Flor

A very generous doctor at a clinic called "Climasa" volunteered to do Flor's soft pallet surgery. I had the honor to take the sweet baby to pre-op. She was terrified and clung to me when it was time for her to be taken back for surgery. She came through just fine and will not remember anything from today thankfully.

Bless her sweet little heart. I'm so glad I could be there for her.

Feliz Dia de la Madre!!

Well, today there was a mother’s day celebration at Fundabiem. Oh yeah, in Guatemala, mother’s day is celebrated on the 10th of May, no matter what day it falls. So, they weren’t having regular therapy classes today from 9 to 12, only fiestas with piñatas and snacks and games. On Wednesdays, Eunice has therapy, so we didn’t go. First of all, I’m not a mother. Second, on Monday, I had a pretty hard morning with Eunice. She didn’t want to go into her first class, physical therapy, but the therapist came out and carried her in. But when it was time for her special education class, she threw a fit, biting herself and kicking me over and over again in the leg and ankle and stepping on my foot. I didn’t know what to do. Everyone was looking at me and I was on the verge of tears, so I gave in and brought her home early. So, Steve and I decided not to take her today.
I stayed home, cleaned house, etc. The old man who does the gardening in the neighborhood came by and cut my grass and trimmed the hedges.
More good news is that I finally got a plumber to come out yesterday and fix the leak in the shower. It was so bad I was keeping a bucket in there just to save the extra water to wash dishes and flush toilets when I run out of water, or to water the garden. Ironic thing is that a few hours after to dude left, I ran out of water. So, I’ve been without for almost 24 hours now, and my bucket is now empty, but I’m about to ask the neighbors if they will let me fill my buckets with their hose. Water shortage is getting bad all over Guatemala. It’s worse in the rural areas, of course. But we’re seeing the effects here too. A huge blessing was that the plumbing job only cost me about Q300 ($40)!! That’s labor and supplies! It’s so different here. I waited about 3 hours for the guy to get here from zone 1. He came by bus with his tools in a backpack. So, when he needed parts, I took him to Cemaco, which is a Home Depot-ish type store, and then another construction supply store in the city to finally find the exact parts he needed. The parts altogether cost about $16, so for his work it cost me only $24!! Unbelievable!! So, when I do finally get water, hopefully it will come in tonight, my shower will no longer leak!! Now if I could only get the widow-maker to work again!! Thank goodness for hot weather that makes a cold shower seem not-so-cold!!!

Floricita

Yesterday morning I took little Floricita to get blood work done for her upcoming cleft pallet surgery. Poor thing! I’m not a big fan of needles and blood, and worse I had to hold that little girl still while they did it to her! I don’t know which is worse. I think I would’ve given my own blood to have not seen her shake like that! She was so scared! But she drank her bottle and went to sleep on the way home. At least she won’t remember it. This whole surgery process will be taken out of her mind once it’s over.

therapy and surgery

Well, I was going to post this ton of pictures that I have from my last few days at Monjas, but my hosting site is down or something, so maybe tomorrow or Thursday.

I had this list of things I needed to do today and I have managed to get a few of them done. But a cool thing happened as the Osborns went last Friday to Fundabiem, a physical therapy center, and two of the girls were accepted for therapy. I had agreed months ago that I would take the ones who were able to go. So I went with Shyrel today for their first treatment. Catarin and Eunice were the ones accepted. Catarin can't walk on her own at all. Her legs are basically limp. Eunice is autistic and suffers from seizures. They thought at first that I would be able to take both of them on the same day, but we quickly discovered today that it would be basically impossible, at best it would be completely exhausting. So, I will now be taking Eunice Monday and Wednesday, and Catarin will be Tuesday and Thursday, both girls in the morning. Catarin is easy because she is very calm and very sweet. Eunice likes to wonder and doesn't take well to being told what to do. At the home she was at before they apparently just tied her to a chair and left her because she was too hard to deal with!! It makes a lot of sense now to why she doesn't want to trust and obey. It was very interesting today and I think both girls will benefit tremendously with these efforts. I can't to look back in a few years, months even maybe, and see how far they've come!!

We also took Flor this afternoon to a plastic surgeon to see about getting her cleft pallet fixed. This doctor is a friend of a nurse who used to work at Casa Aleluya and is doing this surgery for free!! What a blessing!! He said Flor's was the worst he'd seen in years, very deep, or high, whatever is the correct term. It's bad, is all. He said it would take two surgeries just to correct the pallet, first the soft, then the hard, if he could even fix it completely then. Then another to correct the gums. Her teeth will have to be removed. Thn finally her lip, and another for her nose. He said the lip is usually done first, but with her being 1 1/2 years old already, it would affect her speech too much to wait any longer. He's starting next week!! There is blood work to be done as well. Please pray for Floricita, and those who are caring for her.

Flor

We took Flor this afternoon to a plastic surgeon to see about getting her cleft pallet fixed. This doctor is a friend of a nurse who used to work at Casa Aleluya and is doing this surgery for free!! What a blessing!! He said Flor's was the worst he'd seen in years, very deep, or high, whatever is the correct term. It's bad, is all. He said it would take two surgeries just to correct the pallet, first the soft, then the hard, if he could even fix it completely then. Then another to correct the gums. Her teeth will have to be removed. Thn finally her lip, and another for her nose. He said the lip is usually done first, but with her being 1 1/2 years old already, it would affect her speech too much to wait any longer. He's starting next week!! There is blood work to be done as well. Please pray for Floricita, and those who are caring for her.