Disappearing Act

Wow! It has been a long time since I have blogged. There has been so much going on that I haven't had time. Here is the re-cap of the last few months.

January: We returned from China to head to a bowl game. The Alamo Bowl in San Antonio. Lillie loved the game and she got to wear a cheerleading outfit!! Everyone loved her in it. I was so surprised that she wasn't afraid of the loud noises and the band but she did great! We then returned home to life at the Anderson house busy with the boys going back to school and Lillie figuring out where she was and what her new life would be like. We also started seeing doctor's about her condition. We first had an x-ray, then a CT-scan, then 2 MRI's. We were originally told that she had congenital scoliosis but it turns out that she has many deformed vertebrae that cause the deformity in her spine. We also found out that she is truly a miracle baby and that there is a portion of her spine that is split into two by a bony spur. She is tethered at that point in her lumbar spine and also below. We were referred to Scottish Rite.

February: We were sent to Scottish Rite hospital in Dallas to make sure she didn't need orthopaedic treatment for the Scoliosis. She has a mild form, although, her vertebrae are so deformed they do not know if she will need it in the future. We were referred to Children's Medical Center in Dallas to see a neurosurgeon. When we checked with our insurance, they would not let us see them until we had seen the pedi neurosurgeon in Lubbock, so we go an appointment with him in late March. In the meantime, I had had several nodules in my thyroid and that they follow every year and they decided there was a new spot and we needed to do an aspiration biopsy. I had this done mid-February and got the results a little over a week later. The cells were suspicious so it was decided that I would have a total thyroidectomy and this was scheduled for early April.

March: The best part of March was that my parents took our family and my sister's family to Disneyworld for a week long of Mickey and Fun!! Lillie loved it and so did the boys, of course!!! It was such a wonderful trip full of great memories and family time!! I really believe that this gave us the strength to face what was to come. Upon our return, we saw the pediatric neurosurgeon and he confirmed the findings of the MRI's and we were told that Lillie would need surgery to correct the split formation and the tethering so that she would maintain complete functioning as she has now. The pediatric neurosurgeon was wanting to do the procedure in Lubbock and we were all for that but we were moving to Austin and he wasn't sure he could schedule us in time, so we were referred to Dallas since it is closer and the neurosurgeons are world renowned and highly capable of performing the surgery. (Christopher had already been approved for a leave from the university and we were headed to Austin for him to work on his doctorate if you were wondering) Our neurosurgeon in Lubbock was wonderful, spoke Chinese to Lillie and gave us great confidence but we realized that she really did need to be back in Dallas as the Scottish Rite doctors and our Lubbock doctor had referred us to the same specialists. Sometimes it is a circuitious route but God get's you where you need to be. So we had an appointment to see the neurosurgeon in May. Seems like the process moved very slow but it was all in His time and we had to work around my own health issues.

April: Total thyroidectomy performed on the 7th. It was providential that the decisions were made as they were. I had thyroid cancer at the age of 38 and yet, if I had known sooner or the route was done differently, we would never have been allowed to adopt Lillie. While this was all difficult and the surgery was hard and the lack of hormones made me exhausted, I felt peace in knowing that God had planned all of these months to not only make sure that I was cared for but that Lillie was adopted at this time and by our family. Several doctors later, I found that the cancer was so small, only on one side and the lymph nodes were clear. I do not require additional treatment other than follow up at 6 months and replacement therapy! Praise God for this as my mother had to undergo the radioactive isotope and it was not fun for her.

May: After a very difficult move to Austin, we headed to Dallas for Lillie's appointment. The surgeon was very confident that barring any complications, the surgery would treat her problem and keep her from losing functioning. Surgery was scheduled for July 21st. The surgery will last 8 hours and she will be in ICU the first night and in the hospital for a total of 3 days. Christopher started his doctoral work at UT and has really enjoyed his classes. I was fortunate that I was able to keep my job teaching online and was working from Austin instead of Lubbock. The boys finished up school in Lubbock and were excited to move to Austin.

June: We unpacked and enjoyed exploring Austin and going to the pool. Lillie loves her new room-very pink and loves having the boys home from school to play with.

July: We headed to Lake Jackson for a family reunion with Christopher's extended family. It was a lot of fun to see everyone as it had been about 4 years since we had all been together and everyone was able to see Lillie for the first time. Christopher's family including his sister and our niece and nephews were able to come for July 4th back to our house in Austin and we enjoyed fireworks, barbecuing and going to a the Round Rock Express minor league game.

So here we are. It is the week before Lillie's surgery and I decided it was time to get everyone updated. I am sorry it has been so long. It has truly been a wonderful but difficult and tiring few months. Through it all, we have felt the presence of God and know that He will be with Lillie next week during her surgery and recovery. We don't know what will be, but we do know that He has cared for her all of her life and that she is His child and He will be present in her life regardless of the outcome. We hope you will all pray for her, the doctors and our family as we continue our journey. I will update once the surgery is over and she is recovering.

She is truly an amazing little girl. Speaks almost perfect English. Tells us how happy she is and smiles and giggles all day long. She loves us and we love her. It has been a good transition. Not perfect, but good. She had her times of grieving, her times of defiance but we worked through it all and will continue to do so as she grows and continues to adapt to our family. Fortunately, she never had an issue with sleep as I have heard many talk about. She eats great, sleeps great and I believe God knew that I needed those two things during this time:) She loves pink, loves to have her fingers and toes painted and loves dresses. Quite the girly girl- which is truly fun for a mom of 3 boys:)