One More Surgery Down!

We are home and on the road to recovery. With each hurdle, I am so in awe of the resilience of these boys.  Trigg did good. It was hard keeping a 3 year year old occupied for a couple days in a hospital bed, but now it's just water under the bridge.  

One of the hard parts for me is leaving all those sick little ones behind, and moving on.  I hate thinking of them struggling.  I walk by the rooms and can't help but think, "You should be in school," or "You should be crawling around on a floor playing with blocks."  Instead they are laying in beds or wheeling around in a wagon.  Trigg was about to go crazy after 2 days and some of these kids have been there a month or more. 

We have to move forward, we have to focus on our children and where they are in their lives.  But we also have to remember these kids in our prayers.  No child should have to go through surgeries, hospital stays and debilitating illnesses.  No child.  

We will all be whole again, for that I am grateful.

Trigg's Cord Release

It was discovered in an MRI that Trigg has a tethered cord in his spine.  We also learned he has an extra vertebrae.  Today he is having the cord released in a surgical procedure here at Children's Hospital.  Bless his heart as he undergoes surgery #5.  They raised the concern yesterday, Ivor will need to be checked for this as well.  I pray, oh I pray, that he does not have a tethered cord.

Surgeries are not fun.  It is so hard to bring them in feeling perfectly normal and healthy, knowing that is all about to change.  In a child who has suffered trauma and loss it is even more difficult.  It is more challenging to gain their trust, and once you do, it is scary to risk losing it, again.  

With all that said, I am glad we caught it. I am glad Trigg is in a country where we can fix it, and improve his quality of life.  I am grateful God chose us to come along side him in healing and helping this sweet boy.

Finding Nemo

Ivor snuggling Nemo during nap

Ivor's life started in a Ch*nese Welfare Institution.  When he was 9 weeks old, he was "rescued" by Love Without Boundaries, and whisked away to be reunited with his identical twin. He spent the next 16 months there, where the care was far better, and he was nursed back to life.  Love Without Boundaries was a safe place for our sons.

Fast forward to November, 2013…

We were in the Disney Store in the mall when Ivor found a stuffed "Nemo" fish.  He really wanted it, like desperately.  I said no, and the fits started.  He was beside himself, upset.  I was wishing I had just got it for him, but once I said no, I needed to stick to my guns.

As the holiday season continued, Ivor would get asked what he wanted for Christmas. His reply was "Nemo" every time. The strange thing to me was, he had never seen the movie, and Ivor is not a fan of reptiles, spiders or fish. AT ALL.

Hanging in the Nemo Room

Christmas morning, Ivor opened his long awaited Nemo.  He was one happy guy!  His smile said it all, and he packed that thing around all day.  Needless to say, He LOVES his Nemo.


Earlier this week, I was looking back through the boys' progress reports from Love Without Boundaries, when it suddenly hit me.  Ivor was in the NEMO room.  Nemo was swimming daily on the four walls that surrounded my son.  This was no coincidence, Nemo and Ivor go way back.  I am so  glad my super sensitive, highly alert, sweet boy has once again, found Nemo.