let us know that they expect Matt will be able to go back to Golden in the new year!!! We are now in the home planning stage...The doctors here and at home will meet soon for a teleconference to prepare everyone for the move to the Golden hospital. He will have to stay in the hospital in Golden until we have everything prepared at home. (But at least we will be back in our own town.) Nurses are in the process of being trained to watch him at night so we can get some sleep. Wendy and I have also been trained to look after Matthew's trach and G tube. We will now look at our home situation and how we can make it wheelchair assessable. This will require a lot of preparing and renovations but just having him back home in the Golden hospital will be such a blessing till we can get the house ready for him. Of course we are praying that he will regain his ability to walk but that is in God's hands. Matt was so happy today, as it was okayed for him to "Taste" food, The nurse brought him chocolate syrup and he was able to lick a candy cane........ he can't eat food as of yet, but just the taste was heaven........ However the doctor was able to get a gage reflex out of him today!!! If this continues to improve it might mean that we might be able to get rid of the trach and G tube which would make home care so much easier. We are really praying for that! They also worked out a way that he can e-mail his friends so, he has already started the process and will be able to send them off soon. Mike, Nick, Wendy and I are doing well. They were right about the hospital being a special place at Christmas time. They are always entertaining the patients and lots of cheer.... We are all doing a lot of laughing...... oh which reminds me, Matt can now use his talking trach and sounds a lot like a boy on helium ........ ha ha he's great at the munchkin song from the wizard of oz.... follow the yellow brick road.... We are not out of the woods yet as only time will tell how effective the radiation treatment is but it is so nice to see Matt smile and laugh again. It is already hard to believe that he is the same boy who the doctors were so worried about only a few weeks ago. We are looking forward to spending Christmas with Matt in the childrens hospital. We wish you all a Merry Christmas and thank you all for your prayers and support. Tom Wendy Micheal Matthew and Nick 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Russian Posted December 22, 2004 Author Share Posted December 22, 2004 LOL!! Tom didn't know I put these messages on most of the forums here at the BFC boards. Here is an updated post he put on the one he found. Old Warmonger Junior Member Member # 7057 posted December 22, 2004 01:08 AM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi I would like to thank everyone for thier prayers and support. Matthew is improving every day and we are hopeful that this will continue. This is the first time I've had a chance to get to the forum and read your posts. I thank you all your encouragement! I would also like to thank Steve for updating this thread. The world wide support and prayers are amazing and the effect on my son has been wonderful. We are hopeful that our son will be able to come home soon. Thanks so much! Tom "Warmonger" Grace 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Russian Posted December 30, 2004 Author Share Posted December 30, 2004 Here is the latest update on Matthew Grace. Matthew is continuing to improve slowly and is heading in the right direction which is great. He has only two radiation treatments left so he will be done on friday. The doctors here have already had a conference call with the doctors in Golden to set up Matt moving to the Golden hospital early in the new year. Our prayers have been answered so far. We are planning to bring my two other kids back home right after the new year so they can go back to school. Wendy will go home with them for two weeks then we will switch. Thanks for your support during this stressful time. It was a great help to know that we had prayer and support from all over the world. Thanks again Tom 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Warmonger Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 My many thanks to those in CM community who have offered support and prayer for my son. He is improving and might be returning home by the end of the month but we will have to convert our livingroom into a hospital room to do it. My son is keeping track of the countries of those who e-mail etc on a map on the wall of his room so if you can say your country of origin (state or pronvince in larger counties)in your mail that would be great. Thank you again for your support. Warmonger 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Russian Posted January 25, 2005 Author Share Posted January 25, 2005 I thought I would share part of an email that Tom Grace sent me last night. I have an amazing story to tell you. The area where we will be setting up Matt's room is carpeted. So for hygienic and ease of movement of Matts equipment we decided to have the carpet removed and an laminated floor put in. We were given some money by an radio station in Calgary in December and thought we use it to pay for this project. I had to get on this fast as the hospital equipment will be arriving soon so I went to the local flooring store. This store is own by a family living about a block away and they have a son who is friends with Matt and they are Christians as well. I found the flooring we wanted and they even dropped the price from $2/square foot to $1.50/square foot which I thought was great. I went home and phoned my wife to update her then after I hung up the phone rang. It was the flooring supply store. They had decided to donate the flooring to us and install it as well. (I was going to have our church organize a work party to help me put it in) I was flabbergasted as we are talking about an $1000 floor!!!! I went back to show them what pattern we wanted. I was so grateful and over whelmed that I could not control my emotions and tears were flowing. They have already delivered the material and will put it in on Wednesday. Let me tell you the whole thing amazed me!!! God really works in amazing ways!! Well I hope to try out your operation. It may take a bit time if it is an large one. Does it matter what side I play. What is PBEM helper and where do I get it? Well gotta get to bed. I have to move furniture tomorrow!!!! Thank you for all your support for this family. God is good. We need but be faithful. Continue to keep the Grace family in your prayers. I believe that Matthew is scheduled to return home sometime in February. Steve 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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