Santa Clause Is Coming to Town

Hello all! I am enjoying a day of quietness after a couple weeks of insanity and have stayed in bed late this morning in hopes that the knot in my right shoulder that had set up camp for the last few days will fade! I've been eating Reeses Pieces in bed with a cup of tea and a movie... what a perfect morning! haha

I met with the baby's surgeon yesterday and he is confident that the surgery to repair the airway was successful, and that the reasons he needed to be put back on the ventilator was a combination of residual swelling from the operation and the fact that children with Downs Syndrome often struggle to initiate breathing and coughing on their own. This, combined with the fact that two other staff members have stepped up in an amazing way to help me with hosting our visitors this week, has led to breathing a bit easier this morning!

For some reason "Christmas in July" has taken over Johannesburg. I think maybe people here feel like they should do something Christmas-y since it is winter here, so malls (like the one I went to last week) have set up Winter Wonderlands with machines blowing fake snow and hotels have put up massive Christmas trees. It's one of the strangest things I've ever seen!!

I wish I had more time to write this morning, but I am now off to do some laundry since this is my first free day in a while! :o)

I Should Have Been A Hat Rack...

This is a crazy week... though I am beginning to think I may never see a normal one again! Earlier in the week someone sent me an email that said "I hope you've been able to rest before the flood of visitors arrives!" Seeing as the flood was raging BEFORE they arrived, it has just turned into a bit of a tsunami! :o) It is a week of wearing all of the hats that come with this job. Okay... I just went on a little tirade and then deleted it, because you never know who might read this, but basically, there are moments in my job (and probably everyone else's too) where the things we HAVE to do in order to make the big picture possible, seem to get in the way of the work we WANT or even NEED to be doing. Generally, I can handle it all pretty well, but this week, there has been so much going on that I feel like I am dropping the ball more than I would like to on the really important things having to do with the kids. Those are the things that I NEVER want to compromise on, and yet there are the hats... and more hats... and more hats.
Since our little guy has been in ICU, there are very tiny visiting windows that are absolutely enforced down to the minute by the nurses. This is understandable, because there are people in that ICU who's blood is literally coming out of their body in tubes and then being pumped back in again with a machine... Those nurses don't have time to mess around with visitors who get in the way of patient care! But, because of this, if I miss the visiting time (10:15-11am; 3-4pm; and 7:30-8pm) I'm out of luck. So far I've been able to get there every day, but tonight was a close call!!! I'd been hosting international visitors all day, but I knew that they were going to try to take the baby off the ventilator today and wanted to be there to see how it went. Long story short, I was SO afraid I wasn't going to make it to the hospital, and I knew no one else was going to have seen him all day, so as soon as I finished dinner with our guests, I did some "creative driving" (all lawful by the way... I think...) and made it to the hospital with 8 minutes to spare during the last visiting time.
Needless to say, the news was not what we'd been hoping for, and when they removed the ventilator, the baby couldn't breathe on his own so they had to put it back in. I spoke to the nurse about it and she said that it could possibly be that his airway is just still too swollen from the operation and needs a bit more time. They did do a chest x-ray and his lungs are looking okay, which is GREAT. So now we're hoping that the repeated ventilations don't scar his trachea again, because we can't do this operation again. He spent the whole few minutes I was with him trying to open his eyes to see me and straining against the strips of fabric that are tying his hands to the bed (so that he doesn't pull the ventilator out). His face is so horribly swollen from medication, and all-in-all it was just so sad to see... But I am SO glad that at least I was able to see him... Honestly, it is probably the fact that he can't yet breathe that is affecting my whole attitude (can you tell from this post that it needs a bit of an adjustment right now?!) Because the rest of the day had actually been pretty okay!
So... adjusting...adjusting... On a completely separate (and much happier) note, I read the most amazing book this weekend. It's called "The Shack", by William Young. In short, it is a novel about a man who experiences horrible tragedy when his young daughter is killed. (I know, not sounding happy yet, but trust me, we're getting there!) Three years later he receives a note from God asking him to come back to the scene of the murder. He decides to go thinking that he is probably going crazy but so angry with God that he wants to question Him face to face if the note turns out to be real. Over the course of the weekend, God, in the persons of Father, Son and Holy Spirit (each taking physical form in a way so as to go against all of his preconceptions), spends time with him bringing unexpected, and often painful, glorious healing. The conversations they have are stunning (to use a South African term) and I was so surprised by the honesty and grace with which this story speaks. It never minimizes the pain of the main character, but also never diminishes the God of the Bible either and yet somehow navigates an incredible road of redemption. I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't read it! I hear that it's been on Amazon.com's Best Seller list... It made me see God in a new way...
So... I am now off to bed so that I can wake up early to squeeze in supervision meetings for my house parents in the morning wearing my "regional manager" hat (yes, in the midst of all of this I will begin managing a 6th home being added to my region!) before putting on my "host" hat again! :o)



P.S. To those of you who have emailed recently and wondered why you have not received a reply... as soon as the tsunami passes, expect a message from me!!! :o)

Until then, love to you all! (And I hope this third draft of this post didn't come off sounding quite as unfiltered as the first two attempts! Just one of those nights!)

He's Pulled It Off Again!!!

(Photo: During his days of sleep last week)

Hello everybody! Sorry for the delay in posting. Believe it or not, last week was FAR BUSIER than the "Day In the Life" week I'd written out the day before! This was mostly due to the fact that our little miracle boy, who was still in the hospital, began having seizures every 90 seconds out of nowhere last Monday night. The seizures were in his eyes rather than causing the rest of his body to shake. Since they were happening so often, his brain had no recovery time and he stayed asleep for 3 days straight while the doctor's tried to stop what was happening. Thankfully they were able to get them under control and last night he went in for the operation to repair his scarred trachea. In a 5 hour surgery, they removed a 1 cm section from the middle of his trachea and joined the two sections.

The doctors warned us that he may not survive the surgery, but I got to see him in ICU at 7:30 last night! They are trying their best to keep him sedated to give him the best chance to heal (this is our last and only shot to save his little life) but, as usual, he is fighting the sedation like no body's business! I rested my hand on his forehead this morning and he started wiggling around, even with his eyes closed! The doctors just used the same incision spot from his heart surgery in April.

God must have an incredible plan for this little life! Honestly, I've prayed that God would make it quick one way or the other. To see him suffering while I've been there everyday for the past 3 weeks has been wretched, and I've just prayed that God would either take him or heal him because this middle ground is torture (definitely more for him even than us)! Hopefully this surgery will be successful and then a quick recovery should follow!!!

Kim, the woman I used to lead my small group of high schoolers with, just posted this song on her blog. I went and listened to it and love it! It seemed so fitting for what it has been like to watch this baby beat the odds 3 times now when the doctors predicted death each time (hopefully this is the last time anyone will even have to wonder!):

"I saw what I saw and I can't forget it

I heard what I heard and I can't go back

I know what I know and I can't deny it

Something on the road cut me to the soul

Your pain has changed me

Your dream inspires

Your face a memory

Your hope a fire

Your courage asks me what I'm afraid of and what I know of Love...

I say what I say with no hesitation

I have what I have and I'm giving it up

I do what I do with deep conviction

Something on the road cut me to the soul

Your pain has changed me

Your dream inspires

Your face a memory

Your hope a fire...

Your courage asks me what I'm afraid of

Your courage asks me what I am made of...and what I know of Love...and what I know of God"

-Sara Groves, "I Saw What I Saw"

Please, please pray that this baby will make it through to the other side of all of this! He is such an angel boy! Until this past weekend, I hadn't seen him smile or make a noise for 3 weeks. He would just watch me quietly or want to be held and rocked to sleep. This weekend he grabbed a handful of my hair and started pulling and found it to be hilarious! I was so excited just to see him laugh that I have now been fully encouraging bad habits that his house mom will have to worry about breaking later! :o) In the midst of all of this, it turns out he's been teething and that both of his front teeth have come through! He never cried, except for when I put him back in his bed to leave, so I didn't even know!

Okay friends, I'm off to the movies and then to see "my" baby :o)

Lots of love...

A Few Days in the Life...

Okay, as promised, here is a little taste of what days bring in South Africa! :o) I've decided to give you a few since every day is so completely different:

Tuesday July 1st, 2008
7:40 am - Wake-up (SO nice that the office starts at 9am... means I can sleep in a little bit!)
8:45 - 9:45 am - Supervision meeting with a house mom of 8 girls (I am the Regional Manager for 5 of our homes, so I meet with each of those moms "officially" once a week to make sure things are going smoothly and to address any concerns or issues with the home and kids.)
10:00 - 11:00 am - Host a pastor from Durban (a city on the eastern cost of South Africa) who wanted to get an idea of how our program operates
11:00 am - 12:30 pm - Try to get a little work done in the office (planning schedules for hosted visits by Americans, typing up reports on the homes, responding to the endless stream of emails etc!)
12:30 - 2:00 pm - Errand running with 6 little girls (the kids love coming ANYWHERE with me... they even ask to come to the gas station to fill up the car... always so much fun, but makes errands much more of an ordeal! The term "herding cats" often comes to mind!)
2:30 - 4:30 pm - Take Miriam (the other American friend on staff, she's 27) and Muriel (our Office Administrator) to visit the angel baby who has been back in the hospital for his lungs... his heart is fine now, but his lungs are another story...
5:00 pm - Take the same 6 little girls back to the grocery store because they forgot to tell me that they each need to bring a box of cookies to Holiday Club at church the next morning when we went to the store earlier in the day (they're on a school break right now)
6:00 pm - Come home, shower, put on sweats and eat stew :o) while watching a movie and then having some quite time and reading a book
11:40 pm - sleep!

Wednesday July 2, 2008
6:30 am - Wake-up and decide to go see the baby in the hospital before heading to the office
7:15 am - Stop by Mugg & Bean (as close as South Africa gets to Starbucks) for a hot chocolate and lemon & poppy seed muffin to go :o)
8:00 am - Arrive at Sunninghill Hospital to visit our little guy, who is always content to just be held with his head curled again your heart for hours, except for when the physio woman has to suction out his lungs. He HATES this and screams as he looks at me with eyes that say "I can't believe you're letting them do this to me!!!!"
9:15 am - just as I am about the leave the doctor comes through on rounds and then, concerned that the scar tissue they removed from his airway last week may be returning, begins bringing specialists through to evaluate him. They decide that the scar tissue is probably back and want to do a CT scan at 3:30 pm to see the entire airway and lungs.
10:45 am - The doctors leave just in time for me to race from the hospital for a meeting
11:05 am - 1:00 pm - Arrive 5 minutes late for a supervision meeting with another house mom (this one has 13 boys, ages 8 (twins)-18). Towards the end of our meeting the boys arrive home from Holiday Club at church and decide to show me the "fashion show" they came up with the night before. This involves them hiking their pants up to their chests, trying to look like nerds, and then individually doing a funny walk across the floor as they introduce themselves. Meanwhile one of the boys beats the table like a drum while another does a rap about each boy to the beat. They do a huddle in the middle of the room before the show to psych themselves up. It is hysterical and I laugh so hard I cry. :o) They then tell me that the girls spilled the beans about the fact that I took them to see "Kung Fu Panda" and ask when I am going to take them... looks like I have a movie date on Saturday with 13 boys! :o)
1:00 pm - I receive a call from the nurse at the hospital asking when I can come in to sign a consent for the baby to be put to sleep for his CT scan - not sure why they didn't think of it in the morning!! I then race to the hospital because I have a hot date at 1:45 pm with 9 little boys :o)
1:45 pm - 4:30 pm Meet Pam (a volunteer and great friend!) to take 9 little boys (the oldest is 10) to see "Kung Fu Panda". It is quite an experience to get 9 little boys all sitting down and then run back for 9 sets of popcorn and "Slurpee" style drinks while you see them running out of the theater to "make a wee" every few minutes! The boys loved the movie and don't have a shy bone in their bodies, calling out "yeah! get him!" at the top of their lungs during the movie, and practice all of their new kung fu moves in the parking lot before a 6 year old asks me if he can drive us home... "Ummmmm, no. Please get in the car."
4:30 pm - 7:00 pm - Head over to Miriam's house for tea and some hanging out before she leaves that night on a 2 week visit home to Michigan.
7:30 pm.... More stew :o)

Thursday July 3, 2008
9:00 am - 11:30 am Pick up my house parents and take them to the house parent prayer meeting (this happens once a month when we try to get all of the HPs together - the first time I was quite taken aback since the African style of worship and prayer is a long way from San Clemente Presbyterian... I love both!) :o)
11:30 am - 12:30 pm - Get my first look at our most newly purchased home with Angie (our amazing director... just love her!) We try to figure out how many kids we can put in each room... I think this home will easily hold 9 or 10.
12:30 - 1:30 pm - Spur of the moment management meeting since we all happen to arrive at the office at the same time! It is decided that I will probably start managing a 6th home sometime in August when it opens. We debate the best plan for our recently-arrived 8 year old girl who has experienced horrible sexual abuse for 2 years and so is quite hard to control and has to be supervised at all times since she does not yet understand what kind of things are not appropriate for children. She's never been able to have any kind of boundaries... I think our best bet is going to be to try and find her foster parents who can focus on her completely.
1:45 pm - Supervision meeting with a house mom of 9 girls.
2:45 pm - Grab KFC for lunch :o)
3:00 pm - Pick up Claire (our Occupational Therapist, and another great friend!) and head to the hospital together to see the baby. Traffic means it takes 40 minutes to go 4 miles.
6:00 pm - Arrive home from the hospital feeling so heartbroken for leaving the baby alone there. He isn't feeling well and has started keeping his fists clenched from being poked and prodded all the time. Usually he is a happy, goofy little boy, so it is just hard to see.
6:45 pm - Can't take it anymore and head back to the hospital to hold the baby until he finally falls asleep in my arms at 10:30 pm.
10:45 pm - Speak to Gerda (our CEO) for a while about the baby and about how things are going in general.
12:30 am - sleep!

Friday July 4th, 2008
9:00 am - Arrive at the office with my Mugg & Bean muffin and a Starbucks hot chocolate (thanks Jodi!!!!) :o) And reply to emails from the last 2 days where I've been in the office for a total of about an hour.
10:00 am -11:00 am - Supervision meeting with a house mom of 8 girls.
11:00 - 11:45 am - Work in the office. It's decided that I should attend the arbitration meeting on Monday for a domestic assistant who says I fired her from one of our homes and wants 8 months of pay (Pretty sure I would know if I had fired someone... and I definately haven't)
12:00 pm - Head to the hospital to see the baby
12:45 pm - Angie & I meet with the baby's pediatrician to learn the results of Wednesday's CT scan (they didn't want to tell us over the phone). In short, the heart condition that went unrepaired for his 2 years of life before he came to Acres, has caused a tremendous amount of damage to his lungs. There is one section of one lung that is undamaged. Our best, and only, option for him is to keep him in the hospital for a month (heart breaking) and load him with medication to try and get his lungs into the best shape that we can. Hopefully in a few weeks the pneumonia and infection will be gone and the swelling will be at a minimum from the medicine so that he can undergo an operation to remove a portion of his trachea that has been scarred and is now making his airway too narrow. The nerve wracking part is that this is an operation that can only be done once (there is only so much trachea you can remove... not enough to take pieces out twice) so we want to give it the best chance of being successful. If this operation doesn't work then there are no more options and we will loose him... so this HAS to work.
3:00 - 3:30 pm - Work in the office.
3:30 - 4:30 pm - Supervision meeting with a house mom of 9 boys (our kung fu experts from earlier in the week). The meeting ended right at bath time. I heard lots of laughter coming from one of their bedrooms. When I pushed the door open I found 6 little boys standing in their underwear who started laughing hysterically as they screamed "It's Mommy Kelli!!!!! Ahhhhh!" and started jumping behind their beds trying to hide their almost-naked bodies. I dramatically covered my eyes and yelled "Ahhhhhh! It's naked boys everywhere!" which brought more hysterical laughter. :o)
5:00 pm - Arrive home and eat dinner (guess what I ate... stew... shocking! Finished the last of the batch, thank goodness!) while watching a movie.
6:30 pm - Swap cars with a house dad so that I can take all 13 of his boys to see "Kung Fu Panda" the next day...
7:00 pm - Arrive at "Game Night" at a guy's house to hang out with friends :o) Learned a little bit about Rugby as we watched the highlights reel on the news from the day's games. (Did you know Holland had a rugby team?! And that some guys wear a soft helmet to prevent scar tissue build-up on their ears?!) I then got the winning answer for our team in "Cranium" by knowing the definition of the word "curmudgeon"!
12:15 am - Headed home :o)

And now, it's Saturday, and here I lay in bed at 10:45 am having just typed out the play-by-play of most of my week. :o) I hope I've helped give a little bit of a picture of exactly what it is that I do all day :o) Last week, of course, was completely different because I was hosting a donor team of Americans... I do love that every day is different! :o)

Alright, off to get dressed and take 13 boys to see "Kung Fu Panda"! (Third time seeing it is bound to be just as exciting as the first :o) haha)

See lots of you NEXT MONTH!!!! YAY!!!!