Pray for Ukraine and Jonathan Medical/Surgery Update

Please pray fervently for Ukraine! Tomorrow (Sunday) Crimea is voting on whether or not to become part of Russia.The ramifications of this are huge of course...Mama Tanya and Papa Igor are on my heart...praying for them...praying for Kostya S, our friend and Summer's son-in-law that we met a few months ago in Ukraine - he still lives in Crimea....and of course for the orphans in Crimea - remember Russia has banned adoptions to the USA - what could this mean for the babes that are still in Elijah's old orphanage or in the institutions??? American missionaries in Crimea? The world-wide political ramifications are huge as well of course.

Please pray for the unity and peace of Ukraine!!!!



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For quite awhile I've been meaning to do a medical update on each of our adopted children. I just haven't taken the time. Elijah and Grace are both doing well. Elijah recovered well from his surgery <2 :-="" absent="" ago="" an="" and="" certain="" chubbin="" cure="" doing="" foods.="" gagging="" great="" have="" he="" hear="" his="" i="" is="" men="" months="" most="" nbsp="" nicely.="" of="" on="" p="" puking="" quite="" race="" s="" seemed="" to="" tonsils="" up="">
Sometimes when you adopt, you think the babies will be the easy ones. Ha!  Jonathan came home a week before his 1st birthday.  While his attachment issues seem to have been a non-issue, his oral sensory/feeding issues have not been.  I know it could be SO much worse, but feeding issues can be all-consuming at times and very frustrating.  Both of the boys started seeing an AWESOME feeding/speech therapist, Sally, last fall.  I learned more from her in their 2 hour eval than I did in 2 years of Birth-3 therapy. It's a 70 mile round trip drive but SOOO worth it.  Grace has started seeing her now too, and I was amazed at how well she got Grace to cooperate and try to mimic sounds.

Anyway, back to Jonathan.  The "Chunky Monkey" is no longer "chunky". He has lost 7+ pounds since late last fall.  Thankfully, he had extra to lose but it is just so wrong to see his ribs and skinny thighs. :-( (His cheeks still look chubby due to his low muscle tone in his face.) He also has increased his "poking" he does on his throat. His teachers at school have seen the increase as well. He's been doing this for almost 2 years, but it is now always on his left side of his neck in the same place.  He had a video swallow study done a few weeks ago, and it was normal. Sally thought it was his tonsils and adenoids as he also does this weird thing with his mouth too.  So, off to the ENT we went. (Oh yes, we are very frequent visitors to our local ENT...)  Jonathan even "cooperated" and did his throat-poking thing in front of the ENT. He thought it was tonsils too. The Dr even managed a look at his throat and his tonsils were stage 3+ out of 4. (The weight loss can be from tonsils/adenoids issues.)

Soooo, Monday, our dear little "Skinny Monkey" will follow his big brother in having his tonsils/adenoids removed, and maybe an ear tube or two just for fun. (The ENT, Dr. P, will look at his ears while under sedation and see what he needs. His left ear canal has always been too narrow to place a tube, so we'll see if he's grown at all.)  Do you think the surgery center will give us a discount for frequent visits?  LOL

So, please pray for Jonathan on Monday if you think of him.  Specifically, please pray for his desire to drink after surgery. He often resists drinking anyway, and can be so so so stubborn when he doesn't want to.  Also, please pray for his weight to come back on after surgery as well. He really is just too thin right now.  I'm also hoping and praying this will lead to a breakthrough in his desire to eat, try new, textured foods and self-feed.  Oh, that would be miraculous! It'd be nice to not stay in the night in the hospital too.

Thank you so much!

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So, when is Round 3 coming???  Oh yes, our dear little Grace. I've heard her pauses while sleeping. I've only seen her tonsils a few times - mostly when she is upside down being tickled. While that may not be the most accurate way to assess tonsils, the fact they were touching, yes touching, was a bit concerning. It's also a bit concerning to think about going through this all with her. She might need the "sleepy juice" when we walk in the door. (She flipped out at the chiropractor yesterday. I know, he's so scary.) Poor girl though....I can't help but think what her medical experiences were like at the institution...I know she had a ton of chest x-rays as they gave them to us. Beyond that...no idea. So sad...