Photos of Lucy's Birhtday

Lucy's Birthday

What a difference a couple days make. Teresa is doing much better and her leg is just a little bruised and doing great!

Yesterday was Lucy's seventh birthday. On September 2, 2003 , she was found abandoned at the gate of The Government Building of Shangbu Town ,Luxi County , PingXiang City ,JiangXi Province , China. Her birth Mother placed her at a location that she new she would be found very quickly. With her was a birth note from her birth Mother with her name(Ya Ya Mei), her birth date and time. The orphanage renamed her Ya Ping, keeping the Ya from her Mother and adding Ping for the City.
On May 29, 2006, she became Lucy Ya Ping Bartlinski.

She had a very rough start in life, having to endure several operations and illnesses all by her self. Having gone through so much at such a young age has made her a fighter. She has the attitude that she can do any thing in life. She also is very stubborn and on those days , look out.

She came to us very sick and spent the first 3 weeks home in the hospital. I am so happy to say she is now doing fantastic. She still has several operations in the future but she will never have to face them alone again.

For her birthday we went to The Utz Potato Chip Factory in Hanover PA for a free tour. The girls all loved it . You would of thought we were at WDW , Teresa was so excited.

After Dinner we had cake and ice cream. While we were in China I found a really cool Birthday candle that opens up into a flower while singing the Birhtday song. Well only in China can you buy a Birthday candle that needs a fire extinguisher to put it out. The look on the girls faces was histerical. Lucy thought her cake was going to catch on fire. Teresa thought it was sooo funny. She finds such happiness in everything.

A good time was had by all.
I'm sure Lucy's Birth Mother must have been thinking of her yesterday . I wish there was some way to tell her she is doing great and loved by her family .

Thank you for praying !

Teresa must have been surrounded with lots of prayers today because last night her leg was swollen and bruised, in a lot of pain and had a fistula between her artery and vein causing high velocity blood flow .This morning she was to have the ultra sound repeated and then go to surgery to repair the damage. When the ultrasound was done again this morning the tear in the artery and vein was almost completely gone,the swelling was gone, the bruising had stopped and the pain was subsiding! No surgery and we came home! She was so happy to be going home she started singing her favorite song in Chinese as we left the hospital.

Thank you !!!!!!!

heart cath.

On Tues. Teresa had her heart cath. ,right now it is Th. morning 2am. and we are back in the hospital. Wed. Teresa woke with a lot of pain in her right leg. As the day progressed the pain became worse and her leg started to swell and bruise. The doctor thought it could be a blood clot so we returned to the hospital . After many test ,it was determined she has a tear in her artery and vein,(caused from the heart cath.) causing high velocity blood flow between the two. We are waiting to be moved to the childrens floor and in the morning she will have more testing and then head back to the OR to repair it.

I know I keep asking for prayers for Teresa , but please pray for her today !

The results of the cath. were very bad. Nothing can be done, the Doctors just want to keep her comfortable with medicines. She could have a stroke or heart attack at any time.
Thank you everyone for all of your prayers and words of encouragement.

Hoping for good news tomorrow

What were we thinking?

What were we thinking adopting two three year olds in 7 months?
Twice the hugs, twice the kisses and twice the love.

The past seven months have been a huge adjustment for us. Just when we thought Gemma's medical condition ( Beta Thalassemia Major) was under control we were thrown a curve ball. Gemma receives blood transfusions every 3 weeks. Last month her Hematologist wanted to try and push her to every 4 weeks for transfusion . This made her hemoglobin level dropped too low and now she is playing catch up to get back to a safe level. Last week she received extra blood at her transfusion . We are hoping this did the trick or she will have to start receiving transfusions every 2 weeks. Receiving transfusions every 2 weeks for the rest of your life is not a good thing. With each transfusion comes the extra iron and it is stored up in the heart and liver eventually causing these organs to fail. Gemmas liver biopsy revealed her ferritin levels at 3211(normal levels are 10-300). Luckily her heart is just enlarged and does not show signs of iron . She takes a daily chelation medicine to remove the iron from her liver but so far it has not helped. The only cure for this disease is a bone marrow transplant but unfortunately this is not an option for Gemma because the donor has to be a blood relative.
We are hoping her transfusion schedule will improve .I know it is hard on her to receive so many needles ,but she never complains and she tries to be brave.

Teresa's health continues to be a day to day encounter. She has good days where you would never guess she was so ill and then she has bad days where she is blue and lays on the couch most of the day. So far the good days out number the bad days and she continues to find happiness in each new day with new experiences to love.

Our road of life continues to take many turns with each new day but we are learning how to go with the flow ,accepting GODS will and appreciating every new day.

Rita and Karin , could you please email me. I need to contact you but do not have your emails. Thanks , Ann

Still Waiting for Good News

We are still waiting for good news. With each Doctors appointment we receive the same bad news . Tuesday Aug.24 is Teresa's heart cath. ,still praying for a miracle!

A blue day

Teresa did not have a good day today. She was very blue all day and her oxygen was very low. She has a cardiology appointment on Monday . Praying for a better day tomorrow!

Simple pleasures

Who new this could be soooo much fun !

Several people have asked if they could post information about Teresa and ask for more prayers for her, YES , please ask everyone to pray for her . She needs a miracle !

Choices

I never imagined my life would be so difficult. Difficult probably isn't the right word, busy, complex, challenging, exhausting, heavy and tiresome are probably better, but also rewarding and so filled with love.

As my Father so kindly reminded me today "You chose this life". Yes, Ed and I did choose this life and we do not regret one minute of it or of our choices. (well maybe the financial part.Being the control freak that I am it would be nice to have a little financial security but GOD is teaching us to be totally dependent on HIM for our needs of each day . )

Right now we are trying to find a "new normal", a new way of life. Our new normal consists of knowing the fastest way to the Hospital in traffic, learning exactly how the human heart functions, monitoring Teresa's oxygen and breathing regularly , medicine schedules and trying to balance the needs of 8 other children who are also learning how to deal with a new way of life.

WE are trying to not have Teresa live in a bubble and we want her to experience everything a healthy child does, but right now it is a balancing act. We were told to take her home and let her be a kid, so that is what we are trying to do. Hand sanatizer has become my new best friend. Please do not be offended if I ask you to wash your hands and take off your shoes when you come to visit or if you have been around any one that has been ill to please not get too close to Teresa. A virus could very easily travel through out her body and to her heart and brain because of how her heart is so severely deformed. ( We were told to keep her away from anyone with a virus, but with 9 kids I know this is not entirely possible)

I use to wake up at night and worry about money...how were we going to pay for this adoption...the travel expenses...health insurance...our leaking roof... tuition...

I now wake up at night and worry if Teresa will be with us for one more day . It seems so meaningless now worrying about money . We are so grateful for everyday that God shares her with us.

I know GOD has her heart in HIS hands and I know that HE brought her into our lives for a reason . I know that HIS will is perfect and I pray that I can accept HIS will for her life what ever that may be.

Photos

Over the weekend , Alex helped me put all of the photos of our trip on a dvd with music.
At the China Care Home we met several children that were just amazing children . A three year old little boy with Down Syndrome stole Ed's heart. He would not leave Ed's side. He had such a friendly and engaging personality . There also was Teresa's best friend Ming. Ming has a very complex heart condition that can not be corrected in China. But the good news is her heart can be healed here in the U. S. . She only needs a family to bring her home. Might she be your daughter?

It is so sad to walk into an orphanage and only walk out with one child. Saying good bye to Ming was very sad. How do you explain to a three year old that her friend is going home , but you must stay, as you wave good bye to her?

While in the orphanage we would play with Ming too and she would call us Mama and Baba. Teresa did not like this and would come over and sit on my lap as if to remind Ming that this was her Mother and Father, afraid that we might change our mind if someone else were to call us Mama and Baba.

Teresa talks to Ming every day on her play phone. She says "Ni Hao Ming Jie Jie" (Hello older sister Ming). She goes on to have a full conversation with her telling her about Grace Jie JIe and Alex Ge Ge. It is so adorable .

Today I was able to take 4 of the girls to the pool for a little bit while Ed stayed home with Teresa. She was not having a good day, her heart rate was way too high and her oxygen was way too low, so we kept her inside the house in the a/c.

Please pray for our family as we continue to try to find peace and strength for caring for Teresa . We are so humbled that God has entrusted her care to us and let us be her family . She is such an amazing little soul . She has brought so much love into our lives already . WE just need strength and peace to accept God's Will for her life , whatever it may be...

Paul is Home!

Paul came home for a few days . Classes start again on Wed. He and Meghan brought home with them their new puppy "Dewey".

A Miracle

Thank you for all of your prayers and continued donations . We are very grateful to everyone. Last week we had a very unexpected bill of $2,300 for Gemma's and Teresa's one month supply of medicine.(Gemma takes a very strong medicine for removing the excess iron built up in her body from receiving blood transfusions every 3 weeks and Teresa takes 4 different heart medicines everyday for her heart). Thank you !

Yesterday we took Teresa to Church for the first time. People were amazed at how well she looked . She seems to hold her own when she is in the air conditioning and sitting still , otherwise she tends to have a lot of trouble with her breathing and heart rate . We were on pins and needle this afternoon because she was trying to keep up with her sisters and she started to have a lot of trouble breathing. Life has become very stressful worrying about her . We know she is in GOD'S hands ultimately but it still is difficult watching her suffer so much to breath. We are trying not to keep her in a bubble and will feel a lot better (I hope ) in 2 weeks when she has her heart catheriztion. ( Aug. 18).

WE need a miracle for Teresa .
Pope John Paul 2 , needs one more miracle to forward his cause for canonization.
This is a prayer that was on the EWTN web site for him. ( Thank you Mrs. Warthen):

O Holy Trinity,
we thank you for having given to the Church
Pope John Paul II,
and for having made him shine with your fatherly tenderness,
the glory of the Cross of Christ and the splendor of the Spirit of love

He, trusting completely in your infinite mercy
and in the maternal intercession of Mary, has shown himself
in the likeness of Jesus the Good Shepherd
and has pointed out to us holiness
as the path to reach eternal communion with You.

Grant us, through his intercession,
according to your will, the grace that we implore,
in the hope that he will soon be numbered among your saints.
Amen.

We love PJP2 and actually named our daughter Emilia after his Mother .(Emilia Kaczorowska) . Since we could not name her John or Paul , we thought what better way to honor him than through his Mother .