Beautiful Shore

My dad's ashes were strewn at the sea on Saturday (11th July 2009). It was indeed beautiful to see his ashes flow with the flowers above the sea.

In the sweet, by and by
we will meet on that beautiful shore...

Once again, I would like to thank everyone for your support & prayers. May God bless you and your family abundantly.

You may keep yourself updated on the Woo family happenings on my blog.

Take care. :)

The beginning of a new life in Heaven

My dad left earth and gone to heaven to be with God at 4am, 8th July 2009.

He was the first man that I fell in love with, my mentor, the one I turn to whenever I'm faced with a problem, the one that would always pamper me, the one that I could sit down with without saying a word to him for a few hours, the one that corrected my English when I speak/write, most of all, the person that I admire the most.

I love him and I know he's up in heaven watching over us.

Even during the tough times, he could still teach me some "life lessons" and he left some sweet memories.

He was very grateful that I took days off just to take care of him. He was initially afraid that my decision would jeopardize my career. However, after taking care of him for a few days, he told me to share my passion for family with others so that everyone knows that family should always come first.

He told my husband that he loves him. That three simple words touched me as I would never have thought that my dad would accept my husband as his own son.

He told us not to procrastinate when we do things and always think carefully before making any decision.

There are many more sweet memories that will be kept in my heart forever.

I love you daddy and I know you are now in a more comfortable place. May you be with God and watch us from up above.

I miss you.
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Dear family & friends,

On behalf of my late father, I would like to thank all of you for your concern. For supporting him and my family throughout his life especially through the tough journey.

I thank you for being here with us to mourn our loss. Your company has made all of us stronger.

We will take some time to adjust to this new life. Please continue to pray that we'll be blessed with abundant strength from God.

Now that daddy is with God, may you remember him as a man that is as cheerful & bright as a sunflower, a man who loves technology, a man who is famous for his "dracula" teeth when he smiles, a man who only cracks intelligent jokes, a man who would always put others first before him, a man who would always give more than a 100%, a man who never likes noise, a man who always took care of his family & friends, a man who would never give up and the "gentleman" hunter.

Please forgive him for not allowing any visitors during the past 6 months. He would like all of you to remember him as the healthy Vincent Woo.

May the best memories of my dad stay with you.

God Bless you and your family.

Love,
Yi Lei

Rest in Peace daddy.
I love you. *hugs*

Mircale of Jeanne Jugan

Article taken from:
http://www.littlesistersofthepoor.ie/component/content/article/123

Cure of Doctor Edward Erwin GATZ
of an Adenocarcinoma of the Oesophagus


Doctor Edward GATZ is a retired anaesthetist who lives in Omaha, Nebraska, in the United States of America. He was born on 19th April 1937 in O’Neil, Nebraska.

At the age of 51 he began to feel dyspeptic (digestive) problems with a loss of weight and the appearance of growths on his hands. The diagnosis was interpreted as a paraneoplastic syndrome due to an occult cancer.

An endoscopy on 9th January 1989 revealed the presence of a cancerous lesion in the lower part of the oesophagus. Dr Gatz was hospitalised at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and had surgery on 18th January 1989 for a partial oesophago-gastrectomy. The biopsy showed a 3rd degree adenocarcinoma, and the examination specified that there was an aneuploid tumour. Doctor Gatz was advised to have chemotherapy but he refused. He also refused to have radiotherapy.

On the day that Dr Gatz’ cancer was diagnosed his wife spoke with a priest, Fr Richard D McGloin SJ to tell him about her husband’s illness and to seek some consolation. This priest encouraged Mrs Gatz to pray, and gave her the novena prayer to Blessed Jeanne Jugan, whom he knew through the Little Sisters of the Poor, since he had formerly been their chaplain at their Home in Milwaukee, and whom he held in veneration. Along with him, Mrs Gatz began to pray to Jeanne Jugan every day, even after the check-up on 8th March.

In fact, the first endoscopic examination took place on 8th March 1989. The biopsy showed the presence of chronic gastritis, but no signs of recurrence of the tumour.
All the doctors had agreed that Dr Gatz would not live more than “six to thirteen months”. Yet he is still alive and well today and plans to attend the canonization ceremony on 11th October with his wife.

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Novena Prayer to Blessed Jeanne Jugan

Jesus, you rejoiced and praised Your Father for having revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven. We thank You for the graces granted to Your humble servant, Jeanne Jugan, to whom we confide our petitions and needs.

Father of the Poor, You have never refused the prayer of the lowly. We ask You, therefore, to hear the petitions she presents to You on our behalf.

Jesus, through Mary, Your Mother and ours, we ask this of You, who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit now and forever.

Amen.

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Dear friends,

You may not be a Catholic but I pray that you will pray for my dad.

If you are a Catholic, please recite the Novena Prayer to Blessed Jeanne Jugan every day with my dad in your mind.

We need all the prayers that we can have so that daddy will be blessed with a miracle.

I strongly believe in the power of prayer. May your prayer be touched by God.

Love,
Yi Lei

Blood transfusion went smoothly

Just thought I should update everyone that my dad's blood transfusion went smoothly.
He had to use 2 bags of blood. (Our relatives were kind enough to donate it back to the hospital.God Bless them.)

We are now praying that this blood transfusion will help my dad regain his energy level.

He still has discomfort with his back & bones which we hope, with the help of a physiotherapist, daddy would be able to get rid of the discomfort.

On behalf of daddy and my family, I would like to thank all of you for your prayer and concern.We truly appreciate it.

God bless you and your family.

Love,
Yi Lei

Say a prayer for daddy

Dear friends,

My dad will be undergoing blood transfusion today. Please pray that the blood that he will be receiving is free from any disease and there won't be any complication throughout the process.

May this blood that my dad will be receiving help him regain his strength, energy & health.

God Bless.

Love,
Yi Lei

Short update

Dear friends,

I have not been able to update you on my dad's condition as we were all busy as a family. Here are some good news.

My dad has been discharged from the hospital since last Friday (5th June 2009). He is still adjusting to the weather at home and we are doing our best to accommodate to his changing body temperature.

He received many calls and messages from all of you and he would like to thank all of you for your concern and your thoughts. He is currently still trying to adjust to things and it would be great that you visit him only when he has stabilized.

The other good news is that our family is now tighter than ever. We are all trying to adjust our lives (career & personal) to accommodate to daddy's condition and as we adjust we got closer.

We, the Woo family, thank all of you for your prayers. May you continue to pray for daddy to be blessed with abundant strength. 

God Bless!

Love,

Yi Lei

Dear Scribble Book...

I left an empty note book for my dad to scribble last week. He finally put it to good use. He started scribbling yesterday. His first 2 pages contained the list of food that he is craving for.

Daddy's Cravings!

In case you can't read his writing. Below is the list:
1) Chee Cheong Fun - sauce? (Dad is not sure what sauce he wants)
2) Stir Fried Maggi Mee
3) Potato Bun
4) Ham Chim Peng
5) Roti Canai + Dahl?
6) Omellete (plain?)
7) Japanese Spanish Mackerel
8) Yong Tau Foo (Tau Foo Pok, Bitter gourd, Brinjal)
9) Tau Foo Fah - hot
10) Cendol (no ice)
11) Coconut Water (Fresh Thai King)
12) Lo Hong Koh Drink
13) Ling Chee Kang drink (warm)
14) Red Bean soup (hot)
15) Kraft's Cheddar Cheese
16) Sweet Potato (whole)
17) Wan Tan Mee (dry)
18) Mushroom soup (Canned?)
19) Pumpkin seeds (organic)
20) Apricot seeds (organic)
21) Orange fruit
22) Peach fruit
23) Mango fruit
24) Bread (for sandwich) type?

He listed down 24 types of food that he would love to have. Well, it's now on his blog. So when he's back, he'll be able to take a look at what he was craving for and satisfy his cravings. :)

My dad also monitored his own progress yesterday. By jotting down what he had orally and how much milk he is taking. He's also monitoring his amount of urination. (The nurses jots down in his chart but dad would like to keep his own record.)

Daddy's progress on 26th May 2009

Tonight was a different experience for me and I think for all of us too. After dinner, daddy shared with us his experience last night and this morning. He had difficulty passing motion and also difficulty breathing. He gave credit to one of the nurses who was there to accompany him throughout his ordeal. After the ordeal, he felt much better but very tired. He then rested the whole day.

It came to his mind something that my sister shared with him last time. Happiness is about having something to do, someone to love and something to look forward to.

Daddy said he knows that he has more than just one person to love. So that's something that he already have.

He needs something to look forward to. He asked his dietitian to help him draft out a schedule of how he should be progressing, so that he has something to look forward to.

As for something to do, he found the "Scribble Book" a good way for him to keep himself occupied. He also thought of studying Sudoku. So he asked us to print out manuals or basic rules of Sudoku, so that he can learn a skill while he is resting and it will also help him keep his mind occupied.

Daddy also shared with us the new regime that he has worked out with the dietitian. They planned the regime properly and daddy is hoping that this new regime would help him.

Total of 1425 calories & 83 g of Protein a day!

I'm very happy that daddy manage to talk to us for a good 30minutes today. He felt much better pouring it all out. He said that he would love to do this every day provided that he has the energy to do so.

The moment daddy ended his sharing session, I thank God for all that He has done. He has given all of us strength & patience. I know that daddy may/may not share as much tomorrow but I'm just thankful that he was given so much strength to pour his heart out.

Daddy, you are indeed my hero! I love you daddy!

I'm confident that the day for you to say "I'M BACK!" will be arriving soon! :)