Lily is recovering

We talked with the surgical team and then they took us back to see Lily and she still had her eyes closed but she was screaming and fighting the nurse. I was able to hold her and they gave her something to calm her down and she settled down. It is hard to see her so upset and we are convinced that she has had some very bad experiences in the past with medical staff, but the team at CCH was wonderful and helped a lot. We are letting her rest at the hotel and watch cartoons until we go back for 2 tests this afternoon and then Friday we have one final XRay and then meet with the doctors. again and make plans for surgery and follow up care in the coming months.

I am not sure how much I am comfortable sharing here, but the short answer is that there were several possible scenarios and overall ours was good news. As far as the surgery in China- it saved her life but did not do much else good for Lily so she will definitely have to have surgery. The prognosis is very good for a full recovery and the goal is to have her potty trained by next year's start of school. She will need two teams in surgery to address different aspects so we have to check all the various schedules to find a time that will work with our schedules hopefully soon enough to give Lily time to recover from surgery and begin the potty-training work. We will know alot more tomorrow about that-but he did say that they are booking a few months out now so we have time to catch our breath and I can focus on the new school year and getting everything going well before returning.

Thank you all for your prayers and support. I wanted to share something cool that happened. Yesterday we had the afternoon off for fun at the museum and then we realized that it was Wed. pm and looked to see if there might be a worship service somewhere. Most places I called did not have anything- or had classes- We were hoping for a kind fo "First Wed" but one of the big churches here does "last Wed" so I had all but given up. I read about an interesting church online and loved the Pastor's page and testimony so I called and left a message at the church to ask about Wed pm but did not expect anyone would call back in late afternoon...but they did and we went. The Pastor's son has been interning at the church and led in a really sweet time of worship. It was so refreshing and Lily was skirmy but we go through it and we were so glad to be able to worship. It is always so amazing to us that no matter where we go we can find believers who become family right away. The Pastor has lived in Japan and China and was so great to talk to. They invited us to stay with them when we return and one of the members invited us to dinner this evening. Everyone was so welcoming and kind. They prayed for Lily and for us all. God is so good! What a blessing to have such a warm welcome in Cincinnati! We also met someone from Charleston, SC at the hotel. Please pray for her husband who is here for cancer treatment.

Thanks again for the prayers and support. We miss you all and we are ready to come home soon!