Our Jonah is having surgery ...

Hello Friends!!

We have some news to share with you, especially those who would be willing to pray, about one of the boys for whose adoption we are currently in process.  A few weeks after we began pursuing this adoption, we were made aware that “Billy”, aka our Jonah, was selected to receive a surgery in China to begin the process of correcting his severe facial cleft.  At first we were a little nervous about this based on the surgeries that both our daughters had in China before we began the adoption processes for each of them.  We really are thankful for the medical technology that we have in our country and we will, of course, follow up with our craniofacial center with Children's Hospital when we finally bring him home to our family. 

Anyway, a few weeks ago, after joining a few online adoption networks, we were contacted by a family who adopted a little girl from the same orphanage that our Jonah and Rees currently reside in.  They had the opportunity to visit the orphanage before leaving China, which gave their daughter the opportunity to say “good-bye” to some of her friends and “Billy” was one of those friends!  

Not only did they send a few photos of that experience,  but they also shared that their family sponsored “Billy’s” upcoming surgery and that it is being done through the organization known as Love Without Boundaries!! (click on the link if you'd like to go to their website)

Well, we are just immensely blessed  by this information and amazed at how far technology has come within just a few short years.  When we were adopting our daughters, we were only given the initial photos and that’s it!  Now, with technology, we have videos, multiple photos and connections with other adoptive families who know about these children! 

Love Without Boundaries is an organization that was started by a group of adoptive parents back in 2003 to provide loving and compassionate care to the orphaned and impoverished children in China.  They are funded mostly by generous donations and they have a "worldwide team of volunteers, including doctors and surgeons, all of whom share a love for the children in China and work together to bring the gifts of hope and healing to these children’s lives."

A couple weeks ago, LWB posted information about their upcoming “Cleft Exchange” and below (highlighted in blue) is what they posted about it and you can find "Billy" (Jonah) in the group of photos. 

The 2015 Cleft Medical Exchange

We are excited to announce LWB's 2015 Cleft Medical Exchange trip running from April 12-18. Dr. Tolan, Dr. Clinch, Dr. Tollefson, Dr. Derechin and a team of volunteers will be returning to China to perform approximately 35 cleft lip and palate surgeries on children from various provinces. Partnering with Kaifeng Children’s Hospital, the American doctors will also provide training in advanced cleft lip and palate procedures. Chinese and American doctors will also discuss advanced cleft lip and palate procedures, thus helping children receive quality cleft repairs for years to come.

We are in need of sponsors to partner with us to make these surgeries happen. The approximate cost of surgeries is $750 each, but we also need general donations to cover the cost of the children's transportation, supplies, and other necessary costs. Please consider giving a general cleft exchange donation to help with the trip expenses or sponsoring an individual child for surgery as they are posted to our medical program's sponsorship page. The transformations will amaze you.

Here are some of the faces of the children scheduled to be helped during this year's exchange trip.

 

They also had other posts that highlights some of the children scheduled for surgeries and it was exciting to discover they posted about our Jonah and hoping that this surgery would help him to find his forever family.  They did not know that we had already begun the process to adopt him.

We are just about two weeks away from the start of our 2015 Cleft Medical Exchange. We want to thank everyone for your kindness and generosity in sponsoring children for their surgeries. LWB is blessed with the most AMAZING supporters! We will of course be blogging each day during the week of the exchange, but we wanted to share a few stories of the children coming ahead of time, so that as you follow along that week, you will know some of their background.

For those new to this type of surgery, you should know that a cleft refers to any gap in a child’s soft tissue, bone, or both. Many people immediately think of a child’s lip, but some clefts involve not only the mouth and nose but other parts of the face as well. In 1976, the famous French surgeon Paul Tessier classified 15 different types of cleft. We will be assisting children with several different types on our upcoming exchange.

One of the boys who will be coming to our team is known in the adoption community as Billy. He is six years old and has a severe facial cleft. The formal name for his special need is “Bilateral Tessier #7 Cleft,” an extremely rare condition. Billy has been available for adoption for quite some time, but sadly he still remains unchosen. His orphanage reports that he is very self-conscious about his facial difference, and so we are thrilled that our medical team will be able to help him through surgery. His nannies say Billy is a very kind little boy who will gladly help them out with chores. He is also described as very tender-hearted towards the younger kids and will comfort them when they are crying.

His surgery will of course be a very complex one, and both surgeons will be working together in the OR. We are all hoping that having this life-changing operation will help Billy not only have more confidence about himself, but of course we are also hoping a family will read about him and want more information on making him their son.

While we are still pretty early in the adoption process and it will be several months before we go to China to make it official, this little boy is our son and we are both excited and anxious for what he is about to go through ... without the loving assurance of a parent with him.  

We ask that you will pray with us (and for us) and for Jonah as he undergoes this surgery that will likely be scary and painful.  We pray that the doctors and staff are compassionate and caring with him.  We pray that God will envelop Jonah in His Own Tenderloving Care and pull him through this beautifully.  We do not want him to be too uncomfortable and do not know how they handle pain medication there.  Hopefully, it is adequate and God will take care of the rest.  

We do not know which day the surgery will take place next week and we will not be officially updated.  Perhaps the website will give us a glimpse of how he does ...  but as the team of doctors are already on their way to China, we pray that all will go smoothly and that the lives of all of these very special children will be greatly impacted in a positive way.