We have made it home from the Hospital

We made it back to Port au Prince from Les Cayes last night. Jaryse's surgery was last Monday morning and he did really well! I am so proud of him!!! The above picture is Jaryse with the Doctor who did the surgery who was amazing! Of course, who would expect anything less, he is a Spartan you know!!!!! Jaryse got to look at the operating room and where the surgical cap before getting his anesthesia!
These kitties were downstairs in the hospital outside the operating room and Jaryse said to the doctor "well, look at these kitties in this hospital!!!!!" It was almost like he knew that kitties didn't really belong in hospitals!!!! LOL!!!! Well, in Haiti, anything goes, and the kitties are welcomed to eat the rats and mice!
Jaryse was given the anestesia, and taken into surgery. He was in surgery for over 2 hours!!!!! I think the hardest part for him was not eating breakfast, the hardest part for me was hearing him cry when given the shot and when he was waking up. It is heartbreaking to hear your baby cry and not be able to take the pain away!
Ecrissa was more than an Angel!!!! I am SSSSSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO proud of her!!!! She did not give me one problem the entire day at the hospital or at the guesthouse the rest of the week for the most part. She was such a good big sister!!! On Monday, we were at the hospital from 7 am until after 6pm that night! When Jaryse came out of surgery, I used sign to tell her that Jaryse was sick and showed her where he was hurt. She immediately understood and when the doctor came to check on Jaryse, she started pointing towards the OR, to the doctor, to Jaryse, and doing the hurt sign! It was pretty obvious that she was telling him that he hurt Jaryse in that room down there!!!!!!!!

When Jaryse began waking up, I had his head laying on my lap and he looked up at me and said "Momma!" and I answered yes, the then said "where is Ecrissa???" I showed him that she was right there and then he told me, "there is something in my belly that hurts". I had to agree with him, I am sure that it did hurt!!!!

Being in the Haitian hosptial was quite the experience! I have decided that I was either a freak in some sort of freak show or had celebrity status because people were constantly starting at me. People would not stare from afar either, they would walk right up to me and stare right at me. I would say "bon jou" and they'd just keep staring at me and my kids. At one point, I had about 15 people circled around our bed staring at us. I understand that out in the provinces, people are not used to seeing white people, and much less used to seeing a white person caring for Haitian children. So, I guess I was a little strange!!! But, when one guy took a picture of me with his cell phone, I decided to just embrace celebrity status!!!!! lol

For any of you that know my son, you would be amazed at how much he slept, how quiet he was, and how little he moved this past week!!!!!! I know that I am amazed!!!!! He has stayed in bed most of the week, but slowly began sitting up more and playing in bed more! He has stood a couple of times, but is not yet walking. The doctor says that it's fine. He had to close up some pretty big holes and it's not unusual for it to take a while before feeling better!!!
But, by the end of the week, my little ladies man was taking care of business from his bed making us all smile and being his jovial little self! Thank you for all of your love and support and prayers! They are much appreciated!!!!!

Quick post before rushing off to Aux Cayes

We returned this morning from Jacmel after attending the funeral and the burial of 3 year old Jabez. I have to say, this was the most heartbreaking thing I have every been a part of. My heart breaks over and over and over for his parents, my friends Danny and Leanne. I just cannot imagine what they feel. I am just broken all over for this family.

We leave in the morning to travel to Aux Cayes so that Jaryse can have his hernia's repaired. I have never been to Aux Cayes and I have no idea what sorts of accomodations are awaiting me there! I will post an update if there is internet service, but otherwise, I will post one when we return to Port au Prince on Saturday.

Please keep Danny and Leanne and their family in your prayers as this difficult time continues for them. Please also pray for Jaryse's safety throughout his surgery on Monday. Thank you so much for your support and love and prayers.

Haiti's Dichotomy

Well, this is the beautiful view of the Caribbean Ocean from our hotel room in Jacmel this weekend. As I looked out the window I felt the need to video it, and I just felt like it is such a dichotomy. Here is one of the most beautiful views that I have ever seen, but behind me in the little straw or cement hut, is a family with nothing. A family that is starving or someone is sick or hurting with no where to turn. Yet, this country is full of potential that is hindered by so many cultural beliefs and so many corrupt officials. I pray for this country.

Now today, as I look at this video, I want to cry. I returned home from my trip to Jacmel Sunday night, on Tuesday afternoon, I got a call from my friends in Jacmel, and they informed me that the little boy that I had just done therapy on had passed away. Jabez was 3 years old with Cerebral Palsy. He was a joy and I am going to miss his little smile so much. Jabez, I know you are running around in Heaven with Jesus, doing all the things that you couldn't do here, but please know that we miss you here.

Therapy update!

I realized the other day as I was scrolling through my blog, that i haven't updated my blog on the kids that I do therapy with! Sorry about that!!! I have posted some pictures of Ashley, in fact, these pictures were taken at her home. She and her family have been struggling with illnesses and coming to my place has been difficult for her. I took a step of faith and went to her home. She lives in an abandoned and partially finished cement structure. It's not really a house, it's a couple of rooms with a floor that is not fully finished. Right in front of the "entrance" is a HUGE hole that is a cistern with no cover. It's a bit dangerous!!!!

Anyway, we had a wonderful session at her house and she was very happy to see me there! She is making slow improvements with increased control over her hands and arms. Unfortunately, our consistency in seeing each other has not been very good the past couple of months, I am hoping now that school is out for me, I can make more of an effort to get to her instead of her trying to get to me.
Benjamin has also been struggling the past 3 weeks with the chicken pox. Well, 1 week he had them and then these last 2 weeks has just been the after effects. I saw him yesterday and he was cranky, cranky, cranky!!!!! Poor thing!!!!! He seems to be growing and his tone is increasing with that growth. He is also using his right arm and hand more and more and is sitting a little better each time I go (with the exception of yesterday, as he didn't want to do anything!).

I am heading to Jacmel Thursday and will see both Jabez and Natalie. I hear that Natalie is showing signs of improvements all the time! I am excited to see her this weekend!

Yesterday I did an evaluation on a 17 month old little boy who was abandoned to an orphanage in the mountains only 2 or 3 months ago. The director was concerned as he is developmentally delayed and wanted my opinion. Yes, he's delayed, but the poor thing only weighs 14 pounds and is severely anemic and is being treated for intestinal worms. Soooooo, I think that once he gets rid of the worms that are eating all of his food and he recovers from the horrible malnourishment that he's been suffering, we will see some amazing development occur!!! She was thrilled to hear that there wasn't any other issue (such as CP or something) and I'll be checking in on the little guy in about a month to be sure that he is making progress. I have an appointment to meet with them again in early July.

Well, there's a bit of an update on the little ones that I treat here in Haiti! Please keep these children in your prayers as they fight illnesses and fight to overcome their handicaps! Also, pray for a safe trip to Jacmel for us this weekend! luvs!!!!!

School is over for the summer!

We finished our last day of school Wed. and Wow, I had no idea how busy the last 2 weeks of school could be! Welcome to school age kids I guess!!!!!! I feel so blessed that Ecrissa was able to attend Quisqueya Christian School this year and I feel even more blessed that she had the teacher she did. Mrs. De Blaeij really worked hard at learning sign language and making sure that Ecrissa learned all that she could this school year. I am amazed at how much was accomplished this school year!!! Thank you Mrs. De Blaeij and QCS!!!!

The pictures in this post are of the play "The Little Red Hen" that the Pre-K and Kindergarten classes did together last week. They were so cute!!!! Although Ecrissa was a little lost during the practices and such because she can't hear what is going on , as soon as the chapel filled with parents and spectators for the performance, she knew right away that she was performing. Some of the songs have some hand motions and such, and as soon as the play started, She began doing every motion she could think of!!!! It cracked me up! She was ready to perform!!!!



The summer is going to be filled with mostly me spending time with Ecrissa and Jaryse working on sign language skills and making sure that Ecrissa doesn't fall behind academically. She continues to be behind her peers (which is expected) so i need to spend time "home-schooling" her over the summer. I have lots of activities planned for her and Jaryse to continue to work on learning colors, counting, cutting, gluing, sign language, and whatever else 3-5 year olds are supposed to learn!!!! Please pray for me and my children as we continue to try to keep up academically over the summer!!!!

We are also planning a trip to Les Cayes during the week of June 22nd. There is an American Dr. from the state of Michigan (he graduated from Michigan State's med school so I know he's good!!!!) and he will be in Haiti that week and he'll be performing the hernia repair for Jaryse. Jaryse has bilateral inguinal hernia's and an umbilical hernia and all 3 will be surgically repaired on June 23rd. Les Cayes is in the southern part of Haiti and we'll be driving down there (not a quick easy drive, but I'm sure it'll be an adventure!). We look forward to having this operation behind us and please pray for Jaryse and Dr. TenHaaf as he operates not only on my son, but over 100 Haitian patients that week.

More soon to come!!!!
CK, E, and J!!