Monday,
December 10, 2007
Wow I can’t believe we have been home for a week and a half
already. Tammy is adjusting unbelievably well. She loves to go
outside. She loves being in the car. She is now able to scoot
around in a circle on the floor and just learned to scoot
herself backwards yesterday. She likes to take baths in the
sink. She really loves her siblings. Not surprising she still
loves her signing time DVD(I can’t believe it hasn’t worn out
yet) . She has the funniest personality. She cracks herself up A
LOT!! We are so blessed to have her in our family.
Tammy LOVES to look at the pretty girl in the mirror. I am
hoping she will love her new face after surgery as much as she
loves her beautiful face now!!
Tammy went to Children’s Hospital of Seattle on December 3. She
saw 7 specialists and a nutritionist. We found out that her
cleft is very wide. Which they told us on a scale of 1-10 (10
being the most severe) Tammy’s is a 9. She may require a few
more surgeries. But the great news is she has a fixable
condition. YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Her first surgery will be in 4-6
weeks to close her lip, fix her nose. Three months later she
will have surgery on her hard palate and also have tubes put in
her ears. When she is about 8 years old she will have a piece of
her hip bone transplanted to her gum line. That is what we know
so far. There may be more things as we go along but for now that
is the plan. Please, Please keep Tammy in your prayers for
successful treatments and surgeries.
In an effort to get Tammy’s nutrition stabilized before surgery
the nutritionist changed Tammy’s formula and advised us to start
introducing her to stage one foods. Let me tell you, she is not
impressed with any of the food. She loves her new formula (Pediasure,
vanilla flavored). She drinks this like we own stock in it. At
$15.00 for 6 bottles I wish we did own stock in this. She can
polish a six pack in two days easy.
Tammy also decided she does not like her crib. She likes to
sleep in the MIDDLE of mom and dad. Mom lays straight hanging on
to the left side edge of the bed, Dad lays straight hanging on
to the right side edge of the bed, and little 19 pound Tammy
sleeps completely sideways taking up the entire middle of the
bed. We form an H on the bed.
Monica and I (Judy) are involved with a service club at school
called Hope Club (Helping Others by Providing Essentials) which
is run by a wonderful teacher, Mrs. Phillip. Every year the Hope
Club volunteers to help the Coast Guard stuff stockings for the
homeless. It is a 2 day project, 4hrs per day. They were short
drivers to get the girls down to Seattle where they volunteer so
I packed up Tammy and we volunteered to help. I could not
believe how much Tammy enjoyed going and being around all the
people. She is such an engaging little girl. She is like a
magnet to everyone. She actually got a certificate in her name
for 8 service hours of community service…How Funny!!!
Thank you to everyone who has followed our website and shared in
our experience. When we decided to sign up for this website our
intentions were to give our family a way to follow our journey
while in China then have a CD created to give to Tammy when she
is older. We have been very surprised at just how many people
have been following along and offering their words of support.
Thank you all very much!
We will post our next update after Tammy’s first surgery in
January. Best wishes to you all during this holiday season.
Gold Bless,
James, Judy & Family :)
|
Welcome Home Tammy!
Daddy taught her this face
Having fun with big bro Ty
Our Happy Girl
Showing sis my finger tricks
Sleepin' with my sis Maree |
