DEREK UPDATE

Derek is in desperate need of prayers again...still....
He had a fever of 102.9* and was hospitalized due to dehydration and his liver enzyme counts being out of whack. On May 13th he had an ERCP, which allows the Docs to check on his bile ducts and the stint that they had placed in there to hold it open to give him the optimum use of this liver before possibly needing another one. They are not sure if it was the lack of antibiotics allowed for the procedure, the non sterile dye they use for the ERCP, or just God's timing, but Derek is in need of a transplant again.

For a while, Derek has been reactivated on the list, first being #9 with a MELD score of 5.8, then moved to #7 with a slightly higher score of 7.0. Today, Derek was moved to #1 with a MELD of 26! His MELD for the first transplant was 23. We now wait to hear word that a liver has come up, another family has had to make a hard decision, and that Derek is a match.

PLEASE, we ask that you pray for him, the other families that may be making this decision to donate, the Docs who will make the decision for which liver is his, transplant it and that the right one finally be implanted.
To be 29 yo and to have to go thru this again in such a short time is unimaginable, yet Derek keeps his spirits high and knows that it is for a purpose.

I will keep you updated! Thanks!

Hunter

Hunter and Aunt Heather, Mean mugging for the Camera on Easter '09

On May 3rd, 1997 a beautiful baby boy came to be in this world. He and a twin, our son Braeden, were born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. our two sweeties were cared for by their Birth father until 18 days old, eating only sugar water because he didn't have anything else to feed them. He brought the two tiny little creatures to Dr. Bernard's home and begged him to take them. We received a call that we had waited for forever, we had a baby...well, TWO babies. They wanted us to know that they were tiny, malnourished and had a slim chance of survival, but they were ours if we wanted them. We said a hopeful YES to them and prayed that they would be safe and we could finally have the children we so desperately wanted.

You see, We had begun our process of adoption for a girl, we had girls referred that were taken away, girls that died after referral and girls that were to be ours that never ended up coming to the orphanage. Of course, that was 12 years ago and things were done differently in the Haitian adoption world than they are now...some for the best, some for the worst.

So anyway, We waited for news that we could travel. We got a call late one evening from Dr. B saying that our boys were sick and in the hospital..they were tiny, Hunter weighing in at 3.5lbs, Braeden weighing in a 2lbs. We prayed and begged for them to be able to come home, but knew they were not healthy enough to make the trip.

Two days later, we received another late night call from Dr. B, this one letting us know our worst fears, our sweet little Braeden had passed away at 1 month old. My knees gave way and I sat on the floor and cried, wondering what I had done somewhere to be punished so much to have to lose a child I never got to hold or tell I loved to their sweet little face. We were devastated, Louis the Birth father was devastated. He came to reclaim Braeden fro burial and begged us to continue to be Hunter's family...we had never had any other thought cross our minds, but he needed to know that in his mind that we were committed to Hunter...f course we were.

Hunter remained in the hospital in PAP for 1 more month and at the age of 2 months and 1 day, he arrived in Miami for us to pick up, being escorted by Mme. Bernard.

May 3rd was a wonderful day in our lives, it gave us the son we wanted and love so much, watching him grow and mature into a young man.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HUNTER, WE LOVE YOU!!!

Updates

Hello! Since it has been a couple of weeks since I was here last, I thought I would update everyone.

I had my dental appointment and was EXTREMELY high and got my molar pulled. All went well, I remember bits and pieces of the day, but not all of it. Nikaya had stayed home with daddy that day, since she wasn't feeling good and she laid on the couch with me to keep me company. She decided Spongebob was better viewed in her room since I snored to much and did not change the channel when needed...hehe

Kai had his visit to the Urologist. It had to be one of the single most hilarious times I have had in a while. When he arrived they gave him a cup with his name on it, to which he was excited for, thinking he was getting a snack with juice. When told he needed to pee in the cup he looked at all of us like we were insane and that was indeed disgusting. When he and I go into our little room, he proceeds to tell me he is big enough to do the job himself and goes into the bathroom. I peek thru the door in time to see him undo his britches, look at the cup, his pant and then how many hands he had and try to figure out how he was going to do it all. He then gets the brilliant idea to put the cup on the floor and aim from up high...hehehe I stop him in time to avoid a HUGE mess. Afterwards he and I sit in the little room that had WAY to many posters of men's anatomy on the wall. Kai is looking long and hard at one (which was the dissected view of the male anatomy), He finally exclaims " I know what that is!!!" I ask him "What is it?" to which he replies 'SQUIDWART!!" (the squid neighbor from Spongebob Squarepants) I never laughed so hard in my life. The Doc is thinking of renaming the poster in his honor. :-)

Life has been good, we have survived Nikaya having a temperature of 103.5*, my tooth hole causing pain (hoping for it not to be a dry socket and just allergies), and trying to get things done around here. I have some more news, but will put it all in seperate posts to keep from running you long on this one!

Get 'Er Done

OK...Demi's new retainer is in with her tooth on it..looks pretty good. She talks a little funny and will until she gets used to it being in her mouth. They will adjust the retainer from time to time as she grows, but she will need to wear it until her jaw stops growing and teeth quit falling out and something more permanent will be done-about the time she turns 18.

Kai and Nikaya have appointments tomorrow to start their immunizations-YUK! I have put it off and put it off and finally after much research decided to get it done. They will have to catch up, but do not require some of the shots that infants and toddlers do since they are older. They will probably have to go to the Doc about 1 time a month for shots until they are caught up, but it is for the best.
May 11th Kai has a visit with the urologist. This is a long time coming and will be gearing up to fix a problem he has which will probably require surgery. I will let you know when the surgery will be coming so you can all pray-it will be very much appreciated.

I have yet to get my tooth pulled but did see the doc. Right now I am living with infection in my jaw, but really the pain is getting worse and makes my head hurt all the time.
I told Curtis the infection is probably eating its way to my brain, which he replied "well, then it will starve" HAHA...everyone is a comedian. I am going to have to talk to them about what to do, but they have already told me they would drug me to the high heaves to pull it out and then we can go from there.

Met the foot Doc-he said my foot is C shaped with a bunion and bone spur, that is what is causing all the pain. I should watch how often I walk (I LOVE TO WALK) and watch the number of stairs I take (I have a 2 story house and climb stairs into the cage all the time...) . He wrapped my foot to help support it but I then had an allergic reaction to the tape-lost some skin and now I have a 'wookie foot' with adhesive that causes everything to stick to it from lint, cat hair to my own shoe. I will have to wait to get any kind of surgery done until I have money and go to Haiti to escort- I REFUSE to travel to Haiti in a boot that goes up to my knee. The surgery will go one of two ways-heal in 6-8 weeks with minimal crutch usage and smaller boot OR 8-10 weeks in a boot up to my knee and walker that requires a knee walker thing that I ped around on...FUN!

Heard from Haiti that they have the passport of the girl I will escort. Hoping all will go down so I can travel in June and then make plans to get my foot surgery completed...ah..more money needed...let it rain down cash from the sky cuz I don't have any!

Hope all is well with you out there, we are just living each day hoping to get to the next!

Debbie Downer Post...

Well...what a FABULOUS night followed by a CRAPTACULAR day.

Last night Curt and I went out for our 18 year anniversary! We went and had a nice (cheap) dinner at Applebee's and then went to see Jeff Dunham and Brian the Guitar Guy. They are comedians...Jeff D is the guy with the puppets like Achmed, Walter, Peanut and Jose Jalapeno; Guitar Guy, well...he is the guy with a guitar..hehe
We had a blast, the kids had fun here with Sam, our wonderful neighbor gal who watched all of them for us! Fun, FUN!!


Craptacular item #1:
Today we go do the dentist thing. They decide that the tooth that Demi has been working on for the last year (after her fall in the shower) is dead and root canal will not work...her body is reabsorbing the calcium and she must lose the tooth. They had her numb, but more had to be done so I held her hand as they numbed more and then chiseled that thing out of her, watched it crumble out of her mouth...permanent front tooth as well. :-(
Demi shed some tears, half out of fear of the procedure and half out of 'oh my gosh I wont have a tooth there now'. They have done the mold for a false tooth for her, it will be on a retainer type gizmo I guess;. should be done in 1-2 weeks..in the meantime the hole in her gums has to heal. Very sad and hard to watch.

Craptacular item #2:
I have MY appointment. I have made it 37 years without so much as a cavity. A couple of years ago I was naughty and chewing ice and cracked a tooth. I bypassed cavities and filings and went straight to ROOT CANAL...(insert scary music here) Now it appears that my wonderful root canal failed and I will have to have my tooth removed as well-molar on left side, but a BIG tooth none the less.

I am giving in today. I feel that when I am almost getting ahead I am shoved to the back to try and climb up again.
I try to exercise-my foot swells and my toe needs fixed=surgery...
My woman parts are not working right and need fixed=surgery...
My tooth was fixed and now infecting my jaw=surgery/removal...

I am so frustrated with life but try to remember that at least I have a life to complain about but I just want to sit in a hole, curl up in the fetal position and CRY.....


Sorry to be Debbie Downer....just been my day and It was MY day to have I guess.

Hello Again

WOW, it has been forever since I posted. I have been busy, living and enjoying life though, so I cannot complain.

Got to see Derek for Easter, that was nice. He is looking good, pale even..hehe and seems to be doing OK considering his Bile Ducts are smaller than they should be. He is #9 on the list and will remain on it going up and down for the rest of his life, or until a new liver is transplanted. He is good with this and knows that there is nothing going on in his life the good Lord has not given him to deal with for a reason.

Work is good. Some days I am busy, others I play Mahjong while hitting my faceboook profile to chat..hehe Adoptions are still slow...I am still waiting for a certain little girl to be ready so I can bring her home. It has been 1 years since her family visited her and brought he sister home so they are ANXIOUS for her to be home as well. The little gal just got released from MOI so now once we have passport we can get Birth Parent redone and get her home. Another family is waiting to be released from IBESR. They have been there forever, but the dossier wasn't complete due to adding new documents. They are hoping now that all items are in Haiti they can get them to the IBESR (you must have an appointment) so they can get approval and get going.
Fights are good...2 coming up for me-May 1st at Qwest and May2nd-at O'Connor Field House. Excited to get back to the cage again and see some good fights.

Got alot done here in the house, cleaned closets, purged junk, donated clothes and cleaned real well in places that had not seen sun for a while due to bad weather...God is good!

Please Take A Look

If you have a moment, please check the link below.

This family is dear friends of mine. They have taken on 3 beautiful children from Haiti as well as have 3 bio children. They are currently adopting a teen boy from Haiti as well.
Now that the children are home, they find it impossible for one of the children to be safely kept in their family, due to reasons I wont post here due to my full knowledge of them.

I am asking for a couple of things from all of you out there.

1. To stop by the blog listed and see if this child would fit into YOUR family....
http://www.makefunofyourday.blogspot.com/

2. If the child is not meant to be in your family: PRAY, PRAY, PRAY

3. We are talking about a beautiful girl here who needs a loving home, NOT a group home, or further situations which she cannot control or be victimized in.

This family LOVES this child and only want the best for her, she was given to them by God for one reason or another. If it is in YOUR ability to have her in your home or you know of a family she could possibly be in, PLEASE contact them at their blog or contact me here or at thehaitilady@hotmail.com

Blessings,
LeAnne

On The List

Good news..(I guess) is that Derek is now officially on the list again for a new liver. Insurance said that they would pay for all of the surgery etc BUT the liver itself. He had to sign financial agreement with the hospital to make payments (probably forever...) to get on the list. Now we wait and pray that a liver becomes available for him soon. He is fairly close to the top..not sure which number and when I do, I will let you know.
It is so hard, his body isn't necessarily rejecting the liver, the new liver just isn't working. I hope and pray that this will be it, the new liver will be good for him and he can get back to whatever normal is going to be for him...pain free and not yellow.

Derek Update

A quick post about Derek.

Derek has been in and out of the hospital lately due to problems with his bile ducts in his new liver. They have stinted one, after he began turning yellow and his bilirubin count went to 8 again. After the stinting his bilirubin has dropped to about 5, and they have given him med's to thin his bile hoping that it will allow the stint to work and clear out his body of the bile that has leaked into his system from the damaged duct.
On Tuesday they had tested him again and though things are lower than before, they are thinking that Derek may have to do blood work and possibly look at the full work up to get on the list again, Yes, ANOTHER transplant is very likely in his future. We are hoping that the med's will work, that God will intervene and another new liver will not be needed...that the new one he just got will begin to work as needed.
Please, prayers are DESPERATELY needed as Derek hits this next trial in his young life.

At Last...A New Family

These two little sweeties are meeting their new mamma and daddy tomorrow!!!

After a L...O...N...G... wait, Geslande and Joravena will be uniting with their Forever Family on Friday by 2pm. I am so excited for all of them. Little J (the youngest) has been in the orphanage since she was about 2 weeks old, and she just turned 2 years old about 2 weeks ago....like I said-it has been a long process for them.

Pray for safety for the family (Aaron and Vanessa) as they travel to experience Haiti and all it has to show them while they get their girls.

YEAH GOD!!!

DEREK UPDATE

Curt's brother Derek has been doing pretty good. We had a scare recently when he began to turn yellow again and feel really ill and suffer from pain in his abdomen. He spiked a fever of 103* and had to be hospitalized. They did a procedure to check out his new liver and found that one of his bile ducts was constricted. This happens in about 30% of the cases so it isn't a big surprise. When they connect the liver to the body the new ducts can be scarred and constrict. They stinted it and he is already improving and out of the hospital.
Below are pics of when he was in. I saved most of the really morbid looking ones and kept them out...if you want to see some gnarly pics check out his caringbridge web site listed on the side of the page!










Derek 2 hours post-op

Derek's 58 staples

Derek this last week...HE LOOKS AMAZING!

Updating My Life on Here

Hello! It has been over a month since I have been on here. We have had AWANA's times 4 kids, basketball games times 2 boys, Cheerleading times 2 girls and Fights times 1 busy and tired mom. Curtis has had school on Mondays (a Dale Carnegie Class on Public Speaking he is taking for work) which he will graduate from by the end of the month I believe.

B-ball is over for the season so we have a few nights at home!! YEEHAW for that idea. I used to feel rushed having to work and do dinner etc afterwards, but B-ball season showed me that I do have more time in the evenings when B-ball is over...all about perspective I guess. :-P

Things here have been busy but good. Both of us are still employed, a big plus for this day and age, and enjoying our jobs as much as one can when you are working for a living.

Hard to believe that March 7th was 1 year since we lost my Bio dad Rick...His B-day is March 15th. Going to be hard to pass that milestone. I have had teary eyes, but have not let myself sit down and just remember and cry like I need too. If weather permits, I am planning on going with my Aunt Pam and Grandma to the cemetery on Saturday, his B-day, to decorate his new headstone (I will post a photo when I get there) and plant a Peonies bush, as well as just celebrate his B-day without him for the first time. I am anxious to see the new headstone since it just got finished. Weird thing to look forward to, but it gives some closure that I am craving but that I am fearful of at the same time. I will never forget him, but I feel like having a headstone honors him more to the outside world, kind of a 'Hello..I was here and meant something to someone' type of thing.

I am looking forward to sitting down and reading, blogging and getting caught up with the cyber world and friends that I have missed over the last month, as well as my usual workouts that have been sorely missed and much needed.

I'm Here...Really

Sorry it has been a while since I posted. I have not had much down time to take a moment to post anything over the last couple of weeks. I have dome great pic's of Derek-In the hospital, before surgery, post surgery and of his liver...just have to have time to post it for you.

Derek is doing well. He is home, walking, got his staples out this week (Friday, I believe)

We have enjoyed Basketball practices, games, cheer practices, performances, AWANA's etc...and will hopefully see an end to all the busy by the end of Feb. Of course, with 4 kids it is always busy, but less busy than NOW...hehe B-ball will be over, cheer will go back to 1 day a week and AWANA's is always up, but we are good with that.

Unfortunately due to the busy life schedule I had to drop out of Choir at church...probably for the best since I think I was the scariest Soprano ever..hehe If your voice changes during puberty, I am not sure what mine is doing now...?? I have been down to working out 2-3 days a week instead of 4...harder to lose weight but I am still working on it.

I hope all of you out there are doing well. I will see if I can post Derek's photos in the next couple of days!!

Done...

Derek is out of the O.R. and into ICU. No one could see him last night, but from what we hear from family in Seattle, the staff say he is quite the fighter...no real surprise to us..hehe

Derek has a long road ahead of him, possibly 1 month in the hospital, anti rejection drugs for life and trying not to get sick for a while...Derek has never been the 'normal' one so we will see how long all that goes on. :-P

I know that Derek is very thankful to his donor, as are all of us. Continue to pray for them as he now has a chance at life that we couldn't see before. You never want to imagine losing someone you love, but it was a reality for all of us for a while. Such a vibrant young man had to endure a test that no one should have to. I think he is overwhelmed by the amount of prayer he received during this trial in his life and I know he will never forget it, I know as his family, we will not.

We didn't get to Seattle for the surgery, but Curt is planning on going this weekend...even if he has to drive-he has to wrap his arms around him and squeeze to make it all better in his mind.
We did spend this time on the phone, email and facebook, myspace etc..updating everyone all over the U.S. what was going on and reading the Prayers coming thru from people who do not even know Derek....truly amazing. For those who believe there is no God, they can look at this and go suck eggs...hehe
THANK YOU!!!

Yes, Yes, Yes

OK...Derek went into surgery about 1 PM Seattle time. He now has the old, nasty liver out and the new one being put in with blood pumping thru it...he is stable and doing well. Thank the good Lord he is strong in heart and mind, his body has failed him so much lately.

Prayers are still coveted as he getting final touches, closed and recovery room time...all in all, 12 hour surgery will have been done.

Still Waiting

We are still waiting to hear that Derek has been moved in to surgery. As it stands now, the liver IS Derek's and he is to wait at the hospital for the surgery. What we wait for is one of two things.
1. The Surgical Teams need to be in place to 'harvest' the organs being donated and all must be done in a certain order. Heart, Lungs, Kidneys then Liver and Pancreas. It just takes time to gather all of the teams to their appropriate places etc.
2. This is the reason the Doctor thinks Derek is waiting-The family of the Donor is not yet ready to say goodbye.
The Dr. said the liver is a perfect match for Derek, in size, age etc. and in good condition/healthy. That being true, the person donating is probably a 15-40 year old male in good shape and relative health that passed before anyone knew he was going too and they are not ready to say goodbye. I cannot blame them, their loved one died and they must be given the time to come to terms with this before the hospital comes in to remove organs. I feel guilt as I sit here and pray for Derek to live; I have always known it means that someone else has to die, but it is very painful to think about what that family is going thru right now....our hope is their sadness...life is so unfair.
Continue to lift Derek up in prayers and also lift up the Donor and his family...they all need it right now.

It is Derek's Day!

GOD IS GOOD! Yesterday during Church, Derek received his page to get to the hospital. As of 12:51am this morning, Derek has been approved for the liver and should be undergoing the surgery this evening. I am not sure of all the specifics right now, but he has been tested, the liver has been tested and he has been told he will receive the liver. I am not sure if #1 on the list has gotten their liver, if the liver was not compatible with #1 or what, all we are focusing on is how this effects Derek...and he is the one getting THIS liver. We have been happy, fearful and just so thankful that Derek has gotten the page and that he has the chance at life.
Our prayers big time for the following:
1. That Derek pull thru this surgery well and liver does well inside him now.
2. That the family of the Donor is at peace, they have just lost someone they love and made a hard decision to help another human being whom they do not know...VERY unselfish!!
3. That the person who passed was Christian and is somewhere being blessed by the fact that they have helped a fellow human being in their last moments!

Life is Good, And I Feel Fine...

Life has been good...busy, but good.
As I said before, we are entering the time of Basketball with Cheer continuing and School, Work and life in general...we pray the good Lord puts enough hours in the day for us!

Tonight we had Curt's 20 Year High School Reunion. WOW, 20 years....can you believe it? We met several of his class, about 40-50 students with spouses, at the Old Spaghetti Factory. Had a great dinner (LOVE that the place has a Gluten Free menu for me!) and had a great time catching up with everyone.
I know many of the people as well, since his high school had about 150 students graduate in '88 and he and I were High School sweethearts...different schools..him 2 years older than me in grades, but schools close in proximity none the less.
WE had to change our plans late in the game since our planned babysitter couldn't do it and we had to call in reinforcements....THANKS PEGGY AND JOHN FOR TAKING THE MONSTERS FOR US TONIGHT!!! It is often hard to find someone who will watch 4 kids, let alone 4 kids on short notice..hehe

Today I managed to complete my CPR-HCP (Health Care Provider) course and will take an Advanced First Aid next (thought this one was it but I was wrong..never happened before..hehe) I turned in my application for my Second's License (Cut-Man approval for Cage Medic) to the State on Friday. Hope to hear back on that soon as well.
Jen and I are headed to Lewiston in Feb to work some fights at the Casino up there...finally get to meet our Head Cut Man Lawrence...should be a blast!

All is well on the home front.
Derek still waits for a Liver (but thank the Lord he is on the list!) and prayers are always coveted to keep him healthy until one comes available.

Hell Months....

Now starts at least 2 'Hell Months'
.
This week begins basketball for 2 boys, Hunter on Tuesday and Thursday and Kai on Wednesday); regular cheer for Demi on Saturday and AWANA for all on Wednesday (minus Kai if B-ball stays on Wed). Saturdays will also include games for the boys..both should be in the same place, but different times.

Work is all week, working out is all week (when I can now fit it in...hehe) and Curtis started a new class on Mondays so I am single mom until 10:30pm for the next 12 weeks.

I love and despise these times when I am not sure if I am coming or going. I came home and got so much done with the house (actually I straightened it so it appeared that it was only 'lived in' as opposed to filthy..hehe) I MUST do this for my OCD to decide that life is in order so I can kinda function...now off to read so I can unwind for bed!

God Is Good

Heard Friday PM that Derek has FINALLY been put on the Donor List for a Liver!!! Derek is listed as #2.

From what I understand, now he has a beeper and cannot be more than 1 hour away from the hospital. When a Liver comes in, he and the patient listed at #1 get a page and both must go to the Hospital. I believe that they then test both to make sure they are not ill, have any underlying conditions etc and then if #1 is sick, the liver is his. If #1 receives the Liver, Derek moves to #1.

All in all, Derek is feeling pretty craptacular right now and is showing signs of Advance Liver Disease. His MELD score (Model for End Stage Liver Disease) was 21 on Dec. 29th, 2008 and is now already 23...only a couple of weeks later, which is a 2 point rise in a short time...not good.

Continue prayer as Derek and the patient listed at #1 wait to hear they have an acceptable donor and a transplant can be completed!