I thought August was going to be very busy with school starting, but August actually breezed by pretty well. September...that's a different story. It's been good, but very busy.
Sadie has had two doctor appointments in the last two weeks. First, we went to Atlanta to see a hand surgeon there. You may know my first two experiences with surgeons weren't great. I found this doctor from someone I share a yahoo group with who also had a daughter adopted with radial club hands. I LOVED this doctor! He spent 40 minutes with Sadie and I, explained things very well, answered many questions, and was wonderful. I got some new information on Sadie's hands and specifically her bones. Some of that information is "store away in your brain" kind of info - you might need it one day, but it doesn't affect anything now and doesn't necessarily require treatment for every single thing. But good to know and things neither of our previous doctors found. He's is going to do some surgery on her hands beginning in December. It looks like three surgeries, with the first being very minor and an outpatient surgery. I'll give more details later. I really thought and prayed long and hard whether to do any surgery to her hands other than remove her floating thumb on her right hand. I think she's perfect just the way she is and I know God thinks so too! But, I feel at peace with the decision to go ahead and think this will be best for HER in the long run for several reasons.
This past week, we visited the kidney doctor at Children's. I'm glad to say that everything there checked out great. The doctor we met with was very nice, had good information, and said her kidneys worked beautifully. He wants to follow her as she grows (every year or couple of years) just to make sure her kidney that's located in the pelvic region grows as she grows so that by the time she's an adult, it can do the work of an adult kidney. But, he doesn't forsee any difficulties. He said go about our lives and just check in with him from time to time.
What else has been going on? I've been working like a crazy person at school preparing things for the next step of working on my National Board Certification. I joined a Bible Study on Wednesday nights which will be the first group I've had since I adopted Hannah. I'm very excited about that, and I figure if the girls get in bed a little late one night a week it will be okay. They love playing in the nursery there and I have missed being a part of a group at church. I will also say that while my intentions are good to read God's Word, I have realized that I do a lousy job of studying if I don't have a group holding me accountable and some kind of structure to what I'm doing.
On the "just for fun" side of things, tonight we met with several other local families to celebrate the Autumn Moon Festival (A chinese holiday). We met at a local park, had dinner, let the girls play, read a story about the moon festival, tasted chinese desserts (umm..duck yolk? Sadie liked it - I think she was the only one) and then paraded around the park in the dark with glow-necklaces and flashlights. Oh yeah, we glanced at the moon as we passed. At least the adults. I'm not sure any of the girls even looked up as they RAN around the park. They all had so much fun!
And on a different note, some of you may remember when I went to prison in March. Prison Ministry - really! Well, Kairos (the ministry I've been involved with) is holding another ministry weekend at Tutwiler Prison for Women next weekend (September 18-20). I am not directly involved this time, but I will be praying for the team, the women who will experience God's love and grace (some for the first time) and the logistics of the weekend. So actually, I AM directly involved, because that prayer support is important work. Will you please join me in praying for God's power and love to become real to the women that weekend? You can be involved too! Thanks!
