Author Archives: rkdenlinger

by Joan April 12, 2021 is the date of Matthew’s hemispherotomy. Followed by 8 weeks in hospital recovery and rehab. Matthew has not been informed yet of this information, we are still waiting to explain to him closer to the time as it will be hard for him to process. As it is for usContinue reading “Courage”

by Joan Matthew, our son, is eight years old. Since the age of four months, he has lived with the left hemisphere of his brain severely damaged. During the past four months he has been subjected to many tests of his brain to determine the source of the frequent seizures he lives with and thatContinue reading “The Cutting Edge”

by Ron So said Matthew to Joan after a full day at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). First, Matthew loves that place because his five-day hospital stay back in November was that good. He especially loved the room service – how he could pick up the phone and order food, having Music Man MikeContinue reading ““Thank you for borrowing me!””

Check out our photo gallery at https://joyinaforeignland.com/photo-gallery/. We’ve finally posted something new – seven new photos of the last three months. Hope you enjoy.

by Ron Tonight, I saw the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn through my 6” Newtonian reflector telescope. This was quite a thrill for me. It has been over 20 years since I’ve looked through that telescope. On Saturday I took it from storage and began to clean it up for the event. Having had astronomyContinue reading “The Christmas Star”

Ah yes, my favorite line from the movie Frozen.  If your name is not Joan you may have missed it, but not me. Caught it the first time and I’ve repeated that line to myself a thousand times since! 🙂 Heard a psychologist say recently that a person who doesn’t share their prayer needs, outContinue reading ““Hang in there, Joan!””

This is Matthew’s third day at CHOP. Things are starting to wear a little thin for him. Prior to today we weren’t sure we were ever going to talk him into leaving. He loves the “room service” where he can pick up the phone and order food. He loves “child life” with the toys theyContinue reading “Matthew at CHOP – part 2”

Nov 13, 10:00 AM – Matthew is at CHOP to find out if there is a specific part of his brain from which his seizures are coming. He is on a round-the-clock EEG. This is the third day and up to this point he hasn’t had any seizures strong enough to be picked up onContinue reading “Matthew at CHOP”

Within these walls, I find myself in a constant emotional tug-of-war. On the one hand, there is the need for speed. For those of you who do not know Matthew, he is a 24/7, on-the-move kid with one speed – fast! Because of that, he can be a danger to himself and therefore Ron andContinue reading “Real Quick”