hot wheels

"Cool, Dad...is this the throttle over here?"

Our bike has been such a blessing! It's our transportation to get to class, buy groceries, and anywhere we need to go (at least anywhere without Elijah). It allows us to bypass traffic jams, and get places in a fraction of the time it would take in a vehicle or a "trysikel". Tonight Todd took me to a friend's house for an hour, then came back and picked me up. Without the bike, that simple (but oh-so-encouraging) visit would have been really tough to arrange! I'm uncomfortable walking alone after dark here, so I'm thankful that Todd helps me get some "girl-time" in occasionally!

mga tao (people)

These kids live in a "squatter area" just a few blocks from our house. We take walks in their neighborhood because it's a good place to see and talk with a lot of people. Last time we were there, the girl on the right took me to see where she lived. To get there, we had to walk down a narrow corridor that many people's 'homes' (just small rooms) opened onto, dodging hanging laundry, puddles, ducks, someone else's blind Grandma, and multiple cats. Her mother and aunt were home. They invited me in (with a surprised look on their face like "NOW what did the kids bring home!"), so I stayed for a visit. This week we want to try having a bunch of these kids over for "merienda" (snack) to get to know them.
Elijah is all hooked up for his EEG. He, little darling rascal that he is, decided not to sleep for the entire time we were there (over three hours for a 45 minute test). Actually, he went to sleep twice for less than a minute - the first time, someone opened the door and he woke up; the second time, the lady reapplied a loose "wire" and that was it. Poor guy. We had to conclude that for whatever reason, it wasn't in God's plans for a perfect test, at least not that day. We don't have any results back from the EEG yet, but we'll let you know when we do.
Here's Elijah, "sharing a laugh" with Veronica. As you can see, Elijah is almost as big as Veronica! Elijah 'knows' all the people he sees regularly. He's doing much better on the seizure medication - it seems to be really helping him. We're seeing only a few seizures daily. This is dear Ate Minda and E. She really loves us and him, and is sort of a "mom" figure over here. She also really helps us with learning Tagalog, because she talks a lot! Veronica is a quiet girl. That's nice, since she lives with us all the time. But we like Ate's conversation when she's here (she comes 3 days a week). I like to sit at the table with her in the mornings while I'm trying to feed Elijah and just listen to her talk.

Change of plans...

We wrote below about Elijah's recent seizures and our plans to get a g-tube (feeding tube) for him later this week. Well, our pediatrician just talked with our neurologist. Apparently that's not such a good idea - the anesthesia for the surgery and seizures would be a bad combination. So, we'll keep you posted, and for now, we're very grateful we've been so blessed with good medical care in the Philippines. We KNOW that the Lord is going before us in every step we take; sometimes it's just more obvious than others. This is one of those times.

seizures

Wanted you all to know that Elijah has started having seizures. We took him to the neurologist yesterday because we were concerned about a few things, and he basically took one look at Elijah and said "he's having seizures". The type of seizure is called 'myoclonic jerks', and that's about all we know. From what we understand, anyone with a brain injury is vulnerable at any point to begin having seizures. So right now, Elijah has started on medication (Depakene) and will have an EEG tomorrow to further evaluate what should be done.

When we got home from the neurologist, we started documenting what he said were seizures, and it looks to us like Elijah is averaging 1-2 seizures per minute. That seems like a crazy amount to us.

Elijah had a major change in his diet less than two weeks ago (switching from Momma's milk to formula and semi-solids) and the neurologist believed that could have something to do with this sudden occurance (at least the visible presence) of seizures.

We have greatly struggled (hours and hours of effort) in the past week to get Elijah to eat, and it seems like this is probably leading towards getting a G-tube for him. So we are investigating pediatric surgeons here for the end of the week or beginning of next.

We're surprised and a bit overwhelmed at the unexpected changes in Elijah's life...but just like with anything else we encounter, God asks for us to trust Him. We have a LOT of peace, just knowing that Elijah belongs to his Maker, and the One who made him knows all the intricacies of his brain as well.

Thanks for praying for us to make good decisions! We send our love.

wee beasties and typhoons

Well, if you are a bit squeamish it might be best to close this blog today. I've been wanting to post these pics of the critters we saw on our trip a few weeks ago. The reptile (we don't know what it is) can eat baby chicks and runs fast. We saw another, much larger one near our house. It's body was as big around as Todd's arm. Apparently it is pretty rare to see them. The one we have a picture of was running around near the roof of the house we stayed in.

The last two pictures are a scorpion-like centipede that was, well, IN the house we stayed at. I'm glad Todd found it and not me!

Back in Manila, a few days ago, our first indication that the weather was about to change was seeing a bare-foot man high in the neighbor's tree, chopping down the upper limbs with an axe. Two days later, we woke up to the steady sound of heavy rain on our neighbor's tin roof. A typhoon was in the area (but never actually "hit" the Philippines)! We looked out the window, and our street was flooded 12" deep at some points! We actually live in a higher part of Manila - some parts of the city were flooded waist deep or more. The drainage system isn't adequate to handle the heavy rains of a typhoon, so it is very common at this time of year to have flooding. The funny thing was all the traffic that diverted down our residential street, looking for a route. I even saw a huge passenger bus cruising by.

visitors and sweet moments

We were blessed with a wonderful visit from our friends, Pete and Karen, and their new son Zaldy!! It was so fun to see them and be a small part of their adventures in the Philippines!
Here are some kids we saw recently who were jumping off the bridge into the smelly, trash-filled river. They would jump and set all the power lines shaking as their bodies touched them going down. We wondered if these kids are part of the "street gang". If they're not, I think we'll avoid using their babysitters for Elijah.
This is E, momentarily 'sitting' on the couch!

Our little bug is getting big! He's about 20 pounds now, and a tall guy.

Only Refuge

I had a bit of time to write in my computer "journal" today. I decided to share it with you.

August 13, 2007

I’m sitting on the ball holding a sleeping Elijah. I dare not move a centimeter, or he won’t be sleeping anymore. I’m typing with one hand.

I feel that in many ways we’ve grown to accept the handicaps and special needs our Buddy has, but taking care of him has turned into one long endurance match. I can’t remember anymore what it feels like to really rest at night, or even to have one quiet hour during the day that I can just lay on the couch and chill. I hope there comes a time when all this seems a distant memory…when I can savor the peace, relax for a while. I probably wouldn’t know what to do with myself.

I am so thankful for Ate Minda who is cooking Filipino food right now for our lunch, and who just came into our room to ask me for some hangers for the laundry. What an incredible blessing to be in this place, at this time! Living here in some ways is much easier. The pressure of nitty-gritty life is a lot less with Ate and Veronica’s help. I never expected that when we came, but I would have burned out a long time ago without them!

“This God – His way is perfect; the Word of the Lord proves true; He is a shield for all those who take refuge in Him. For who is God, but the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God? This God is my strong refuge…” 2 Samuel 22:31-33a

Those verses sound like a song to me. Maybe some day I’ll be singing it. Lord, You are my Rock. Even when I feel forsaken and abandoned, You are my strong Refuge.

small boy and the Daddy he loves

Ready for some heart-stopping action? These are a few more photos from our trip up north - how we loved being in the country! Elijah's muscle tone would really relax when he was outside, and he liked hearing different sounds (like birds and dogs) and looking around. My theory is that he could see the silhouettes of trees, etc., outlined against the sky and he loves getting visual imput. His other love is rough-housing with Todd. Todd is such a great Dad!! I am so blessed to have a wonderful husband who also happens to be an incredible Father. So put on your seatbelts for the next few photos!

Definitely a smile on Elijah's face -- isn't he just so cute?? You can almost hear him begging for "more, Dad"!
Before this, we really hadn't seen any grass to speak of since last summer in Wisconsin. Elijah says, "Hmm, Dad, this stuff feels kinda funny on my toes"!

The Philippines is feeling more and more like home to us. I never thought I would say that, especially at first! Manila is not a nice place to live in many respects, so lately I have been praying that God would help me to be content no matter where we live. It is almost surprising to me now when I have a thought like "I think I'm going to like this place" or something similar, but isn't that just how our God works? Surprising, mysterious, and wonderful are His ways.