Saturday, June 10, 2017

“Every moment is a chance to start anew, a chance to turn it all around.” ~ Matthew Kelly”

The Medical Is Done…

Welcome Back,

It is such a joy to be on this adventure and meet so many like-minded families. I have spent hours today talking with other adoptive families and it is such a blessing. So many lives are being changed…heart surgeries, blind kids, deaf kids…so many of God’s children getting blessed by people stepping forward to be there for them when they needed someone to be able to do that for them. I wish everyone could see the lives that are changing in front of my eyes, not just in our own kids, but in the kids I see just a week after they have a family. You can tell the difference literally in days when you look at their faces. There are six families here with Great Wall China Adoption this week and a number of families from different agencies as well.

Our day started after a night that was too short with a great breakfast. I remembered that the breakfast was impressive and I was right. Then it was off to the medical appointments. That went pretty well except for the ENT doctor. Clearly he had never seen a cochlear implant before and he had no idea what it did, how it was implanted, and how it worked. I had to clench my jaw and sit on my hands at one point to keep my “stoic” face on. I tried several times to explain what it was when he asked, but he was determined to see it…which you can’t because it is medically implanted. You can’t pull the skin off!!! And please don’t start changing all the buttons and adjustments on it! I so hope it was child protected by the people who programmed it so he didn’t mess up Lucas’s hearing. It’s a good thing we already have him scheduled with Kami for it to be adjusted/replaced right after we get home. Add that Lucas doesn’t talk until he feels safe (not even when I encouraged him too) and the doctors decided the implant wasn’t working…more saga…and on and on it went. Finally one of the nurses clued in that Lucas was following their verbal directions and that must mean he could hear and just wasn’t talking. I suspect his official file says he doesn’t talk, but I don’t care. It’s done and he does talk and we know it. When it was all done, I had Kelly (our guide) explain to him that it was a required part of the adoption process and that we had to do what they said. He kept giving me looks…like why, save me, can we stop this, etc…and I could do nothing. HATE THAT!

When the medicals were over, the bus stopped at the grocery store so we all could grab the heavy groceries like cases of water. The store is pretty close, but packing cases of water is rough. Since you can’t drink any of the water, buying water is necessary when you are living in a hotel. We dropped off our groceries, then Kelly took us to a popular noodle house. It was good, but honestly, I’m ready to just eat something simple like rice and meat. Tonight will be fruit and noodles in our room for dinner.

Speaking of our room, we have been very blessed this trip in terms of rooms. The room here is clean just like the room in Hangzhou which is a HUGE blessing. We have had different experiences in the past and I am happy to not be worried about it. Another blessing is the design of the room which has a bathroom and bedroom along with a sitting room area where the extra cot was put. Basically the boys have a bedroom and I sleep in the living room which works out well. The computer light doesn’t keep the boys awake and I can relax with a book before bed like I do at home. The boys definitely need more sleep than I do and it is starting the process of adjustment to the home routine. A winning situation all the way around!

After lunch we explored the hotel and checked out the pool and exercise room. We didn’t get to use them last time as it was raining the entire time we were here. The boys had a blast in the pool while I hung out taking pictures. Lucas was pretty afraid of the water at first, but that didn’t last too long. Like Amalie so many years ago, he went from afraid to loving it in about 10 minutes. We bought a floating ring to ease Lucas’s transition and to make it easier on Jonathan. It was a success. Jonathan was pretty surprised that you had to teach things like how to stand in water, but he quickly got the hang of being the teacher and off they merrily went. Lots of laughter…the very best sound! It was easy to tell that Lucas was happy as he chattered away at Jonathan. Of course, he had to take his implant off in the water so he couldn’t hear Jonathan, but he was talking to him clearly and easily…in Chinese. Next step…English so we can all understand him.

Full Of Joy,
Brandy, Jonathan & Lucas

P.S. I decided to put Lucas on home rules for electronics tonight...30 minute limit. It's amazing what kids will do when they are "bored" and need to find something to do. Out came his English workbooks that mom brought and 30 minutes later he was doing & saying same, one, two, three, four, five and explored some color words, together and different. Saying the word three brought many giggles...that sticking out your tongue thing is just too silly. Then we added five and had to plug his nose so the "v" would not come out it...super giggle attack. He's very smart and teachable!