What a BIG Surprise!!

If you had told me yesterday morning that by evening Hosea AND Antonia were going to have their cleft lips repaired I would have laughed in your face. It is just amazing how life goes.

I have been trying to get Hosea's lip repaired for more than five months. He missed three foreign missions because he got sick. I have been fighting his infections for months now. He seemed to be okay and then he would land up in the hospital again. I had seen a highly recommended local plastic surgeon three times and he said to wait. Hosea was released from the hospital last week and was on some serious antibiotics. I thought this was a good time to try again. So we made an appointment to see Dr Lu yesterday and try and arrange a time. I thought I should send another baby so he can also start on the seven that we have ready for surgery. Well, Mickey (my assistant) called and said Hosea, Antonia and Tim had to fast and that they needed a blood test. No big deal. Well, when she gets home, she tells that they are fasting to do surgery. I could not have been more shocked, I thought I misunderstood her. Sure enough, after the blood tests were done, the surgery was scheduled for last night. Tim was not healthy enough and so he came home. They went to the hospital at 5pm and Antonia was up first at 7pm and at 9pm Hosea had his turn. I really like Dr Lu's style. The other surgeons want them in hospital for two weeks, but this is going to 5 days only.

I have a very special place in my heart for surgeons who repair cleft lips and palates. I got to watch Dr Lisa Buckmiller in action once and I was speechless. (She even asked me during the surgery why I was so quiet). I am so in awe of the skills that it takes to give a child a new face as I watched her, I coveted that skill. Forget about the years of medical school it took to get there and all the years of practice. On a daily basis I live with the wonder work that cleft surgeons do and I see the amazing results. How grateful I am to have a part to play. I might not be doing surgery, but I will leave that to the professionals and continue to greatly admire them.

A day later.........and I have been to visit the two of them in the hospital and briefly saw Antonia's lip with out the bandages. I had never had a lip surgery with a Chinese doctor and so I was not prepared for the all the bandages. The both looked like they had been in a car accident. They will in the hospital for another 3 days. We had a nurse visit from Chicago and she brought us a special syringe with a feeding tube and it made a HUGE difference to the feeding. The nurses and doctors were very impressed. Thank you Donna!!!! To add insult to injury I had to shave Antonia's head. The nurses were complaining because they could not do IV's. In truth, I loved her bald head.

I cannot wait to see what is happening under those bandages.

Life, Love and Laughter,
Amanda