Evaluation complete

Today was a full-day of evaluations from a team of doctors - ENT, audiologist, speech therapist, dentist and our surgeon, Dr. Kirschner. Paul Daniel was a trooper. The worst part of the day took place with our first evaluation. The ENT needed to clean Paul Daniel's ears to get a better look at his ear drums. It took two of us to hold him down so the doctor to could insert the instruments in his ear. I looked at the things the doctor pulled from Paul Daniel's ears...one thing in particular - I said, "Is this a raisin?" He said, "no, that's just the accumulation of ear wax that he had in his ears." So, on the one hand, I was surprised by this because our pediatrician looked at Paul Daniel's ears and said they looked really good. I'm wondering now why he didn't tell us or notice he had this build-up in his ears. On the other hand, I'm not surprised by the build-up because the orphanage director was pretty clear that Paul Daniel's ears have been virtually untreated in the orphanage. Paul's hearing test revealed that he has mild to moderate hearing loss because of fluid in his ears and the ENT recommended tubes. He will have the tubes put in his ears tomorrow as well.

We have to be at the hospital at 10am and surgery begins at Noon.

We are thrilled with Paul Daniel's surgeon. He is a very down-to-earth, personable man who has an impeccable record. Everyone that knows him here has sung his praises. We are so thankful to Greg and Lisa Burleson for connecting us with Dr. Kirschner...we are truly indebted to you. The surgeon will close the palate tomorrow - but not completely. There will be a hole left in the palate that will be repaired on our second surgery. The lip will also not be completely repaired. This is the first stage of lip repair...the second repair will come at the end of February. Yes, there will be more surgeries after that...and Lord willing, we will have them all done here in Columbus.

Following our day of evaluations, Steve invited us back to his home to visit and relax. We talked a bit and then he took us to the third floor where there is a playroom. Paul found plenty to play with, but his favorite were the ping pong balls. I think we'll get him some ping pong balls when we get back to TX. Carl and I played a little ping pong and then I took a quick nap. We stayed at their house for about an hour and a half to two hours. Paul was so happy. He loved every minute. This was certainly the highlight of our day and so, so appreciated.

After we left Steve and Mary's, we headed out to eat and then back to RMH.

I vacuumed the hallway tonight, Carl is doing laundry. We're going to TRY to get Paul Daniel into bed early, but we'll see.

Thanks to Mom and Dad for the balloon and stuffed puppy. Paul has been boxing the balloon tonight, taking out his frustrations I'm sure.

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for Paul and for your continued prayers for him tomorrow and through his recovery. The love you all have poured onto us through Paul's adoption and treatment has been overwhelming. Thank you for keeping our spirits lifted and for showing us such kindness and concern. We truly thank you.