No date yet...

Please pray that we will be issued an appointment date tomorrow! The country just started issuing dates for this year since their holiday close down. Three families of our group got appointments today and they are hoping the other families will get ones tomorrow. Please pray we do. Although this adoption has been very quick in some ways, it's been brutal on our emotions. We really want to get started on this part of the process, we've had our paperwork done since January & now it's been a full two months of waiting....hard on us but even harder on the children. They need their family.

So please pray for this for us! Thank you!!!!!

Peter's Anomaly- an explaination

I see I got lots of hits on my post about Peter's Anomaly so I wanted to add some more info.

As you know my son has Peter's. Peter's Anomaly is a condition that children are born with. Basically their corneas (the covering of the eye, the windshield of the eye) is cloudy. There are various degrees of cloudiness. Sam was born with very cloudy corneas but they were not real thick.

It is genetic chromosomal in many cases. In some cases, it seems to be just a random thing. Currently the University of Wisconsin is doing FREE research into PA. please contact me if you'd like the info.

Our son has been in the research study for about a year and they have yet to find the marker for PA in his DNA. Because he totally presents with PA as well as Peter's Plus Syndrome, all are convinced that there is a marker in him that maybe different than with other people.

Some kids are born with both eyes affected like Sam and then it is call bi-lateral PA. Some are born with just one eye affected and it's called uni-lateral PA.

Many times the child with present with one or both eyes smaller than normal. This is called Microphthalmia. Both of Sam's eyes are smaller than normal with his left eye being much smaller than normal.

Anophthalmia is when one or both eyes did not develop. We've met some children who have had that condition.

Another part of Peter's is the frequency that the child develops glaucoma. Sam's has been kept in check by eye drops but it something that can happen to a child even if the child is never treated (for example with a transplant or implant)

Treatments...

Some families do nothing....I will not even get into my ideas on that!!!

Our plan was to treat aggressively and we did from day one.

When Sam was just 8 weeks old (only 2 weeks after his real due date) he had his right cornea transplanted. Then a few months later, he had his left eye done. The left eye began rejection within 6 weeks and we fought it for months with extra eye drops & frequent trips to Miami for him to be put under and received steroid shots directly into the eye itself. Nothing worked and we just left it alone for awhile.

By the time he was three his right eye had totally rejected, turning just as cloudy as it was when he was born.

Then our doctors told us about corneal IMPLANTS! Made from thin plastic, the implant is not rejected! So we took Sam to Dr Aquevella in Rochester NY for the procedure in August 2007 and now going on FIVE years, his eye is clear & he ia doing great.

He will never have 20/20 sight but his sight is functional and he plays, watched tv, walks without much assitance, runs in places he is familiar with. The implant was the best thing we ever did!!!!!!!

So if you are reading this and you have a child with PA, feel free to contact me. We did both procedures and I can promise you the implant is so much better than the transplants. I'm so thankful for the technology and of Dr A's skill ( and he is the most kindest man in the world!!)

I know I've made this so simple without a lot of detail but I see my one other post about PA gets so many hits, I felt I needed to explain a bit more.

BTW, we feel that Sarah the little girl we are adopting has PA and Dr A will be seeing her this summer and he is hopeful to be able to help her. We also felt that Seth has PA and Dr A was willing to try to help him also. His case looks more complicated but we have friends who adopted a little girl from China whose eyes looked just like Seth's and Dr A was able to operate and give her some sight!!! We've passed on all of Dr A's info to this family and hope that he will get seen by Dr A!

Again the picture above is Before and after Sam's implant surgery...WOW what a difference for him!!

Bittersweet news

Another family adopted Seth. We had known about it for weeks but waited to see what would happen before we posted about it. In our children's country , a child is not held for a family, as families sometimes back out at the last moment and then the child has wasted months being held and has less of a chance for adoption. This is hard for adoptive parents but it really is in the child's best interest. So until you are in country after your appointment, is really the only time you can truly know that child is saved for you.

So while it was very sad for us, our family cried together because we love him and had imagined how it would be to have him in our family. But we rest in the assurance that god is in control of this situation. We pray for him and his family the very best.

Medically he is very fragile and perhaps he needed a family to be there quicker than we could come (still waiting on our travel date any day now) They have been there for some weeks giving him attention and love.

In the big scheme of things, isn't it wonderful that he has two families that loved him enough to do a paper chase and go halfway around the world to get him! God NEVER forgot Seth and has provided for him!!!!!!


So what about us? We are expecting our travel date any day and we can't wait to go and get Sarah! We were given some info on another little girl....TWO girls???? What a change for us! We are seriously considering this second girl who we will name Selah Johannah if she becomes our daughter

God has given us a peace about the whole situation. He is the One who led us to adopt and we are just walking in the path He has for us! We were heartbroken at first. the day I found out, I cried so much that my eyes were swollen the next day but in my heart I had such a peace. Believe me that did not come from me! But we've had some time to adjust to the whole thing

So please keep us in prayer that God will order our steps and pray for Seth that God is with them in their travels and gives him the most wonderful happy life! He deserves much happiness and love and we just pray he gets a ton of it:)

Also pray that we will know if we are to add this second girl to our family and that the path is clear. Pray for their health and their hearts that they are prepared for us. thank you all!

Update on waiting...

Still waiting....got a message that the country won't issue invites till March 1st next Thursday, hopefully we will plan on traveling March 12th or so if we get an appointment for March 15th which is the first day appointments will be given out for. Please keep praying for us that we will go as soon as possible! I've never had to wait on a chld before...my biological kids were both premature and our son from China came a month earlier than expected so this is new for me...LOL but not easy because the stakes are so high!!!!!

I actually found BOOTS for the children (including Sam) in Florida and they were on clearance. Sam is not a shoe wearer so it was FUNNY to watch him high stepping trying to get them off. He was not amused...we were! He HATES shoes/socks & hats! The only good thing with the wait is it won't be as cold. A few days ago we checked on their town, 19 degrees and snowing....YIKES! We are Florida people and not too used to that! We are more shorts and flip flops!

So the room is finished, the kids' bag is packed...house and yard are done...just waiting....Say a prayer that the wait won't be long and that all is well!!!!

Still waiting....

We are still waiting on "the call" to come. Every time the phone rings, I jump up to check it! Our yard & house are done, their room is done...we are ready to leave to go get them!

PLEASE continue to pray for favor in all areas, all details to work out, safe travels for us ( I hate to fly!) Pray that the children are healthy & safe. I think we will be working with a great facilitator and I feel that we will have an easy time with the paperwork and the people we deal with at the institution. I'm not a real positive person so I think the peace I feel has to be from the Lord:) We realize it is not going to ba a short process or without stress BUT we just want to get started!

We know that we are following God's leading, things might not work out exactly as we had thought they would BUT God is in control of our lives and this adoption. He gave us the marching orders and we are just following Him...

Pray for us and the children....

thank you!

Comments...

I've looked back over the comments section and realized I've missed quite a few...I just want to thank you all for ALL the uplifting messages. They touched my heart tonight...I went back to the very beginning of this journey and read all the kind words of encouragement. thank you again!

Can I ask all of you to pray...pray for our adoption, pray for FAVOR from the hand of the Lord, pray that nothing stands in our way and that God's will is done.

We are close but there are many more steps to complete. You have no idea how much we appreciate your prayers! One day I may share more of this journey....it's been quite an experience:)

Thank you again for your prayers and know that they are needed and appreciated!

8 yr old miracle:)

Today is Sam's 8 year old birthday! My mind goes back to the day he was born, after a short eventful pregnancy. Our doctor felt he needed to be delivered although he wasn't quite 32 weeks because the amniotic fluid was low & he was at risk of lying on his cord & killing himself. Since he was breech, they scheduled me for a c-section and gave me a few steroid shots to help his lung develop. So I laid there and watched him be born (don't' worry the only thing I was looking at was his cute butt popping out!) Let me tell you a planned c-section is the way to go! so easy, I was up in no time and not really too uncomfortable. Much easier than my "natural birth" with our first son!


Of course most of you have read the story about how I noticed his eyes the next morning & had to fight to get medical attention for them although he was in the NICU! (and no I wasn't very nice but unfortunately right!) I knew he was blind the first time I looked into his eyes....

We were devastated! Who thinks about having a blind child???? That wasn't on my list of worries at all!!! The emotions we felt were overwhelming....

But through it all, somehow the peace of God sustained us, I can't explain it but when I look back on those days, it's not with a sense of sorrow, it's with a feeling of comfort... I determined while he was in the hospital I was NOT going to get bitter about the hand that life dealt us and I was going to trust God!

We adored him so much, were at the hospital all day every day & were so glad to bring him home although he came home with machines! We began the (now over 40 surgeries & procedures) that have given him a measure of sight in one eye. And we just loved him. Honestly because he was blind, it just made him that much more precious to us.

So now EIGHT years later, we have this wonderful precious little boy (and yes he is little- the size of a 2 1/2 yr old but chunky) that we still adore. He has taken us on some real adventures physically, spiritually & emotionally. We've met people that we would have never met , if we didn't have Sam! We've experienced many things & plenty of trips (NY doctor trips/vacations) that we would have never experienced if we didn't' have Sam. Spiritually having him, has taken us to a place of surrender that we've probably would never have gone on our own... I'm amazed by families who adopt children with special needs who do not have their own special (SN) child! I personally would have never had the guts otherwise...but having Sam takes the fear out and shows us the joy that is there in a life that may not be "perfect' in the eyes of the world but is in God's eyes and our eyes' too!

So just by his life, it encouraged us to adopt Shad! And now we are adopting two more children with similar special needs as Sam. We read their diagnosis and it reads as Sam's would probably if he were in their situation. It's rather bleak, they are blind with cognitive delays....but so is Sam and he is the light of my life:) We feel privileged that God would allow us to have a son like Sam. I know that may seem hard for some people to understand, I probably wouldn't have understood it 10 years ago...but it is so true! Having Sam has shown us what is truly important in life and what's not... Isn't' that a wonderful thing? So what is important PEOPLE! Not things or degrees or titles but people! Guess what? A person is important even if they don't have a 150 IQ score...Sam's score is extremely low and he has had every advantage a child with disabilities could have & it's not really helped much but that so does NOT matter!!! He matters, his heart, his love...I wish I could fully share my heart but it is so hard to put it in words. I just love my baby and love having him in my life:) There are days when the thought just washes over me, how blessed I truly am....