Post- Surgery

I am now 2 weeks post-surgery. The lump of muscle affectionately known as "pampelmuse" {meaning grapefruit in German} is history. :)

I just have to share this cool God thing... The morning had my surgery, a beautiful young black woman was my nurse. Not overly warm & friendly, but is was 5:30 am. ;). Anyway, just when I could have started to feel bit nervous for the fact that I was going to have robotic arms shoved into regions that I'd rather leave alone, I noticed she had an accent. I asked where she was from originally. You know when you know the answer before you hear it? It was like that. Yep, you guessed it... Liberia!! So, I was all excited and told her we were just there in June and she just lit right up! She hugged Jason later when she met him, and spent all her spare time talking with us. She's been here for 6 years, and was in Liberia for most of the war. Anyway, so amazing how God makes those connections for us... and also totally got my mind off of the fact that I was having surgery! I was really grateful for her being there... she made my day!

The procedure was a success. I have pictures... everyone loves pictures of internal organs, right? There sits my little fist-sized uterus all sewn up and next to it sits my gigantaur fibroid, 2.5 times the size of my uterus itself. Kinda glad it gone. For the first time in many, many years, I don't feel like I look pregnant.

The first week was more brutal than I had imagined. I was very uncomfortable, and the air they pumped into my abdomen was the cause of just as much pain as the actual incisions. After that, I felt I was healing well, but I continued to have a very consistent feeling of light-headedness, like I could pass out at any moment. Also, breathing was laboured, and it felt hard to get a deep breath. So... my Doc wanted me to go in and have tests run to rule out a blood clot or bleeding in my abdomen. Jason and I spent a lovely 4 hours in the ER to find out that I was fine. I just had a large pocket of that air from the surgery lodged below my diaphragm, making it hard to breathe... and maybe causing the light-headed feeling. Anyway, money... toilets flushing... you get the idea. But, peace of mind knowing that I wasn't likely going to keel over in the middle of the night from a blood clot... priceless. (I guess.)

The second week has been better. I feel stronger every day, and am finally able to drive again. I tire ridiculously easy (easily?). I now have a much deeper empathy for people who have surgery, and hope I will be more helpful to them! I am so grateful to my friends/family who helped out! People who gave rides, meals, called to see if I needed anything, watched my kids... HUGE blessing to me - thank you.

All 4 kids in One Spot!

I've been meaning to get this done since we got home from seeing Kelvin and Hawa... to put all four kids in one spot! It's the closest we can come to seeing them altogether for now... but we certainly hope that changes! We desire to see all four of our amazing kids in ONE photo! I can just imagine the giggles, the scuffles over who-sits-where, the joyful and sly smiles... can't wait for the day it really happens! For now, we'll settle for this... :)

Also- I realize I don't write much regarding Anika and Asher. I think of this blog as the place to update about the adoption, and it also has been therapeutic in processing stuff coming home from Liberia. There may be a little caution in me to keep their lives private as well, and to respect the fact that they may not want details about them out there for just anyone to read. BUT... you should know that they are my JOY!!!!!!!!!! They blow me away every day. I hate to sound like one of those annoying moms who portray her kids as perfect little angels, but seriously... they're pretty amazing in my book! It wasn't always so... certainly, we've had hard parenting seasons where I thought I'd tear every last hair out of my head! But we've tried to be consistent and loving and to be genuine up-close examples of Jesus to them, and somehow, despite our many flaws and selfish tendencies, they're turning out to be amazing little people.

I could write entire books on each of them... their personalities, their strengths and weaknesses, our hopes and dreams for each of them., and how we SO look forward to seeing the world-changing things that the Lord will do with their willing hearts. I have seen maturity in them that I am able to learn from... forgiveness, obedience, desire to please their Father, patience and perseverance to seek the Lord for their brother and sister's adoption... some of the same things that the Lord is trying to hammer into my own thick skull! It's really pretty amazing to be able to be learning these things together!

With kiddos like this, you can see that we are convinced that children truly are a blessing... and at least one of the reasons we seek to fill our house with more! :)

Surgery

I will have surgery to remove the large fibroid that has formed in my uterine wall on Aug. 12th. I am happy to have a doctor who is very experienced with the DaVinci robotic device that will actually do the work inside me. It's very sci-fi, but kinda cool. The Doc sits 5-10 feet away in his console and directs the robotic arms by way of the apparatus that his fingers are in. Anyway, the procedure will be happening around 7:30 am on Thursday, August 12th.

If you want to pray for health and protection for me, I'd very much appreciate it! I'm excited to get this grapefruit out of me! :)

Thanks,
Corrie

"Feeling" Liberia

It's supposed to be 90 degrees today... and crazy humid too. I used to hate these days. I used to stay in my house in the air conditioned bliss, or run errands in my air conditioned car to avoid the uncomfortable sensation of breathing in liquid air. But today, for the first time EVER, I found myself loving it. It's as close to feeling like I'm in Liberia as I can physically feel. It brings back memories of my children sitting in my lap as we rode in the van to the mission schools, with the wind {and the car exhaust} blowing in our faces. It reminds me of stepping off of the plane into Liberian air for the first time ever... and swallowing the thickness of the air in gulps. It takes me back to a knowledge that there is more than this. So, I ran errands this morning with my windows open... and I smiled like a fool who has some secret.
I'll probably be inside in my air conditioning a fair part of today, I mean, let's face it... I'm a wuss. But, I can promise you that I will make a point of sitting outside and remembering and thinking, and most of all, dreaming of when I will feel Liberia next.