Surgery May 10, 2011

Well we survived surgery. Everything went as planned. LM was third in line for surgery. His surgery was scheduled for 11 am. So we were able to take PT to school and arrive at CHLA before 9 am.

They have changed up where you waited and used more technology since we were there for PT. I almost forgot that it has been 8 years since PT first surgery @ CHLA. They assign each patient with a number. Then you have a big screen telling you where the patient is at.

LM's surgery was scheduled for 2 hours and he was in the OR for 2 1/4 hours. Dr. Magee came out and said everything went as planned. They narrow the lip and placed nose stents in. I didn't realize that nose revision meant nose stents. Boy was LM mad. He does not like them. As expected he woke up mad and would only calm down for me. He drank an apple juice and had two Popsicles before we left. They sent him home with an apple juice which he proceed to drink on the way home.

He slept a little on the way home but didn't take a nap before bed. They wanted him to wear his no-no at night. LM still uses his thumb for self soothing and was mad that he could suck his thumb. When we got home he said he was hungry. So I made some noodles for him since he can only have soft food for a couple of days. Then I made macaroni and cheese for PT and DH for supper. LM proceed to eat his share of the mac and cheese. While I was with PT in music classes, DH feed him another bowl of noodles and a small bowl of ice cream. I brought him another small dish of ice cream home.

LM had a hard time getting to sleep but finally feel asleep in my arm in the rocking chair. That was a first for him and me. I was able to place him in his bed after a hour asleep in my arms and he sleep for 6 hours.

Surgery Time

The prep has started! LM is schedule for a lip and nose revision on May 10 at CHLA. Now I need to keep my emotions in tact for him. This is his first surgery with his forever family. I remember the emotions I went thru with PT first surgery @ 7 week old. The are different this time. They are not any easier but different. I think what is making it different is my stress level is different this time. I am not worrying about having to go back to work. Even though I was on leave with PT, I was heading back in work a few week later. I can give LM my undivided attention.

Some things are the same. How will he do under anesthesia? How will he handle waking up after surgery? Then the biggie that get me ever time is : Is this truly necessary? I know it is but does not make it any easier!

I hate, let me say that again I hate to see my little ones in pain. I know I have to keep an eye on the pain meds but this is the hard part of surgery no matter how much pain meds you have there is still some pain they only dull it.

Closing thoughts ( More to help me)

Isaiah 43: 2 When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up. The flames will not consume you.

Jeremiah 30:17 "I will restore you to health and heal your wounds," declares the Lord.

Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

Deuteronomy 31:8 The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.

Now I am off to make my checklist and get my surgery pack ready.

Selective Mutism

Finally an update!

We thought we were prepared for everything when coming to adopting our son. We read every book we could read. Trying to remember no two children are the same. We knew about cleft lip and palate before choosing a son with one. In this we knew that not two children are the same. We knew about RAD, AHAD, ADD, PTSD and other adoption related disorders.

But Selective Mutism was never on our radar. We recently have been doing a bunch of research on adoptive children and selective mutism. We are able only to find a little information. We are in new horizons with our son.

I am surprised how this has changed my thinking on what school he should attend. I researched schools when my daughter entered kindergarten thinking that this school will work for my son. I forgot to remember that no two children are the same and research for him I must. My research has taken a different turn than I thought. I have always thought my kids will go to private school. But is that the right choice for my son? He has different needs which is not very well supported in most private school. I have been on so many school tours and getting tired of filling out all these forms for school. I never knew have many forms public school had compared to daughter private school. I have one more school to look at and I am done and waiting for the Lottery to be done at a variety of schools. We may just end up @ a local public school waiting for an opening at the school of choice. At least he will get the services needed that are on campus and does not need to be taken from school to go like he would in private school. This is the hardest decision I have to make in a long time. We want the best for him and will do anything to make sure he has the best education we can give and be a supportive parents to him. I realize no one is perfect but I hate to make the wrong decision.

LM does not do well with change. This is why it is so hard of a decision. He needs a school that goes K-8. Not many of those schools in our area. I am going to trust and put my faith that the right decision will be made and we can move on. LM is a fun bright person whom we love dearly and hope with help we can overcome this.

He Talks

LM is finally talking to his speech therapist and his teachers. It has been a long process but he finally decided talking to others is not so bad. He was slow to talk to us but that only lasted a couple of weeks. He held out for 14 months for his preschool and preK teachers. I was crying when I found out what he was clearly talking about in school. Since we are near Thanksgiving, they are talking about families and the holidays. He drew a family picture with things we do as a family. They have each child talk about what they drew. I figured he would just stand there saying very little like he usually does but I guess he was loud clear and distinct in telling everyone about his family. Not his favorite toy and not favorite things it was his family. What a special little boy we have! We are blessed and thankful for him everyday. We have had our struggles but this little boy loves his family and we love him back.

National Adoption Month

Natural Child: Any child who is not artificial.
Real Parent: Any parent who is not imaginary.
Your Own Child: Any child who is not someone else's child.
Adopted Child: A natural child with a real parent who is my own child.
November is National Adoption Month but our family is blessed by adoption every month! (Borrowed from Beth Gore and P. J. Wolfarth.)



Things to think about:



Every 15 SECONDS, another child becomes an AIDS orphan in Africa



Every DAY 5,760 more children become orphans



Every YEAR 2,102,400 more children become orphans (in Africa alone)



143,000,000 Orphans in the world today spend an average of 10 years in an orphanage or foster home



Approximately 250,000 children are adopted annually, but…



Every YEAR 14,050,000 children still grow up as orphans and AGE OUT of the system



Every DAY 38,493 children AGE OUT



Every 2.2 SECONDS, another orphan child AGES OUT with no family to belong to and no place to call home



I really never thought about the stats on orphans until I was blessed to call one my son. I always knew we would adopt a little one. It is hard to believe that 3 years ago our lives would change. DH said yes to bring LM into our family. The following is some scripture about orphans and openig our hearts:



"Once our eyes are opened, we cannot pretend we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know, and holds us responsible to act." Proverbs 24:12



"I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you."
John 14:18



"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
James 1:27

One Year Post & First Day Of School

July 13th 2010 came and went by fast. We were on a houseboat trip on Lake Powell. LM really liked the houseboat. He cried going on and cried going off. He really open up on this trip. I do not think he even had any thought on it being his anniversary day with our family. He was having a trip and he was having fun. Even about two months later he is still building houseboat out of his legos. It seemed like he was waiting for his one year anniv. to open up. He talks constantly ever since. Even on our other vacation trip he opened up to all the family members. Will add picture once I get a chance to download them. Having the kids for the summer was hard work and now need to get back to organizing house again.

Today was the first day of PreK for LM. He went in crying and screaming. Hopefully it will be like the houseboat trip and he will be talking to the teacher in no time. He did not talk to his preschool teacher so I am hopeful he has decided to talk to these teachers. I asked for one I knew he was familiar with. Time will tell. He does not do well at first with change. But once he is comfortable he will relax. This is a lot of new things which makes it hard. New teachers, new classroom, new playground, new toys and some new kids. I will know once I pick him up tonight.

Interesting Comments

DH has been getting a lot of comments lately while taking our son out. Once he went to get his hair cut with both kids and the barber asked when did he get rid the first wife and get an Asian one.

The last one that I really find interesting was when he was in line at Disney California Adventure. I had the DD at another ride and he was at Monsters Inc. A lady in line asked him what ethnic background was his wife. DH answered German/Danish decent and yes he is adopted.

It is somewhat nice they think DS is his bio son but I think it will be hard on him as he gets older. Maybe I am taking this out of context but he can't talk for himself now and I see he reacts to it when DH retell me about these comments.