Entropion Surgery

Reese had surgery to repair her entropion (her eyelid rolling in and rubbing against her eye) was today. They were running behind so her surgery happened later than intended. They did give her some morphine. But at the moment, she is sitting in front of me playing on Dad's iPhone. She might actually be more lively than my mom who has been working outside in the heat 6 out of 7 days. You can see a small dark line under her eye where they removed some tissue to make the eyelid roll out appropriately. She's upset because you can see it, and there are stitches. We told her give it a little bit, and you won't even be able to see it. I also offered her eyeliner if she decided her other eye needed to match. It largely looks, to me, like she has dark eyeliner on her lower lid. I think this will be good for preventing further scarring to her cornea though. She has a follow-up appointment Tuesday, but if everything looks fine, she doesn't need to go. She'll see the doctor again in 6 weeks for a follow-up regardless.

And another surgery (yeah, seriously)

Well, it looks like after Reese recovers from her entropion repair, she'll be going in for another surgery, this one to remove some of the scar tissue from her eye, where it has developed as a result of the surgery she had to help alleviate the pressure (done over 5 years ago in China). And of course, the kiddo will continue having laser treatments. It's a good year to be continuing to home school, seeing as there will be recovery time from all of these. I'm not sure of any other details pertaining to this new surgery we learned about today (she saw the doctor who watches her glaucoma), but I will continue to post about all of it.

China Care Foundation

I am sure many of you who know us have listened to us rave on and on about China Care.
This is because they are the wonderful foundation taking care of my baby sister. They have her in foster care in Taiyuan with a lovely family, that we know, at the very least has a mother, a grandmother, a young son (somewhere between 8-12, I'd say), and I think it's safe to assume a father, and there may be others. During the short time periods she hasn't been in foster care either in her current family or the one she was in in Beijing, she's been in the excellent care of one of the China Care homes, either in Beijing or Taiyuan. They have also funded her laser surgery treatments and the necessary surgeries and medications for her glaucoma.

China Care was founded by Matt Dalio at the age of 16. Matt is now a Harvard graduate and is still head of China Care. Since it's conception, China Care has expanded to having 4 Children's Homes:
The Beijing Children's Home is the medical hub for northern China projects. Children are sent here to receive medical treatment and then, when well, are returned to their original Children's Home. The Beijing Home can care for 28 children, as well as 6 infants in the Special Care Unit.
The Taiyuan Home is located in Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi province, and receives children from all over Shanxi. The Home is divided into two facilities, which can each care for 12 to 15 children at a time.
The Baotao Children's Home is located in a medium sized industrial town in Inner Mongolia and receives children from nearby orphanages. Currently, this home can handle 12 to 15 children, with plans to double it's occupancy capabilities soon.
The Dong Guan True Children's Home is located in the southern city of Dong Guan in Guangdong province and is the medical hub for southern China projects. This Home was opened in February 2006 thanks to the support of Alan and Twila True. It has a current capacity of 12 to 15 children and accepts children from all over southern China.

Only smaller, simpler procedures are done in local hospitals. Most procedures are complex enough that the children are sent to the Beijing Home for medical care at Beijing's hospitals, or to Dong Guan. The Medical Program staff in each place takes the place of a parent in caring for the child at the hospital and after until they are recovered. Currently, they are raising funds for several surgeries, including: 10 cleft surgeries, 3 shunt surgeries, 2 heart surgeries, and 3 surgeries to remove meningoceles from Spina Bfida kids.

They have an excellent foster care program, and, like many groups, children are placed and kept in foster care through sponsorships. We are fortunate because we know one of Reese's sponsors, Stacey S. in Washington, who also has a daughter adopted from China with port-wine stain. Sponsors give China Care the necessary funds to place children in foster home, which is a much preferable setting to an orphanage and allows for space in the Children's Homes for children who need more specialized and professional care than a foster family could provide. Currently, they have 4 children posted on the website who are in need of sponsorship. A 7 month old with a heart defect, a 13 month old with cleft lip/cleft palate (cl/cp), an 18 month old little girl with visual impairment, and another 7 month old with cl/cp. Have a look at them on the Sponsor a Foster Child page.

China Care also helps the children left in the orphanages, the children who are healthy and don't need medical assistance from China Care, as well as the less ill ones who can be cared for by orphanage staff. They provide the orphanages with formula, diapers, trained foster families, and renovations to the orphanage itself.

They also have a Financial Aid Program for families adopting from China. Most commonly grants (or low interest loans) are given for amounts ranging from $2000 to $4000, depending on the financial situation of the family and need.

China Care has an awesome Volunteer Program. They have a summer volunteer program and a non-summer program, and ask that you spend a minimum of 1 week at the Children's Home you are volunteering at.

China Care is also the reason we have like a bajillion pictures of Reese, from the time she was 2 months old, and we are soooo grateful. We have an opportunity most adoptive parents don't and that is to see Reese grow up, even though we weren't there behind the camera snapping the photos. It is an experience we couldn't have asked for and couldn't be more blessed to have. Thank you so much to the people at China Care for everything they have done for us, for Reese, and for so many other children.

Please visit their website: China Care Foundation