Living with Victory through Childhood Cancer
By Wendy Robinson
"This is the book we wish we'd had the day we arrived at hospital" Ken Robinson (Victoria's Dad)
First Steps And What You Should Do Next
Wendy shares the steps she took to get the best care for her child. This book was written to help parents have some understanding of what they may face and how to manage it as best as they can.
Dealing with hospital and home
The book features a series of checklists Wendy produced for her family and friends that will help you manage the day-to-day hassles once you move your life into a hospital cancer ward.
Getting the help you need
Wendy's book contains guides on charities that offer support to families with children with cancer. Their practical assistance helped Wendy's family to cope with the many financial and emotional burdens they faced.
Finding Jesus in the crisis
Times of crisis can lead us to ask the question where is God in this? In this book Wendy takes us through her journey of seeking God and learning to trust Him at a deeper level.
What people are saying about this book...
Linda Brown
Senior Social Worker
“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.
"Wendy's book is 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!
"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 child with cancer are there too."
Paul Sprague
Principal Orthotist
Neuromuscular Orthotics
Melbourne, VIC, Australia
"This is a unique and emotional insight into the challenges and victories of a family dealing with disease and its disruption to everyday life.
"Helpful not only for those families facing their own medical struggles, but also for their friends, loved ones and health professionals who will benefit from this insight.
"An honest and uplifting record of fear and faith, highly recommended."
Harriet Ferguson
Social Worker
Paedatric Brain Injury Rehabilitation Team
HNEkidshealth
Newcastle, NSW, Australia
"Wendy has worked out some very helpful strategies that are shared within these pages. I know that her hope is for other families facing a similar journey to derive some benefit from her experience.
"It has been my pleasure to have known both Wendy, Victoria and their family since 2011 when Victoria was initially referred for Paediatric Brain Injury Rehabilitation with our community based team.
"I have always been very impressed with Wendy’s ability to keep on top of the myriad of health and therapy needs Victoria has had over the years. Wendy always has her notebook and writes everything down to process when she gets home!
"I commend Wendy for the ongoing love and support she has been able to give to not only Victoria but her whole family.
"I think this book paints a great picture of the strength of Wendy’s faith and the way that this has informed her responses to the many hurdles and challenges she and her family have faced since Victoria’s initial diagnosis. It also describes the detail of this journey.
"Although this is Victoria’s story, the themes and strategies are common for families going through a similar thing.
"I would recommend this as a heartfelt and personal account of a very difficult time."
What is covered in this book?
Practical checklists for home and hospital
Having a child with cancer dramatically changes life as you and your family adjust to the many hours spent at hospital, on top of managing day-to-day life. Wendy developed a series of practical checklists which made life a lot easier for not only her family, but friends and relatives as they made this massive transition to a new way of life.
Getting help - who and the benefits
When you first start the cancer journey, you may feel all alone and not sure what to do next. But help is at hand. In this part of Wendy's book she explains the assistance that is available. This helped Wendy's family as they struggled with the emotional challenges and financial burden
cancer brings.
Keeping your family together
One moment your family is happy, without a care in the world, the next moment it seems that everything is falling apart. Wendy explains the steps she took to help her family remain emotionally intact. These suggestions will help you deal with the pressures of ensuring your family survives. Plus, she shows you how it is possible for your family unit to grow stronger as they come together in this crisis.
Physical Rehabilitation Strategies
Your cancer journey usually does not finish when you leave hospital. To ensure Victoria made the best recovery possible Wendy spent many hours implementing physical rehabilitation activities that would aid her daughter's recovery. Wendy shares with you a series of therapy plans that can help make your child's recovery a little easier, even fun.
Where can I buy this book?
Victoria Grace
Living with victory through Childhood Cancer
Why did Wendy write this book?
About the author: Wendy Robinson
Wendy 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, working at their local church, and still continuing turning to God each day, sometimes each minute, to get the strength required to make it through.