Just an update

Nothing huge on Sawyer he is on Depakote sprinkles which seem to be
controlling his seizures for now. He still seems to have some small
seizures but I'm okay with the little ones after the big one! I was
going to respond to the email chain on the wonderful comments we
get...I was in the emergency room with him on Friday night because he
had a terrible fever that I could not keep down, it was 104.3 and I
was worried it would spawn a seizure. There was an older gentleman
that stopped, stared and then said "I sure hope that's not
contageous!"...sheesh. I sat there a second and responded with, "I was
thinking the same thing about your ignorance!". Some of the folks in
the place looked at me and smiled or winked. hehe!

We have another appt with Sawyer's Doctor in a week to review if we
will remove any of his questionable nevi. They halted due to his
seizures, but now I'm wondering with his prognosis if it is even worth
it to put him through it...we'll continue to pray and hope that God
will help us answer that question. How sleepy can playing with a string make you????

Merry Christmas

Well, although tired it was a great day for us all. Sophie's first US Christmas and she had a blast. Sawyer was very tired and uninterested, but I thank you all for the nice gifts for him! Sarah loved her webkins...thank you Kelly's! Samuel about passed out from the Ipod...thank you Wanderleigh's! and Naomi and Hedda...thank you so much for all making this such a wonderful Christmas!

We're back at Children's

Well, I'm back at Children's, spent the night here. He had a seizure
that lasted an hour and 10 or 15 minutes. This is freaking me
out...sheesh. I think my children were more calm than I was. My 7 yr
old called 911 after the rectal diastat didn't work, she said "my baby
brother is having a seizure" and then hung up. Well they of course
called back and my 9 yr old son picked up the phone...he paused as if
to listen and then said..."Nope, you can't talk to her, she's freaking
out, what do you need." Isn't he funny. I immediately felt like "you
had better get your act together!".

He is getting poked and prodded today, not a happy day, he is pretty
sedated for now. I'll update when I know what they are going to do.

Shelli

Cinci Children's Bldg A, Floor 7 room 43

Diagnosis finally

I heard from the Dr. after reading the MRI here is what he said. Sawyer is suffering from Neurocutaneous Melanosis when symptomatic or otherwise manifests neurologically, it carries a poor prognosis even in the absence of malignancy. Sawyer has multiple lesions that are deep seated within his brain. There is NO validation of malignancy. The problem with this disease is that you just don't know. The lesions can grow and cause neurological issues, which is where the seizures are coming from. Dr. Krueger will read the MRI to determine if there is any possibility of removal, however this is not often the case unless there are major changes in symptoms.

Forgive me if I have spotty info, I don't know a lot about the illness as it is considered a RARE disease. I have joined the Nevus Outreach and there are folks there that have children with this disease who I can network with.

Sawyer is in hospital...

Sawyer has been having some seizures recently and was just admitted to the hospital for them. He will be having an MRI on the 22nd to determine if he does in fact have NCM, let's pray he does not! His condition was far worse than was known before his adoption. We know very little at this time but would like you to also hima and my other children in your Thanksgiving prayers as they go through these difficult times

Check out the family picture...

We went out to eat at Brio and had a great time. The kids loved spending time with Papa Dick, Nana Suzie and Nana Diane. Sarah also got to see Brutus...hehe!

I love cookies!!! COOKIES!!

Sawyer has this fascination with nilla waffers...don't we all! Wait until I add the banana pudding! He is starting to show signs of coming out of his little shell every day. We just absolutely love him!

To the petting zoo we go....

We spent the day at Young's Dairy...not my dairy, but wish it was!!! The kids had a blast petting the animals, playing with water balloons and going through the corn maze...luckily I made it out with ALL the children!!!

My little cheer leaders....

Sarah and Sophie love to watch Sam play football, he is so good at it! We love just coming to practice and sitting around and playing together as we watch him play. He is number 58 and is team captain...

I made it!

Well, finally after all these years I'm a college graduate...yippie!!!! I think Sarah is also well on her way to looking good in a cap and tassel!

We're Home!!!!

Well, Sawyer loves the swing...he is a real joy. I think just a few days and he seems to be coming out of his little shell!

Catching up folks...sorry

I have been quite ill the past few days and still feeling under the weather, but I did not want to keep everyone in suspense. Sawyer has been adapting quite well and when we get out he is always the center of attention with the locals...lol! He is so extremely happy all the time. We had the medical exams today and the Dr.s wanted to take pictures of him because they had never seen anything like this before they were quite intrigued.





So we agreed and he loved the attention. We ran into another family that knew Sawyer from all the blogs and were quite excited to see him in person. He passed the medical as far as we know. We also filled out all the ppwk for the Visa, which only took a little while as well.

We took the babies to the Swan Room to play and Sawyer was the fun of the place, he would go to anyone that would bounce him and just laughed...he is quite the little charmer and he walks like a sumo wrestler. I have no idea who this man is, but Sawyer didn't mind. Sorry for the delay, I am still trying to get well so hang with me. Talk to you soon.

Riding the train September 13, 2007

Well, I've never rode a train before in my life. The Wanderlingh's were going to Changchou City to see the outside of the orphanage where Nicholas was, so I decided to go, just because I wanted to ride the train. This was Sept 12th. We walked to the subway and then took that to the train station and rode the train for about an hour at 140 miles per hour...pretty cool!
Once there, we rode a cab to the orphanage, Nicholas went nuts thinking he was going to have to stay, although the guide had told him that we were just visiting. When the guard reached for his hand to say hello, I thought they were going to have to sedate the little guy. He is 5 years old. We left immediately, then the director called us and told us this orphanage was off limits. We were not allowed to view it...hmm. I could pretty much tell by the looks of it from the outside, why.

Sawyer playing more with blocks September 13, 2007

Sawyer is taking some baby steps, he is playing with the blocks and toys more often, he is showing more facial expressions as well. He is also making more sounds as I beg him to say "Mama"...he just smiles at me. As with all my other children he plays with my hair when he is tired, nice to know he will carry on a family tradition...LOL! I was able to get a taste of his real temper last night. He was furious and boy can he yell...he wanted Pepsi...

Hmmm, cute dog! September 13, 2007

This little fella belonged to one of the beggars, funny dog was in better shape than she was....

When we were in Changchou city a little girl about 6 or 7 was begging in front of one of the dept stores. She was very dirty, her hair was a mess and she was very skinny. I felt to badly for her that her parents had her out there begging. It was very difficult to see that.

Good Morning Sunshine! September 12, 2007

Today started very well, Sawyer sleeps great and woke up with some angry screams. He doesn't really cry he is a whiner...preparing for adulthood, huh?? LOL. We ate breakfast, although I wasn't feeling like eating much this morning. We are getting less stares and it's funny that the Caucasian foreigners don't stare at all??? About 9:00 am we Micheal brought me some fruit and clean laundry and we were off to hail a cab to the orphanage. I took several pictures. Nanjing is very clean and the children appear very well cared for, however all the children in his class were similar in delay, with the exception a few, so I didn't feel so impacted. He also behaved much differently in his normal environment. He was very verbal, although nothing I could really make out to be words and very active and smiley.

Shopping at the Mall September 12, 2007

We headed to the mall after the orphanage visit, myself and the Wanderlingh's. Dawn and I shopped while Al had a massage, just a regular massage...not a massage, massage. Hehe! He said later it was the worst massage he had ever had. They massage you fully clothed with a towel over your clothing and he felt as if they beat the heck out of him...lol! We headed to the hotel for some lunch, I didn't eat much at all, as I am getting progressively sicker as the day goes on. Sawyer is finally playing with some toys which is great and he has a string fetish, due to having limited toys to play with, he taught himself to pull strings out of everything in order to play with the string...There's a pretty good picture of him trying to give me a mean face when he finally realized I meant business.... :-)

The mean look! September 12, 2007

Whatta you mean I can't pull the phone off the desk for the 10th straight time. LOL!

More Pictures of Sawyer! September 11, 2007

Document Signing... September 11, 2007

Well today was the day...Sawyer is now officially in the Young family. He did very well today and stayed on his normal schedule. He is having trouble with the change in food. He was being fed rice cereal and fruit, he can't keep his hands off the cookies and will eat anything in front of him. Oh those wonderful diapers!!! lol!

Brocade Museum Visit... September 11, 2007

This place was really cool! Check out the looms, it takes these folks all day just to make 5 cm of fabric....wow! I purchased a really nice framed piece for Sawyer.

We just can't stop shopping.... September 11, 2007

We decided we wanted some steak tonight. Al can sniff out the USDA New York Strip, we went to Henry's Place, cost $1.50 USD to get there via cab...unfortunately they only had one steak left..hehe, so I HAD to have the $6.00 USD Fillet, that tasted like $20.00 USD in the USA. Was very good. I'm having a little trouble finding something that Sawyer will eat aside from cookies...maybe since he is not used to having them. Orphanage visit tomorrow!

Cool City! September 11, 2007

This city, once you get into the main streets is pretty cool. It was funny because all the lights and "Big City" atmosphere and wouldn't you know a man sleeping in his OOOOLLLDD pulling cart. Amazing

Go Bengals!!! September 11, 2007

Sawyer fits perfectly into his Bengals shirt, but I have to tell you I cannot find a pair of shorts anywhere. I was completely disappointed at Walmart. Everything you buy at the Walmart in the states is made in China and not too bad of quality. Here, in China, a majority of the products are not near as good quality, help me understand that one.

Mommy and Sawyer! (& Coco)

Bath Time!

Coco & Sawyer
Mommy ans Sawyer!

Hey how do you keep this huge towel on?

Sawyer being tickled...

Nicholas & Sawyer (Best Buds!)

Bikes everywhere & I do mean EVERYWHERE!

Pictures of the Nanjing City waterway

Check out all these bikes (September 10, 2007)

You just wouldn't believe all the bikes, okay, those of you that have never been here. Check out the picture...those cool little motorized scooters are only about $300 US here. Wish I could carry one home. lol!