.....but it is wrong.
And the things that are wrong are not minor things (like how old my sister is when she has very limited contact with us because of age and geographic distance) but fairly major things...like citing the number of children we have, how many live at home, and how many you have interviewed. and those numbers don't add up!
So, we are back to the waiting for the homestudy game.
I hope they can get it corrected, quickly, and we can submit to USCIS before the end of January.
In other news:
Matt is doing fine after his tongue surgery. He seems to be healing just fine. That is so weird that they can do all of these things to his tongue, and it not affect his speech.
Jaoob is about the same. Stomach pain episodes are still down about 75%, but his aggression continues. We are looking into other avenues to help heal the trauma he experienced and help him learn better ways to deal.
Catie turned 21 yesterday. She came home from Ukraine at age 14. What a beautiful young woman she has become. We are very proud of her, and so glad to call her our daughter.
Emily starts her nursing classes in a week or so. In another year and a half we will have 2 nurses in the family.
Marie is busy, busy, busy. Planning, studying, working. Ahhh, to have the energy of youth! Marie and I are both working on our degrees...she on her Bachelor's for teaching, me on my Bachelor's then Master's in Nursing. Both going through WGU, an online, fully accredited school. James is working on his homeschool stuff, Marie on her's, me on mine. At any one time, in our kitchen, James will be making us a super banana bread as he integrates math skills with home ec, I have homemade models of hemoglobin both with and without oxygen (oxygen represented by blueberries) and lysine (an amino acid, which I chose colored marshmallows to demonstrate the various component parts of) and Marie is videotaping her presentation of how a Montessori school differs from more traditional schools. Homeschooling has never been so much fun!
Everyone is healthy, and we are all waiting for silly winter to go away and the warmth of spring to appear. Full blown cabin fever should be about 2 weeks away.
Mary
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
More Waiting
I have not posted because there is not much to post on the adoption front. Since this is our 4th adoption, one would think we would be used to this by now....waiting, and waiting, and more waiti.ng. I guess we are accustomed to waiting, but still don't like it much.
Our homestudy agency received clearance from the oversight agency more than a week ago, that the homstudy was fine the way it was, and to release it to us. Mail came and went today, still no homestudy. We need that to submit to USCIS. I have emailed the homestudy agency, so hopefully it is in the mail now.
Matt did well after his surgery. We knew it would be a difficult procedure to recover from, but he has been a trooper. He is back to school, eating and drinking, and talking with no ill effects of someone pulling his tongue forward and tying it off that way!
Thursday, Jacob goes for his airway scope. Hoping that shows that his airway has firmed up, and no more scopes (or repairs) are necessary.
I'm trying to use this time to get as much of my MSN completed.
And, I'm tired of cold weather!
Done complaining, back to Biochem!
Mary
Our homestudy agency received clearance from the oversight agency more than a week ago, that the homstudy was fine the way it was, and to release it to us. Mail came and went today, still no homestudy. We need that to submit to USCIS. I have emailed the homestudy agency, so hopefully it is in the mail now.
Matt did well after his surgery. We knew it would be a difficult procedure to recover from, but he has been a trooper. He is back to school, eating and drinking, and talking with no ill effects of someone pulling his tongue forward and tying it off that way!
Thursday, Jacob goes for his airway scope. Hoping that shows that his airway has firmed up, and no more scopes (or repairs) are necessary.
I'm trying to use this time to get as much of my MSN completed.
And, I'm tired of cold weather!
Done complaining, back to Biochem!
Mary
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Back at the Hospital with Matthew
Today Matthew (20 years old, bio son, DS and autism) had surgery, and we are back in the hospital at least overnight, probably for another couple of days. Matt has severe sleep apnea, which is much more common in children with Down syndrome. We have been working on this for years.
He had C-Pap at home, and tolerated it well for a while, then got a rash from the mask, and ever since then has not tolerated it at all.
Almost 2 years ago he had a "midline posterior glossectomy'...basically they cut a fairly substantial chunk out of the middle, back part of his tongue. After that healed (had to be rehospitalized twice for dehydration, it took much longer for this to heal than they were expecting) his sleep study showed that before the surgery he had severe sleep apnea. After the surgery, although the number, duration and severity of the apnic episodes had been cut in half, he STILL has severe sleep apnea. We have been trying, without success, to get him to wear his Bi-Pap.
This surgery is the next step. It is genioglossal advancement and repose procedure. They bring his tongue forward and tie it forward.
He came through the surgery well, the doc saying that his tongue is HUGE. She said this tends to be the more difficult of the two surgeries, and probably will require 2-3 days to stay. He is somewhat uncomfortable right now as we are waiting for the nurse to come in with more pain meds.
Please say a prayer for Matt's speedy, complete recovery, and that his surgery will reduce his sleep apnea to a point that it is no longer dangerous to him.
Mary
He had C-Pap at home, and tolerated it well for a while, then got a rash from the mask, and ever since then has not tolerated it at all.
Almost 2 years ago he had a "midline posterior glossectomy'...basically they cut a fairly substantial chunk out of the middle, back part of his tongue. After that healed (had to be rehospitalized twice for dehydration, it took much longer for this to heal than they were expecting) his sleep study showed that before the surgery he had severe sleep apnea. After the surgery, although the number, duration and severity of the apnic episodes had been cut in half, he STILL has severe sleep apnea. We have been trying, without success, to get him to wear his Bi-Pap.
This surgery is the next step. It is genioglossal advancement and repose procedure. They bring his tongue forward and tie it forward.
He came through the surgery well, the doc saying that his tongue is HUGE. She said this tends to be the more difficult of the two surgeries, and probably will require 2-3 days to stay. He is somewhat uncomfortable right now as we are waiting for the nurse to come in with more pain meds.
Please say a prayer for Matt's speedy, complete recovery, and that his surgery will reduce his sleep apnea to a point that it is no longer dangerous to him.
Mary
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Slowly Moving Along
Tuesday of the first week of January and we have movement on our progress...I heard from our homestudy agency that they are waiting on the oversight letter from the placing agency, and then we will have our homestudy to submit to USCIS.
What this means is that we will have additional fees dues very soon. USCIS recently raised their fees for the I 8000A applications, and we have 5 adults living in the house requiring fingerprinting!
However, having more money due is a positive sign that we are moving forward with this adoption! So exciting.
Additionally exciting is checking our Reecesrainbow Family Sponsorship page to see that someone(s) has been donating to our journey, and is helping us bring these boys home. Our major fundraiser efforts will be kicking in soon, as soon as I get a handle on a few more things here.
On the homefront...Matt (20, with DS and Autism) has surgery on Thursday to hopefully help his severe sleep apnea. This is the 2nd tongue surgery he has endured over the past 3 years. We are not rushing into these, but his apnea is severe, and he does not tolerate the high pressures needed on his BiPap. So, he has surgery scheduled. He will stay in the hospital overnight Thursday night, possibly missing his favorite basketball game of the year...the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout...two rival Cincinnati universities, University of Cincinnati, and Xavier University. I hope they carry ESPN 2 at the hospital!
Jacob has continued to feel better stomach-wise. I say about 80% improvement in his GI symptoms, which is fantastic. We still are dealing with a lot of aggression. Next week, he is scheduled for a scope of his airway. He has moderate to severe tracheomalcia, or softening of his trachea. We are hoping that with his growth and improved nutrition, this is reversing. We shall see next week.
Mary
What this means is that we will have additional fees dues very soon. USCIS recently raised their fees for the I 8000A applications, and we have 5 adults living in the house requiring fingerprinting!
However, having more money due is a positive sign that we are moving forward with this adoption! So exciting.
Additionally exciting is checking our Reecesrainbow Family Sponsorship page to see that someone(s) has been donating to our journey, and is helping us bring these boys home. Our major fundraiser efforts will be kicking in soon, as soon as I get a handle on a few more things here.
On the homefront...Matt (20, with DS and Autism) has surgery on Thursday to hopefully help his severe sleep apnea. This is the 2nd tongue surgery he has endured over the past 3 years. We are not rushing into these, but his apnea is severe, and he does not tolerate the high pressures needed on his BiPap. So, he has surgery scheduled. He will stay in the hospital overnight Thursday night, possibly missing his favorite basketball game of the year...the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout...two rival Cincinnati universities, University of Cincinnati, and Xavier University. I hope they carry ESPN 2 at the hospital!
Jacob has continued to feel better stomach-wise. I say about 80% improvement in his GI symptoms, which is fantastic. We still are dealing with a lot of aggression. Next week, he is scheduled for a scope of his airway. He has moderate to severe tracheomalcia, or softening of his trachea. We are hoping that with his growth and improved nutrition, this is reversing. We shall see next week.
Mary
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)