WE LOVE SHRINER'S HOSPITAL!!!!!
Lily, Hope, Phoebe, and I made a whirlwind trip to Shreveport Wednesday for Lily to have her first appointment with Shriner's Hospital. Lily was sad to leave Daddy and was quiet and even cried on the way there. I tried giving her a lollipop, making her a soft place for her head, etc. but she just wanted him. Daniel has before wondered if she has really bonded with him in a real, true way and if she really loves him (because she has attached herself to other men since we got her) but I told him after this trip I can tell she loves him for real. She knows how to love. And she has found a good one to love first. He is an incredible man. I cannot say enough good things about him. I could start a whole blog called Sweet Things Daniel Does and never run out of things to post. He had some concerns about adopting an older child, but when he felt God calling us to bring home Lily, he threw all the concerns away in a matter of moments and has never looked back. And he loves little Lily sincerely. She is so blessed to have him as her daddy.
We went straight to our appointment and Ashley met us in the lobby! Ashley is one of my best friends that I grew up with. Like family for sure. Ashley has worked at Shriners almost since graduation. She helps prepare children for surgery. It's so fun to see her and where she works now and that she is helping US now! Ashley had on bright kelly green uniform pants and a bright pink Shriner's shirt. The second I saw her I commented how those were here favorite colors in high school and her class even chose them for prom! I told her when I dressed Lily in her outfit that day (pink and green) I had indeed thought of her and there they were in coordinating outfits! It was a fun time!
Lily had about 6 X-rays taken and then we met with the surgeon. He confirmed that she was born with a hip defect and that it is completely fixable. He said they would put in a steel plate and hopefully it would make her legs even (they are 2 and a half cm off). She is getting a lift glued to the bottom of her right shoe so that she will be able to walk more even. He said her spine looked great (whew!) and that from her X-rays it does not appear that she has rickets. He said it is possible to be malnourished and not have rickets. I was glad but still concerned. I thought rickets was the missing link to why she is so little. He said since we have no idea about her parent's history it's hard to say. I thought maybe the people that conceived her are the littlest people in the world. It's possible. I even thought she might have a form of dwarfism initially, but it seems she doesn't have any of the symptoms of that. So we are still hoping that eating right and taking vitamins and playing in the sunshine and a WHOLE LOTTA LOVE will help Lily girl grow! I think it will.
(Hope had to do some yoga as soon as we got to Shriner's Hospital. I think she needed to stretch after being in the car for 7 hours.)
It still amazes me that all of her care at Shriner's will be free. I cannot fathom free these days. We are so grateful as we will have 2 surgeries for Hope and one other surgery for Lily this year as well. Dr.McCall at Shriner's wants to repair her hip within the year so he recommended that we not wait 6 months to do Lily's other surgery as that one needs to come first. So it looks like we will be having Hope's two surgeries in Dallas, then Lily's surgery in Cincinnati, then her hip surgery in Shreveport.
It was fun to see family and friends. Lily got to stay at Winna and Poppa's home for the first time (Daniel's parents). She is so blessed to have grandparents like them! She met new friends and family members and got to play with little cousin Harper again. It still amazes me to see how one child can have NOTHING for 9 years and now look at what she has! So many people wanting to meet her, give her gifts, and love on her! Forever friends and family! Adoption is amazing! There is not a word good enough for it! Don't you wanna adopt? : )
Lily ended up spending a lot of time with me. She was even excited that she and I got to sleep together at Winna and Poppa's house. And the next day going home she was happy and fun and loving (granted she knew we were going home to see daddy) but still, I really felt like the trip did us some good. I would say that we have definitely turned a corner together. I'm not sure how many corner's it will take to get to where she loves me and trusts me and needs me and wants me like I want her to, but we are one corner closer!
I was wishing we had more time to visit more people but we had to get back for Phoebe and Rob's baseball games that night. We flew through my hometown of Vivian, Louisiana before heading back yesterday. Aunt Suzie squeezed and kissed the girls between shampooing ladies' hair! She had also prepared 2 giant strawberry cakes and dozens of Aunt Suzies Famous Tea Cakes in easter egg shapes (to which Uncle Leonard said they were not there when he left for work that morning). How does she do it all?
Mmmm. I think I'll go eat a piece of that cake now.
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