Where in the world is Grant McCarthy?

A week ago I was sitting in Cleveland, writing a blog and preparing for a short work week due to our Thanksgiving holiday! Little did I know that my world was about to be thrown upside down with two life-changing events taking place within 48 hours of each other! 


The first disturbing news I received was that my dad had fallen in his apartment and had hit his his head. He apparently had a seizure caused by a brain tumor, which caused him to fall. He was rushed back to hospital by ambulance, where he still is today recovering. After that news, I emailed his doctor, and she recommended I come and see him in South Africa as soon as possible, as his type of cancer is known for its rapidly spread throughout the body and to other organs. This news left me feeling numb inside, as nobody ever wants to think of a loved one in a finite sense! Also, when I spoke to my dad the previous week, he told me was doing fine and not to come out to South Africa to visit him. We even started making plans to come out for a family vacation in February! Now everything had changed! So on Tuesday morning, I went ahead and bought myself a ticket to Cape Town, leaving that Thursday, our Thanksgiving day!


Then, a few hours later that day, we found out that one of my best friends was involved in a terrible head-on collision that afternoon, while on his way to pick up his children after school! He had suffered severe head injuries and was rushed to the Cleveland's most advanced Trauma Center at Metro Health Hospital. My friend, Jim, needs a miracle, as he is still lying in a non-induced coma. His brain has swelled so much that the surgeons had to remove a part of his skull to allow the brain space to swell. To date there has been no response from Jim, making these times very trying for his wife and his two children (age 11 and 7)! Please join us in asking God for a miracle of healing.


So with all this upsetting news, Liesel and I were in no mood for a holiday set aside to give thanks! Later on, upon some reflection, Liesel made this powerful statement:  After this past week, I was not really in the mood to celebrate Thanksgiving. This afternoon I realised I needed to change my attitude as I have SO much to be thankful for: - I am thankful for the beautiful weather today so the boys & I could go have fun at a playground & for a walk this afternoon; for my boys who know when mom needs an extra hug; for local friends who are more like family who dropped off a delicious Thanksgiving meal; for my family & friends; for all the offers of help while Grant is out the country; for all the prayers going out for our friend, Jim and Grant's dad all over the world; being part of God's family. For those of you blessed enough to be with family today, go give them a hug because I am reminded anew how your life can change in an instant.

I was also reminded that it is only by God's grace that we have our health and our life, and we must NEVER take that for granted. Liesel again reminded me how important it was to go and visit my dad, so I can see him in person and tell him the things I needed to, because Jim's wife never got that chance! With that in mind, I boarded a plane to  to Cape Town via Amsterdam on Thursday evening. I landed in South Africa, after being in transit for 29 hours!! My sister (who had flown in from Johannesburg that morning) and dad's girlfriend met me at the airport and then took me straight  to the hospital to see my dad, even though it was approximately midnight. In his room, he woke up when we walked in and he managed to look up at me and smile. He was not really able to talk, but made groans and could squeeze my hand. He even managed to whisper "Hi champ" to me, which made me very emotional. I did not enjoy seeing him in that state, yet I as happy to be able to be there with him. When we went back the next day, we were so happy to see him sitting up and talking in full sentences again! Even though his voice was hoarse, we were able to understand him so much better. My facebook posts best summarize the past two days spent with my dad: 
Saturday: We went to visit my dad this morning and he is doing a lot better. He was able to talk to us and even make jokes! He also ate some of his lunch and was sipping juice regularly. We praise God for the good day he's having! He is still very emotional when we talk about certain things. Thanks for all your prayers, they are working! Please also pray for his girlfriend, so that she might come to personally know Jesus through this situation. On a another positive note, I had a Nando's Chicken burger for lunch and am now enjoying a Cadbury's caramel-filled chocolate! 
Sunday: We praise God again, as He continues to strengthen my dad. Today he spoke more, told more jokes, shared more stories and even made a few phone calls (including one to my aunt, where in response to one of her questions, he told her that I had put on some weight, while I was sitting in the chair next to him!!!) His doctors are also impressed with his progress and will most probably begin another round of radiation treatment tomorrow to help shrink the brain tumors!

As you can see he is making remarkable progress, and we can only attribute it to God answering our prayers. Thank you for all your prayers and support during this time!!!


Next week Sunday, there will be no blog, as I will be making my way back to the USA via Amsterdam again. Please pray that I make my flight back to Cleveland as it's a pretty tight connection once I land in Washington DC. I also have to make it through passport control and customs upon landing at Washington Dulles, which makes it a little stressful for me :(


After this somewhat depressing blog, here are some photos of my sister and I in Cape Town!

Celebrations and a sickness :(

This week, Liesel and I celebrated 10 years of a happy marriage! There was definitely a lot more "for better"s than "for worse"s. We celebrated the occasion by going to a fancy restaurant. Liesel had the Salmon stuffed with Crab Meat, and I had the lobster tail and filet mignon combination. Both entrees were delicious! We followed that up with Creme Brulee for dessert, but we both thought that Liesel's homemade Creme Brulee beat this one hands down. Other than that, the evening was very enjoyable!

Another reason to celebrate, is Josh's third birthday tomorrow (Monday). This meant that the Cake Decorating team of Liesel and Grant was back in action, designing and decorating the cake for a little animal lover. Liesel again, baked the cake, I cut it into shape, Liesel frosted it and I applied the finishing touches. All this resulted in a very cute crocodile birthday cake.

Included in Josh's pre-birthday celebrations, was a trip to the zoo. Unfortunately his brother and mom couldn't join us, since Nathan has been hit with another bout of Strep Throat, his fourth in three months! So while Liesel and Nathan were picking up anti-biotics, Josh and I enjoyed the Rain Forest at the Cleveland Zoo. The Rainforest is one of the most popular exhibits at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. It is contained in a large two story building with over 2 acres (8,100 m2) of floor space, making it one of the largest tropical indoor environments in the world. The Rainforest boasts more than 6,000 plants and over 600 animals from the tropical regions of Asia, Africa, and the Americas (from Wikipedia). During our visit, Josh led me through both levels of the huge exhibit, pausing occasionally to look at monkeys, fish, turtles, otters, snakes, crocodiles and porcupines. He had so much fun, he insisted on doing it all a second time!

The Good, The Bad and the Chilly

When we woke up on Friday morning and found a dusting of snow covering the roof, and parts of the garden, we were reminded that Winter is just around the corner! Fortunately, Saturday's temperatures climbed back into the 60s (16C+) which allowed us to spend some time outdoors!

I have made a list of some of the good things from the weekend, along with some of the bad.

GOOD	BAD
Doing some Christmas shopping with the family on Saturday morning	Having Nathan see one of his Christmas gifts, ruining the surprise
Enjoying the outdoors and raking up the leaves in the front yard	Having a strong wind during the night that undid most of our hard work
finding Rooibos tea and vuvuzelas being sold in local stores!
A much needed date night with my wife
Being invited to go watch the Cleveland Brown play football on Sunday morning	Watching the Browns lose in the last 2 minutes by missing a regulation kick
Having Nathan's and Josh's friends come over to play after dinner on Sunday evening	The meltdown Josh had when they were picked up at 8pm

Sleepless in San Francisco (and Cleveland)

Monday night was Halloween, and my two boys collected enough candy to feed a village!

On Tuesday afternoon, I boarded an airplane bound for San Francisco. I was attending a two-day course at Google,, Unfortunately, forty-eight hours is not enough for my body to acclimatize to the three hour time zone difference. Each night I would fall asleep around midnight (3am EST) and wake up 4 hours later. But other than the reduced sleep, my two day California trip was really good. Google fed us well, and the hotel we stayed at served up a magnificent multi-course breakfast, which included cereals, french toast, bacon, egg, sausages, fresh fruit, yogurt, cheeses and pastries!! On Thursday after the course, my colleague and I decided to kill some time by watching a movie, before making our way back to the airport for our midnight flight back. We watched the British comedy, Johnny English : Reborn, which was quite amusing, and quite silly at times. But it sure was better than sitting in San Francisco's rush hour traffic! After the movie, we had dinner at a Mediterranean restaurant, and then drove the rental car back to the airport. Our flight was packed, and I was "lucky" enough to have a woman who had a severe cold sit next to me. She is also didn't seem to want to sleep on the flight (like everyone else) and kept her overhead reading light on for the majority of the 4 hour flight to Houston. Then to top it off, the two tattoo-covered women sitting behind me, decided to crack jokes, and their cackling woke me (and everyone with earshot) up at around 4am. Needless to say, I wasn't a happy camper.... This flight was scheduled to land at 6am, and we had to catch the connecting flight to Cleveland at 6:45am. Much to my dismay, our flight landed 15 minutes late, and being at the back of the plane meant that it would take at least 15 minutes for me to get into the terminal. As soon as I got into the terminal, I started racing to the next flight, and my blood pressure was raised when I heard the announcement over the PA "Will passenger McCarthy please go immediately to gate E12 as this is the final boarding call!" To make a long story short, my colleague and I made it onto the Cleveland flight, and this was probably the best flight out the four we had during this trip. We finally landed in Cleveland just after 10am on Friday. When I got home I was physically exhausted, and that afternoon, I went for a three hour afternoon nap! While I was on the West Coast, Liesel and Josh were also "sleepless" back home. The reason for this was our new roof was installed from Monday to Wednesday. This meant that when it was time for Josh's afternoon nap, there would be some form of noise directly above his room, be it removing the old shingles, installing the ice-guard or nailing down the new shingles! The good news is that our house now has a brand new roof, although the weather has been so good, the roof hasn't had a chance to be tested by rain yet.