Medical Update

Well, we promised you updates, and now we finally have some things to share with everyone. We've had some good adjustments since we got home. Ruthie is learning English at light speed, and seems to understand a lot, even if she doesn't say a lot. She'll chime in with gibberish English at family meals, just so she can be a part of the conversation. It is pretty fun to hear her. It is also fun to hear yourself echoed back. We try to be very clear when talking to her, giving her clear commands, etc. But, when she talks to us or to the other kids, she gives those same commands ("look at me" or "don't touch") which just makes her sound bossy. We're working on that. 

Seth, too, has been progressing by leaps and bounds. We took him to the doctor, who was surprised that a baby this healthy looking had CP. He checked out as a healthy kid, even though he is behind on some milestones. But, we're hooked up with the early childhood intervention people, and they'll start some speech and motor therapy with him soon, so we're hoping that will help a lot. For now, we're just staying the course. It is incredible, though, because almost every day he learns a new skill or makes an advance. He is getting more mobile each day. He is really gaining personality, too, laughing a lot and crying loudly when we hurt his feelings. He has a fake cry and a real cry. Today, he refused to eat baby food, just wanting to eat what we were eating. He will mimic sounds that we make and actions we do. Having him is like having an infant in fast forward, working through all the new "tricks" so rapidly.

As to Ruthie, we were of course most anxious to get her to a doctor. We set up an appointment at Children's Hospital in Seattle at the beginning of this past week. The doctor saw her and right away wanted an MRI and a biopsy of her eye area. He felt sure there was cancer, it was just a matter of learning what type and how advanced.

So, they ran those tests and told us to plan for aggressive chemo and radiation. The oncologist even said he might consider stem cell transplants. Needless to say, we were discouraged. Of course we had been preparing our hearts for the worst, but hoping for the best. It was hard to hear that we might be facing the worst.

We got the MRI results, and there was indeed a mass behind her eye socket. So, they did a biopsy to investigate it. That meant two procedures in two days for Ruthie, and two bouts of anesthesia. Through it all she was a real trooper. We weren't quite so brave. We had a couple of sleepless nights, anxious to hear the full story. Throughout the adoption process, we really prayed repeatedly for God to just have His way with our family. The whole process defied logic, and we just wanted God to be at the center of it and for Him to use our family however He wanted. Still, praying that is one thing, but living the grim reality of it is something else all together.

Then came today. The oncologist called to cancel the appointment we had next week in order to discuss treatment options. That was a little confusing, but he said that after looking at the biopsy, it seems the mass behind her eye wasn't malignant. In fact, it wasn't even cancer! It turns out that it was something that formed when she was born, and it is not cancerous at all. Of course we were overwhelmed with this news, and are still stunned. Now, the biggest thing we have to deal with is an infection she got as a result of her biopsy. (The infection did land us an overnight stay in the hospital while they pumped her full of antibiotics). He canceled the appointment, because she is cancer free. What an amazing relief.

We'll continue to monitor her, of course, and we're working towards a prosthetic eye for her. For now, we are just so grateful to God for both our kids. We know that he has big plans for them, and for our family. Our prayer is simply that He would be glorified in our lives.

So for now, we're just watching this infection closely and celebrating what God is doing. Please pray for it to heal quickly for Ruthie. She looks pretty miserable. But we are so thankful she is ok.

News from the Homefront

Wanted to create a quick update now that we are home and getting settled in. First of all, thanks for all the encouraging comments we got both on the blog and in person. And, we really appreciate all your prayers for us, then and now.

Now that we are home, we are slowly beginning to settle in. During the daytime, things are going really well. Of course, it helps that almost everyone can sleep in late. 

Our biggest challenge at this point is at night. Both Seth and Ruthie are having trouble sleeping. Certainly they can't be blamed for having trouble, as indeed we are all having some trouble. We know it will just take some time, but being up until 3am with a cranky baby every night is tough. Seth has been very restless each night, and Ruthie has struggled to relax at night. Still, we know things could be a lot worse, so we're trying to keep a good perspective.

A lot of people have asked about their health. We were working to get them fully lined up on our health insurance before we left. While we were in China, we were told that they need to see proof of their immigration status before they could be on the insurance. Of course, we didn't have that until we arrived in the States, so we've now got that taken care of. Hopefully in a couple of weeks the kids will be fully lined up. Really, it is a blessing in disguise, perhaps, so that the kids have some good time to adjust before things get more difficult for them. Obviously, we're anxious to get them seen by specialists.

Not sure how frequently we'll be blogging from here on out, but we'll try to keep everyone updated on the big stuff. And, we'll try to get some more pics posted, too.

Landed in Portland...

...and Seth just used up his last diaper. So, all that is left is to make a quick pit stop and drive home!

Landed in Seattle

Had a long couple of flights, but we made it. America has two new citizens now.

In a couple of hours we'll fly to Portland and then drive home...

In Transit

We made it to Hong Kong. Too tired to blog and too cheap to pay for internet. :)

We're at the HK airport awaiting our flight to Tokyo. Continue to pray for us.