The Hospital

Pope's been in the hospital. He's been sick a lot lately and the doctors have just decided it's time to stop messing around with all of these illnesses. He was a trooper though, as charming as ever during his stay.

The princess also had an appointment at the same hospital. Her appointments went well. She will have her pre-op on December 23, then surgery on December 29th. She'll have a night in the hospital and if all goes well, she'll go home the next day.

Post placement reports

I am tired of pleasing China. I'll admit it. I'm done. We just finished a post placement report... report #2. I know what you're thinking... You don't need a post placement report at 9 months! No one does! And you're right. Except for the fact that due to the severity of Pope's many medical and cognitive conditions, we didn't have our 6 week post placement until about 5 months after our adoption. And we still owed the 6 month and 12 month. So in order to have the 12 month on time (in late February or early March) we needed to do our 6 month post placement now.

I'll be quite honest, China changed their post placement requirements literally days after we adopted Pope. You are now required to file post placement at 6 weeks, 6 months, 12 months, then every year until year 5 post placement! I personally think it is ridiculous (we just made the cut-off, so our 12 month post placement will be our last report).

I don't see the point. I doubt anyone in China reads the report or even looks at the mandatory 6 photos you need to submit with the report. (Many of them came straight off this blog.) And if they did read the report, which by my adoption agencies comments is glowing, what would they do with the information? What would they do if the post placement said that things were not working out and both the family and child are unhappy? What would China do? That's easy... nothing.

Lord, can we catch a break?

I was so looking forward to Thanksgiving week! I had planned to work from home on Monday and take the rest of the week off... sort of a mini-vacation. No plans, just rest and great Thanksgiving meal at our house this year.

No. Such. Luck.

My business had a small crisis. This sparked a flurry of meetings that are scheduled Monday and a 5 hour group working session on Tuesday. No problem! I will still take Wednesday off... Five uninterrupted days...

Wrong. Again.

Pope's doctor called. She ordered some additional blood work and a MRI. The MRI coordinator called me with a slew of questions. "Does he have trouble laying still for 45 minutes to an hour?" Huh? He's three... That aside, the MRI, under anesthesia, is scheduled at the children's hospital for Wednesday. Okay. No problem. I'll take a 4 day weekend.

Nope. Not. A. Chance.

The princess had 4 nosebleeds yesterday. 2 biggies and 2 smaller "aftershocks" but 4 nosebleeds is just too many. It's becoming more of a social problem for our 7 year old. Mike insisted on calling our ENT. He begged and pleaded that we would be at the children's hospital next Wednesday and could we please try to schedule a visit with her ENT that same day. Unfortunately, no, but the ENT had an available appointment on Friday. So, we'll be at the hospital, with each kid, on Wednesday and Friday. It's likely we'll be scheduling a surgery for the princess. We've put it off too long. Can we please just catch a break?

2011-2012 School Portraits

I am plesantly surprized at the way the school portraits turned out this year!

Slow progress

It's hard to believe we've been home with the Pope for almost 9 months now. We're doing okay. Much better than when were facing cancer in March and additional eye surgeries during the summer. I would never want to go back there again. And although Pope lost one eye to cancer, he gained a lot of vision in the other eye, thanks to the very talented Dr. Alex Levin at Wills Eye Hospital.

Pope's progress has been slow, but he is making progress. He is no where as developmentally advanced as we hoped and thought he would be by now. His delays are significant, and as he approaches his 4th birthday, those delays become more and more apparent.

Pope is growing, but not gaining weight. He started out at below the 3rd percentile for height and weight in March. He is now at the 10th percentile for height, but still well below the 3rd percentile for weight. He has not gained any weight, not one single pound since he arrived in March. Our pediatrician isn't too worried. She suggested trying Pediasure, which he refuses to drink. We've got him on a calorie rich diet and are using cream and butter in place of lowfat milk and margarine. He also gets a couple tablespoons of peanut butter at almost every meal. Hoping that will help him gain a little weight.

His total communication skills are better. He will gesture and take our hand to show us what he wants, but he's still not talking. He's trying; we think he "wants" to speak. He's got a handful of words and, if you're familiar with his language, you can understand most of what he is saying. He loves to sing and hum and he can mimic, musically, just about anything you play for him.

His social skills are WAY behind. He's attending preschool at our regular public school in the preschool disabled class. Unfortunately, there is only one other child in the 3-year-old classroom, so it doesn't make for a good environment for socialization. We do love that he's getting physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy several times a week, but he really needs social interaction time as well.

Pope has a new developmental pediatrician at AI DuPont Hospital for Children. Her name is Dr. Jones and we simply adore her! She's very interested in doing what is best for Pope. Next Wednesday, Pope is scheduled for a MRI under anesthesia. I like to limit Pope's exposure to anesthesia as much as possible. I asked his ophthalmologist and oncologist at Wills if it would be possible to do the MRI at the same time as his next EUA (examination under anesthesia) and the answer was "no", due to a MRI machine being a giant magnet and the special equipment the doctors need for his exam. So we scheduled it for next week. That way we can get the MRI done before the end of the year. God knows we've met our deductible many times over!

So, we're forging ahead, trying to better help change the things we can, trying to accept the things we can't. Always learning the difference between the two.

An evening out

We had dinner with some great friends last night to celebrate Mike's birthday. We hadn't planned on taking the kids with us, but I am so glad we did! Pope had a great time, as you can see... hey, the boy loves a party!

Halloween at Sesame Place!

Thanks to the Variety Club, the Princess and the Pope were afforded the opportunity to go to Sesame Place for the Count's Halloween Spook-tacular! I can tell you, without the Variety Club, a trip to Sesame Place would not be possible (regular admission is $55.99, ages 2 and up!) My gang had an amazing time! Even Pope was well behaved, went on some rides and got to meet Ernie! I've never him so enthusiastic about anything!