Make A Wish

A few days ago we met with The make A Wish organization . I had been putting it off because it seemed like such a sad process to start but we decided we would make Teresa's wish into a happy event to celebrate her life . I want to celebrate Her birth parents for giving her life , the orphanage for finding her the medical care she needed ,The China Care organization for providing her with the best care possible and filling all of her days with love , ASIA (our adoption agency ) for helping us to bring Teresa home , everyone all over the world for praying for her to find a home, Teresa's prayer warriors for covering her in prayer all of the time , Our wonderful community and friends for supporting us and helping us with fund raisers, Our church for unconditional love and support, Father Whatley who gave us the spiritual guidance to follow Gods Will and our children who all have had to make tremendous sacrifices on this journey .

I am not sure where they will send Teresa for her celebration but I know it will be wonderful. She told them she would like to be a princess . This week her favorite princess is Belle. Believe it or not she also told them she LOVES Jennifer Lopez and American Idol . She LOVES watching her every week and continuously comments throughout the entire show on her finger nail polish , lipstick and hair . So funny !

My wish was for her to go to Rome for the Beatification of Pope John Paul II but that some how did not come out of her mouth . Oh well.

Today we also had great news at the cardiologist . Last month she was having a lot of trouble getting over a cold , her oxygen was very low and she had little energy . When we went to the cardiologist last month it was discovered that her tricuspid valve was severely leaking and causing her liver to be very enlarged also.
Now she is doing much better. Her liver has slightly decreased in size , her pulmonary pressure has decreased slightly and her pulmonary gradient has improved ! Her oxygen today was 83 !!!!
Thank You Jesus ! God is Good !

"The will of God will never take you , where the grace of God will not protect you "- Father Whatley .

Tadpoles and Holly

Today Holly came to visit from PA. . She also is a "Princess" like Teresa. Lucy , Gemma and Teresa had a wonderful time meeting Holly and playing together. It is so nice when God opens the door to new friendships!

To all of Teresa's prayer warriors - Thank you for surrounding her in prayer 24/7 for one week ! She had a phenomenal week with her oxygen even reaching 82 for a few days ! The power of PRAYER !!! Thank you Jesus for giving her this past week . What a blessing she is . She is living proof of Gods love and mercy .

Blind Surrender

Do you ever feel like life is so heavy you forget how to smile ?
That's kinda how life is right now . At times having fun seems so frivolous when other things in our life are so heavy and weighing us down .

It is really hard to believe that five years ago our future was so strategically planned with dreams of retirement, vacations and financial freedom . Now are dreams have completely changed . I am happy if we can make it through the day without any medical or financial crisis . Our future is totally dependent on GOD to meet our needs for each day .
Teresa's life is so fragile we have had to find peace in knowing GOD is in control of her life . Blind Surrender...the hardest thing we have ever done.

"To surrender to GOD means that we offer HIM our will , our reason , our life. We do this in pure faith , even if our soul is in darkness. Truly ,trials and suffering are the surest test of blind surrender. "- Mother Teresa

St. Patrick's Day

Lucy came home from school yesterday announcing she was 1/2 Irish . "Really ?" , I said. "Yep, I am 1/2 Chinese , 1/2 American and 1/2 Irish ." She had so much fun celebrating St. Patrick's Day she decided she would become Irish . She loves her family so much , she decided she was 1/2 American . I told her we love her so much that we became 1/2 Chinese too.
No matter how you add it up it equals 100% total HAPPINESS for her !

Teresa wasn't sure what all the green fuss was about. Green isn't one of her favorite colors since there isn't a Princess that wears this color . But she had fun making Irish Soda Bread and eating it even if it was green .

8 Months Home

Today was the 8 month mark of Teresa being HOME !!!!
Today she discovered worms and spring flowers . She loved the way the worm wiggled on her hand . "It tickles ,It Tickles "
She had a wonderful day . She was feeling great and loved playing outside discovering new things .

Marshmallow Fun!

Another first for Teresa , roasting marshmallows ! She loved it !

What A Good Week !

Teresa had a really good week ! No cold , no runny nose and no sneezing !
She also seemed to have more energy and was not quite so blue . Her oxygen saturation was still in the 70's , but she did not require oxygen all week !!!!!!
Thank you for continuing to PRAY for Teresa !!!!

Boston

Yesterday I spoke to a wonderfully caring Doctor from Boston . He took the time to review Teresa's medical records with his colleagues and discuss her options . We spoke at length about Teresa's heart and lungs and unfortunately he agreed with Hopkins , CHOP and The Mayo Clinic. She is inoperable, her prognosis is not good, just a matter of time . We discussed what will happen and how to handle it . I can't tell you how disappointing this past week has been . Teresa is so full of life right now and she just LOVES everything and everybody and to think that she will just keep deteriorating is so sad . He also agreed that he did not recommend trying a heart/lung transplant because the success in children is EXTREMELY low .
For now she continues to think she is well ,nothing is wrong and life is wonderful .

We will continue to pray for her "Miracle".
My fear is :

The Miracle will not be the CURE... her life will be the Miracle .

We have not given up hope , just very sad.

The Writing on the Wall !

If you are going to draw on the wall, it is a good idea not to write your name under it ! Gemma was BUSTED!!! She was not a happy camper .

This week Teresa had more good days than bad . Her oxygen is still low but she has managed to play (oops), I mean BE a princess still ! She is so happy and loving life !

We have submitted her medical reports to several more Hospitals with the hope of still finding a "Miracle " cure somewhere. It's not that we don't believe the other Doctors prognosis, we just want to be sure there isn't a miracle cure somewhere. The response we keep getting is she is inoperable . Her lungs are severely, irreversibly damaged and she can not have surgery on her heart to repair the several major defects.
Her tricuspid valve is now severely leaking , her oxygen is very low and she is still retaining fluid , and has a very enlarged liver .
It kills me to think this could have ALL been avoided had she been adopted sooner. Before her lungs became so damaged , she would have been able to have the surgery for her heart to save her life . Why ?!?!?!

Transfusion day

Today Gemma had her blood transfusion . For the second month in a row she was able to make it 4 weeks in between transfusions . ( Yeah !!!!) . This is great news for her since she will require blood transfusions for the rest of her life . Her ferritin levels were still very high so her daily infusion of Deferoxamine will be increased . Her Doctor discussed the possibility of her needing a bone marrow transplant in the future. The transplant would ideally have to come from a biological family member as this would greatly lower the possibility of major complications . This most likely will never be a possibility for her because finding her biological family in China is extremely difficult if not impossible . So for right now the plan is to continue on with the blood transfusions every 4 weeks and hopefully get her ferritin down before her liver becomes much more damaged .

Teresa update - she had a very good day today and seemed to have more energy . She received 2 packages today from 2 more amazing friends. Thank you so much ! You made her smile all day !!!!

The girls are having so much fun tracking Teresa's prayer friends form all over the world . She almost has someone praying for her from every continent ! WOW

Thank you !!!!