FEELING BETTER

Sonel is doing much better, which means...I've been getting more sleep!!! The last 2 nights have been wonderful. He has only woke up once each night! I'm up for quite a while, but only once is great. I might even sleep in my bed tonight. Sonel and I have been sleeping on our two couches in the living room. Yesterday, he discovered my grand daughter's laptop. I got out a couple of "toddler" educational CD's and he played for about 3 hours without stopping! He was so busy, he never cried once with his legs hurting. If he keeps it up, he should be learning to count and say his abc's before long! He is using his finger on the laptop, instead of a mouse and he is pretty good!

I would like to tell everyone who comments on my blog...I love to read your comments. When I have a little extra time, I also visit your blogs.

First Doctor Visit After Surgery

Of course, Sonel cried. Once he figured out that the doctor wasn't going to hurt him, he was OK. He absolutely loves this old digital camera. It gets his mind off of his feet (I love that). I took the first picture of Sonel and Hope (my 9 year old grand daughter) took the other two. She is my aspiring photographer. This is her first year in 4-H and she's doing "Photography" this year. I'll let you know how it goes for her. The picture shows the rods sticking out of his ankles and the bottom of his heels. They will be in his feet for 3 months. Then we will be in for a "new adventure". The nights are getting better. I'm getting pretty darn fast at getting the wheel chair out of the van and getting him loaded. I think I'm building up some muscles in the process, that thing is heavy!

Getting through the rough part

Sonel has had a rough time of it. The first night, I didn't sleep a wink. The next two nights weren't too bad, I woke up every three hours with him. The morphine wears off then and he wakes right up, crying. His little toes are so swollen. I keep ice on him most of the day, but he is totally miserable. No matter how he feels, he always wants to go outside if you ask him. He does have a few minutes each day where he is a happy (Pic 2). I can't wait to get through this week and get his bandages off, so he can breathe, even if it's just for a few minutes. Sometimes it's hard to see the good, when you're going through rough times, but in the end, God will work a beautiful miracle. I've seen it in my life and I'm waiting for the beautiful miracle in Sonel's life.

Brenda

Here are a few pictures of Sonel before surgery and after. When we first got to the surgery center, the staff had bought Sonel a bag full of toys! He was a happy camper until we went back and had to change his clothes. He knew something was up when I put him on the bed. He started crying so the nurses gave him all the band aids he wanted, to play with. Dr. DeHeer even took pictures of Sonel and all his band aids. Surgery was about 2 hours long. Dr. DeHeer came out and showed me a picture, on his camera, of Sonel's feet...his STRAIGHT feet! They have steel rods sticking out of his heels (ouch!), but they looked so good. He was in a lot of pain, but once it was under control, he slept all the way home, THANK YOU JESUS. Tonight will be a long night, I'm sure, but it will be worth some sleepless nights (for me) to get to see him walk. I want to thank everyone for your prayers.

Brenda

Sonel's Shoes

Sonel was so excited when I bought him some Spider Man sandals. I told him the doctor is going to make his feet look like mine, then he could wear his shoes. He got up yesterday morning and wanted to go to the doctor, right then, so he could wear his shoes. Little does he know what he's in for. Please pray for him. He has surgery tomorrow at noon. He won't be able to walk for 3 months, while he has rods in his heels and ankles.

SURGERY SET

The surgeon just called and said he has a cancellation this Friday, so Sonel will be having surgery Friday at noon. If you think about him, say a prayer for him.

A reporter and photographer are coming to our house tomorrow to do a story about Sonel's journey. They want to do three stories...before, during and after. The photographer asked if he could go into the surgery room and take pictures and the surgeon said yes. I'm so thrilled to get to tell about the rescue center and medical clinic. I'm going to insist they put the blog addresses in the article. I hope this will be a good avenue for more people to find out about the work in Haiti. I will post the web address for the paper when the articles come out.

Here is a picture of Sonel giving a "go ahead" for surgery. (He has no idea what he's in for!)

By God's perfect grace, we will be just fine.

I thought that I would be posting everyday, but...I'm a much busier "mom" than I used to be. Sonel has stopped asking for rice at mealtimes now. I think he enjoys trying new things. Yesterday we had tacos and he loved them. He's also getting used to having 3 meals a day. At first, he wanted to "eat"...as soon as he finished a meal. I don't know if he thought he might not get anymore for the day or what.
Lori, Charles and Zach were at our church this past Sunday. They live/work at the Medical Clinic/Rescue Center where Sonel came from. I thought he would be thrilled to see and talk to someone that could speak Creole (better than me), but he was shocked to see them. He became totally serious, no smiling at all. I think he feared that they had come to take him. Lori kept assuring him that she had just come to visit him. It will be so hard to take him back, but I don't want to think about that right now.
I'm posting a video of Sonel eating spaghetti. I don't feed him this much. I can't believe that he actually ate it. Listen in the end. I ask him if he wants a banana when he is finished.

Doctor Visit

Sonel loves it when you tell him he's going to the doctor. He gets all excited. We went to see the surgeon and he was fine. The doctor started removing his socks to look at his feet and he started crying and he cried the whole time! Dr. D was going to try to put cast on his feet for several weeks, but after seeing Sonel's feet, he decided to just go for the surgery. He said his feet were to rigid for the casts to do any good. Sonel will have pins in his heels and ankles for 3 months...which means "no walking" for 3 months! THAT will be hard! While on our doctor visit, we also stopped by a business that is donating a pediatric wheel chair for us to use. It's so cute...it's purple! I am amazed at the generosity of everyone. I am amazed at how God works on our behalf. If He sees every sparrow that falls...He sure knows our every need. Thank you JESUS!
Brenda

Sonel LOVES to have his picture taken...here are a few.

BATH TIME

(I forgot to hit spell check, sorry about the mistakes.) I also forgot the "first warm bath" picture. He's much better about wearing a seat belt and shopping. We went rummage selling today and he had a lot of practice with the seat belt (he thinks he's fastening it by himself). I'm getting pretty darn good with my Creole. Adults that speak it, can't understand me, but Sonel can...that's all that matters.

DAY THREE

This was my first impression of Sonel. Lori and Charles were moving so the pic is blurry...but look how tiny he is! He wears a size 3T. He will be 5 years old on August 6th. We jsut wnt to the pediatrician this morning and he weighs 35 lbs. IT'S ALL BELLY!! I have a wonderful praise to God. The doctor does not think he has an enlarged heart! He is taking Sonel's xray to a cardiologist to look at and he will let me know what he thinks later.

DAY TWO

We are in love with Sonel! Everybody that meets him, loves him. He just melts your heart with his beautiful smile. This is what I know so far about Sonel...he doesn't like seat belts, he's "bored" with shopping, he gets sad real fast if he is told "no", he freaks out when he sees our dog or outdoor cats, he refuses to drink milk, he does NOT understand the word "share", he's not to fond of sweets (not a bad thing), and he has taught me a couple of Creole words. I'm amazed that he understands me. So far we are all having a blast. He calls me Mama and Kenny, Papa. He started that on his own, I think because he hears Hope call me Mom. He calls Hope, "Whoop". Every time the phone rings, he says "Jennifer". She's my daughter in law and he has talked to her on the phone a couple of times. It's crazy, he has only been at our house for 2 days and he fits in so well, it feels like he's been here for a long time. Tomorrow he sees our pediatrician and were hitting a huge rummage sale on the way home. It should be a fun day. I'll try to get pictures posted tomorrow. I will get a video posted soon.
Brenda