Lilypie Waiting to adopt Ticker

Thursday, June 28, 2012

We are home!

We are home. Today is day 2 being home. We are still adjusting back to US time. It feels good..but bitter sweet. Our precious little angel is far..too far away. We got an email last night saying that today she should be transferred from her only home she has ever known for the past 8 months to a new orphanage in Addis. She will have to make the 4.5-5 hour trip in the car to her transition home. We were all emotional last night as we pondered over this move. First of all, we got to meet her precious nanny. This sweet woman has been her mom in the interim. She has raised her, loved her, kissed her, comforted her, held her, fed her in the midnight hours. The love she has for Syra Tadelech is unreal. I have seen it. When we were leaving the orphanage the other day, my heart sank as I knew I would never see this woman again. I had our social worker translate for me and I expressed my deepest love and gratitude for taking care of Syra. I hugged her dearly and wept. She was humbled and speechless. She has simply been doing what she is gifted to do, but for us..she has had a pivotal part in our daughters life. I cannot imagine what emotions she will feel as they bring Syra Tadelech to the new orphanage. Lord, comfort her and bless her. Since our visit to the orphanage in the Hawassa town, we have wanted to get her out of there just simply because of the conditions. While they are doing their absolute BEST to raise and care for these precious babes, they are limited in resources. At one point during our visit there, I had to use the restroom. I asked and they nodded. The nanny walked out into the courtyard where two ladies were washing baby clothes. They took the dirty wash water, poured into a bucket and ran inside. I was trying to assess what was going on. At this point, there was lots of chatting in Amharic and gestures but no one showing me where it was. Finally, when the gal returned with the empty bucket, she showed me the bathroom in a building adjacent to the baby area. It was not good. Our social worker who is also Ethiopian was with me. She cautiously peered around the corner and with an unsure face asked me if it was okay. There was no door, no real floor. I quickly surmised that the dirty wash water had just been graciously poured into the top tank so that the toilet could be flushed. I felt a little obligated out of courtesy to use it ..but then not. SO, I did not. The social worker agreed with my decision. I had appreciated the great effort and love that when into their swift hosting. ..but I just could not do it. I will hold it! I went back to babe in daddy's arms. SO sweet!! She loves Chris so much already. Can't wait to post a pic. We are supposed to get pics from our visit today via email. During our sweet 2 hour visit, we were assessing everything with Syra. We were looking her over as much as we could without appearing like freaks. She was wearing a long sleaved outfit, so it was difficult to check her out completely.Everything appeared to be great with Syra until I saw the back of her neck. She had a sore on her neck about the size of pinto that was open, oozing, and infected. Next to it, were scars of the same size. There was a little row of scars that led to this wound. What in the world? She also had a rash on her neck and little red dots all over her face and arms and a few on her feet and legs. Wow, Lord, heal her. What is this? The nanny told us that the dots were fly bites...but many of the dots were under her clothes. On a good note, she was doing things that the local doctor had said she could not do. I helped her sit up. I noticed she was passing toys from one hand to another and she also began to babble a little: all things that she reportedly was not able to to do. Joy..pure joy. It is amazing what we were witnessing. We were prepared to see our sweet girl less developed but she was so much more developed than what they had reported. BUT...the sores were worrisome. They nanny told us via the social worker's translation that it was an allergy..but we knew better. As soon as we got back to our hotel, we sent out prayer requests to our team at home and began to google. nothing. could not find one thing that fit the description.o When we arrived safely back at the guest house in Addis the next day, we were still determined that a diagnosis would happen. I emailed our agency in the US and requested the doctor to check it out again and see if antibiotics were being given. This particular sore was becoming necrotic at the base of her neck. not good. Long story short...a new couple came to the guest house with their baby girl. Incidently, this was the same couple we had seen in Hawassa the day before at the orphanage. We never got to officially meet them but assumed they were with a different agency doing the same thing we were. They were visiting with their babe and enjoying every moment like we were. Little did we know we would be spending the week with them and getting to know their family. In the guest house, as we told of our experiences and concerns for Syra, they showed us a sore on their baby's leg. THE SAME THAT WAS ON SYRA...a necrotic sore, black in fact. Their babe was sick and fluish. They have decided that the husband is going to stay the next several months in country with their babe while the mom goes home to US during all the embassy prep work. A great situation if anyone is able to do it. They are able to take their babe straight into their care for the next few months until homeward bound. After hearing about her sores, I googled and prayed and found a diagnosis that fit the description perfectly: Rickettsial Pox. Basically, this is a condition that occurs from mite bites. These are bites from the bug of mice that once bitten create a necrotic wound that takes 2-3 weeks toheal. In the meantime, a false pox rash breaks out (the little red dots) and creates flu like symptoms. The wound heals and leaves little scars. It is healable and treatable but can get bad. It is not contagious. Our prayer is that Syra will heal soon and get no more bites...and hopefully when she is moved, she will be in cleaner conditions. While we were at the guest house this week, we were able to see the huge improvement with Syra's orphange roommate. Her sore healed...her flu symptoms went away..and she had the best demeanor. It was encouraging. SO encouraging. I think the Lord knew we needed to see that. Well..I ramble now. my fatigue is setting in. It is 9am here..but 5pm there. Will post pics when they come. Lord, take care of my baby today. I miss her soooooo.

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