Successful Surgeries

Well, it's been quite a week for our Haitian patients in the US! Two successful surgeries, praise God! Jacky's surgery on Tuesday went well and as expected, and Steven's today went great also. Below are the specifics and pics from Steven's guardians here in California, who are too wonderful for words. I just wanted to say thank you again for taking the time for reading these updates and praying, most of you for months now, joining with us in our hearts' cry for Haiti, and specifically little Steven. God has his hand on this young one's life!

Here's the letter from Fayanna:
Our God is an awesome God He reigns from heaven above! With wisdom power and love, our God is an awesome God!!!!!
As I write this to you our faithful family and friends we are in an incredible ICU room looking at a precious baby laying on his back for the 1st time!!!!WHOO HOO
His surgery was perfect!!!
He is doing great. His surgery lasted 4 hours. It started late because the room was too cold. So it started almost at 9:30. Everything the doctor hoped for happened. When he was in recovery, the first thing I did was run my finger under his foot and he flinched. Whoo Hoo. Full mobility!! Teddy and I spent most of the day, praying snoozing, waiting, and of course crying ( you know Ted, he is so emotional.. ) :)
We are settled into our ICU room now, and just enjoying every wince and flutter he makes.He is still pretty out of it. Laying on his back with one arm over his head. Probably thinking: 'Oh this feels good' His bump is gone!!! The doctors were able to remove the bump, and sew all the nerves back into place.(The myelomeningocele aka 'bump' before and after surgery)
He has a 4 inch scar straight up and down. He will be in ICU till tomorrow then we will move to a regular room through the weekend. We are praising God for his presence and for his peace.
The people at UCLA, all the nurses, doctors,everyone who works here. are the nicest people in the world. If you wonder where all the nice people went??? They went to UCLA!!The anesthesiologist 'Judith' made me cry. She was the sweetest one in the bunch today.
She has been a Dr. for 30 years, and told us with tears in her eyes her trips to Haiti where she helps to repair cleft pallets for over 100 children each time is always the highlight of her year.
I could go on and on and on. with so many stories. The people stories!! Oh wow. the people we have met!! The love you feel from a stranger who just catches your eye from across the room and smiles in a way that says ' its going to be O.K. and then you nod back as if to say, Yes, I know, its going to be o.k. for you too. Bless you.
Oh this experience!! Its one I hope each of you some day in some way can experience as well. It makes you look hard at life and for us its had us say, 'What matters most really is just love and caring and giving out hope!!' All the things Jesus talked about. What hit me hard today while pondering through sobs alone waiting my turn to see our little guy while sitting on the corridor floor outside of the recovery room ( when then a precious maintenance man came over with a chair, tissues, and a hug.... see I told you), was 'Jesus, let my heart always break over what breaks yours and let my heart be open to what makes your heart smile!'
He is teaching us sooooo much about what really matters most. Yes, the 'experience' we asked God to give us 6 weeks ago, is in full swing, and we aren't finished yet!!
Thank you and know that your emails calls, texts, gifts, meals, money, gas cards, diapers, formula, precious visits, bringing us lunches,babysitting so we can take in a movie, housework, helping with laundry and even ironing 'oh thank you soo much. I have shirts again' (From Ted) and the list goes on and on are all appreciated times100!!
Thank you Thank you !!
We praise God for each of you and the difference you have made in our lives!!
Keep praying that little man will do o.k. coming off the pain meds and will sleep wonderfully (backside down) through the night!!! We have to hold him flat for a couple days which will be tricky, since his favorite position is up and looking around.
Check out some pix of our day and if you texted me today, I remembered to bring everything to the hospital except my phone :(
Teddy was happy I forgot it. He says I text worse than a teenager :) I will have it with me by tomorrow late afternoon :) Thank Goodness
Hi, this is me (Ted) As Fayanna finished this email Steven just downed his first two ounces or Pedialite and threw his arm around a beautiful little stuffed animal that appeared in his cradle from nowhere ( I think that the surgeon slipped it in the crib) and fell fast back asleep. What a joy!! You can never know what a blessing it is to be put in a place you would never expect serving a God that fills the smallest places of your hearts desire that you may have never known even existed. Wow!! What a Joy it is to be here right now. Wonder what's next :)
We know this was a very long update. We really wanted to add all the wonderful stuff we have felt in our hearts for weeks now, and also these past few days. So thank you for bearing with us on this long one! The rest of the updates will be shorties :)
Love you all
Teddy and Fayanna and Stevie Stud baby!
Oh taste and see that the Lord is Good!!!!

Steven in the States

I'm so happy to share these pictures of Steven here in the States! After traveling nearly 24 hours, Steven and I arrived at the Los Angeles airport at 2:15AM Sunday morning. Steven was a total angel while we traveled. The little guy was just so happy and content to be held, and he spent over half the time sleeping. We were met at the airport by my sister Jana and the family who will be taking care of Steven for the next several months as he goes through all of his medical treatment (actually, all but one member of the family, their oldest daughter is on a missions trip to Germany right now).
Steven loves his new family and they are just so sweet with him. In preparation for Steven's arrival, Ted (the father) sewed a special pillow for Steven's car seat so that he could sit in it without putting any pressure on the 'bump' on his back caused by the spina bifida. It seems to work great and Steven enjoyed riding in a car seat for the first time.

Here's my sister Jana meeting Steven for the first time. She's done so much work to make getting him here possible and has been involved nearly since the beginning. Below, is Steven getting to know Fayanna, and me after a long day of travel. :)

Yesterday Steven had his first appointment at UCLA. He will have an MRI in a few days in preparation for the surgery, but the doctor yesterday said that he looks pretty good overall and hopefully will not have many long-term problems with walking.

I spoke to some friends in Haiti on Monday and got an update on Steven's mother. She has moved back home to her village to live with her family again (we had been renting her a room near the mission to be able to take care of Steven for the past 3 1/2 months, as her village is a good 8 hour walk away). She seems to be doing much better. Hopefully it'll be good for her to be able to start building her life back up again.