Praise God.. Ri's report

Sometimes I am so in awe of God that it takes my breath away. To my shame, it doesn't happen as often as it should. I tend to take God and all that He has given me for granted. It is in the times of awe that He brings me back to remembering that I should have that awe ALL the time, not just fleeting moments, not just when He has shown me His truths or His faithfulness, not just when things are incredible or even just good, but ALL the time.

Yesterday, I was reminded that God sometimes allows things to happen that just don't make sense. As we were praising God for Ri's incredible report, our precious friends who were expecting twins, were given the news that the little ones were gone. My heart was aching. It was strange for me to experience such joy and such sadness all at the same moment. So as I laid down for bed, I pondered on life. I thought about the things that don't make sense. Good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people. There are those who don't live for God, those who hate God, those who could care a less about God... all who seem to never go through tough times. There are those who walk close to God, serve God, love Him with all of their hearts, who sacrifice for Him... who have very tough things happen to them. There does not seem to be a rhyme or reason for what happens to people. And then I was reminded that God I don't need to understand the "whys". I just need to trust Him through every good and bad moment. I shouldn't compare what happens in my life to someone else and ask why. I just need to be in His hands, believing that He has a plan and a purpose. It goes back to the verse that has become my favorite verse in the Bible.

For I know the plans I have for you,' says the Lord, 'plans for well-being and not for trouble, to give you a future and a hope. - Jeremiah 29:11

God is in control and NOTHING catches Him off guard. He will hold His children through every trial and every moment of joy. And as I share my joy, I praise God for His faithfulness to Ri and to us. We met with Dr. Teske, a pediatric cardiologist at Children's Hospital in Columbus. He is considered an excellent doctor. He took a long time sharing with us what Tetrology of Fallot (TOF) really is. He had a diagram of a healthy, normal heart and then drew us a diagram of a TOF kids' heart. It amazes me how God has gifted men and women to be able to open up the chest of a person and repair a heart, especially with all the problems it appears a TOF child has. There are 4 defects to a TOF heart. 1. right ventricular hypertrophy (causes a thickening of the walls of the right ventricle) 2. pulmonary stenosis 3. overriding aorta 4. ventricular septal defect (VSD - a hole in the wall of the ventricle. With Ri, there were actually 5 defects, thus it is actually called pentrology of fallot. His fifth defect involves the left atrium. It is an atrial septal defect.

Dr. Teske was amazed at how wonderful Ri looks. When he would comment on how good he looked, he would just smile and assure us there was no concern about his health. We learned that once a TOF kid is repaired, they rarely ever need another surgery. They may need a procedure done as they get older to help with any narrowing, but rarely any further surgery. We also learned that his heart will never be perfect, no TOF kids heart will be, but it will be as good as a normal kids heart. He has absolutely no restrictions or limitations. His chance of having a heart attack is no different then any of my other children's chances. In fact, he told me if Ri has a heart attack it would be my fault for feeding him wrong and making him overweight or unhealthy :)

Based on the reports given to him from China, he is confident that Ri's surgery went well. We were suppose to have an US down on his heart, but Ri cried for a minute, maybe 2 as she put stickers on his chest and made him lay down. After telling him to stop crying and that all she wanted to do was take a picture, she looked at me and told me she couldn't do this and she would have to talk to the doctor. Then she proceeded to tell the doctor that he was out of control. Needless to say, I was not impressed with this Children's Hospital technician. But despite the lack of an ultrasound picture, Dr. Teske was able to read his chest x-ray report and read an EKG that was done on him. The EKG looked great for a TOF kid. It does not look like a normal heart EKG, but it is considered very normal for a child with TOF repair.

The result? Ri is as normal as any other child. When he has any type of dental work or invasive type procedure with metal, he will need to take antibiotics before hand. (I have to do the same thing since I have MVP). He can be just as active as other children. And we don't have to go back to the cardiologist for a year.

SO, once again, I say praise God. For some reason, God chose to bring this little boy into the world in a different way then most kids. He was born with a very serious defect to his heart. He was abandoned by his parents and forced to live in an orphanage, without a family for 2 1/2 years. He had to undergo open heart surgery and lay in a hospital for 30 days..alone. Why? Does it make sense to me? No! Will it make sense to my son? Probably not. But I know that God held him through it all. God provided the surgery for him. God orchestrated every detail to bring us to him. Maybe had he not been born with this heart defect, he would never have been our son. Only God knows the answers. And so I lean on the truth that the word of God says. God has a plan and a purpose and it is NOT to harm us. One day, Ri will face these same questions. I will not have the answers. But his heavenly Father does. It is our prayer that Ri will walk with the Lord and will find his answers at His feet.