Janissa's Surgery

On Friday, February 24, Janissa underwent surgery to fix her ears.  Her hearing had become increasingly worse.  I was having to repeat myself constantly and she was always asking, "What did you say, Mommy?"  After three rounds of antibiotics and an ear infection that would not go away, her doctor finally referred us to an ENT specialist.  Two minutes into the appointment he said, "I hate to say this so soon, but she needs to have surgery."  So it was scheduled for the 24th of February.

My little girl was so good!  She did everything the nurses asked of her and she was so brave.  Here are a few photo's in pre-op.

 

There were four little gowns on the bed and she got to pick which one she wanted. 
She picked the soft blue one.  She wasn't quite sure of what was going on.  I think she thought we were just going to the doctor's office for a regular visit.

 She liked the booties and the bracelet with her name on it.

 

 Thank God for portable DVD players.  All the nurses stopped by to see what she was watching.  That's a thermometer on her forehead.

They gave her some medicine to make her groggy, so she really wasn't aware that they had wheeled her away with out me.  My parents were in the waiting room when I went out.  It was a welcome distraction for me.  It seemed like only a few minutes had passed when the doctor came out to tell me it went well.  He said her tonsils and adenoids were huge and the ears were really bad.  He said I would notice an immediate improvement.  Shortly after that the nurse came to get me.  She said Janissa had come to and was crying for me.  When I went into the recovery room a nurse was hugging her.  They had me sit in a rocking chair and they handed her to me.  It was so strange, I was holding her and telling her I was there but she didn't recognize me.  She was pushing me away and trying to get out of my lap while she was crying and and saying "I want my mama."  I was told this is normal for children coming out of anesthesia.  They don't know where they are, what has happened, and their vision is blurry and they can't see well.  I held her tight for 10 or 15 minutes while she cried and kicked.  She calmed down a bit and we put her back in the bed.  She slept for half an hour or so and then woke up.  When she saw her Nana she got a little smile on her face.  They made us wait an hour before we could take her home.

Coming out of the anesthesia in recovery

That afternoon and into the next morning were rough because she was in so much pain.  She just wanted me to hold her or sit next to her on the sofa while she watched her favorite movies.  Her Auntie Mimi and cousin Lisa came to visit and she perked up a little.  She cried in her sleep every time she swallowed and woke up in terrible pain.  It was so hard to get her drink anything.  She finally had some vanilla pudding.  Our friend Dana came on Saturday and was a godsend.  She not only got her to drink her juice, but got her to eat some more and take her pain medication.  Almost immediately she was her old self again.  Dana even stayed and gave her a bath while I rested for awhile.  Thank God for great friends!

This morning she woke up in great spirits.  She's eating her pudding, drinking apple juice and watching movies.  My parents will be here soon to stay with her while I go to church.  I will be working from home tomorrow so I can stay with her another day.  I have my Mom and two friends lined up to come during the rest of the week so I can go to work.

True to the doctors words, her hearing has drastically improved.  Not once have I had to repeat myself.  I can talk while the movies are on and she doesn't get mad because she can't hear (and the volume isn't nearly as loud!).  She had a great disposition before, but I think this will improve it even more.  She has lived with these problems since birth and has been sick more often then she has been well.  Life is going to be good for my sweet Janissa!

February 2012

 The month of February has been a lot of fun.  We celebrated Valentine's Day at The Great Park with our Adoptive Families Group.  Janissa had a lot of fun playing with Kwali, Joseph, Oliver and Taye.  It was too windy to go up in the big orange balloon, but we did get to ride the carousel.

Rock Climbing

Janissa and Joseph

Taye and Janissa

Janissa riding the carousel

The next day we celebrated Kwali's 4th Birthday at Bounce U.  Janissa jumped to her hearts desire and had so much fun with all the other kids, especially her pal Oliver!

Janissa in action

Look at that form!

Sliding with Oliver and Miss Elisa

Group Photo

Happy Birthday to Kwali

McDonald's play date with Kwali

Last week Janissa had her very first dental appointment.  She was such a good girl.  She has 20 beautiful and healthy teeth!  I've already been informed that Miss J is going to need braces.  As I've known all along, her finger sucking has caused some big problems.  

Open wide

Meeting Dr. Toner

 

1, 2 3 . . . 18, 19 20!

Fun Stuff

Earlier this month we got to spend time with some friends who were visiting from Washington.  We went to see Beauty and the Beast in 3D, had some great cupcakes beforehand, and then a wonderful dinner.  I sure wish we lived closer because Janissa just adores Clair.

 

Clair and Janissa

Sharing cupcakes

New movie in theaters soon

Yummy!  Cold popcorn

 

Janissa's first dinner dance.  She is dancing with Ben (Clair's cousin) with Rose on the left and Anna in the background

Yesterday we spent 11 hours at Disneyland!  Our very good friends, Tania and Sabah, were in town so we met up with them.  It was such a great day!  The weather was perfect and the lines were short.  Sabah and Janissa were at Le Toukoul together in Ethiopia and have had the opportunity to see each other on several occasions since then.  Tania and I would love it if they were friends forever!  We also met up with other friends, Lisa, Zaela, Christy and Eli for a few hours.  Char and Kwali, we missed you so much, but know we'll see you soon.

 Janissa "goofing" off

Sabah and Janissa on the Teacups

Janissa on the Carousel

Sabah and Tania

Janissa, Zaela and Sabah

Zaela, Sabah and Janissa waiting for the Tiki Room doors to open

Sabah, Tania and Janissa in line for the Rockets!

 

 

I had to add this photo from the Portland Zoo taken in Summer of 2010.  It's why we took the previous photo.  How they've grown!!!

Ready for take off

January 31 was the third anniversary of receiving my referral of Janissa.  That moment is etched in my memory forever.  This photo was taken by Jenna Zimmer when she was there picking up Addia. It is one of my favorites.

WARNING! This is a very long post . . .

So much has happened over the past six months (I can't believe it's been six months since I last updated everyone).  In July we celebrated the Fourth of July and my Mom's birthday.  We were very lucky to have my brother Tom and nephew Stephen stay with us for a week.  Tom had been working on some electrical items in my home for me and wanted to come down and finish things up.  Of course, we welcomed them both with open arms.  Janissa loves her Uncle Tom and couldn't have been more happy to have him around.  She participated in our neighborhood 4th of July event by decorating her wagon with Cousin Lisa.  Janissa had a lot of "firsts", one being attending her first professional baseball game.  We watched the Angels play the Mariners with several family members.  We had a great time!



Ready for the 4th of July

Janissa attended her first professional baseball game

Mom with several nephews at her surprise birthday celebration

Mom with all six daughters

Throughout the Summer, we enjoyed several O.C. Adoptive Mom's meet ups, trips to Disneyland with our cousins Cheryl, Mark and Makana as well as Char and Kwali, visits to the zoo, an event we hosted at our home for all our Ethiopian friends and Janissa's very first manicure and pedicure.  Other firsts for Janissa this year were her first musical at a theater (Shrek) and her first real movie (Mr. Poppers Penguins).

Janissa with Makana



Celebrating a Korean Holiday

Play Date with Weredesh

Event at our Home

First Manicure/Pedicure

Santa Ana Zoo

October was very exciting (and extremely over-stimulating) for Janissa.  We used air miles and flew "First Class" to Orlando, FL.  My sister-in-law Kathy and her Mom ("Miss Mary") met us there and we spent a wonderful week together at an amazing Disney Resort Hotel.  Janissa got to see Magic Kingdom, Epcot Center, Animal Kingdom and two water parks.  Needless to say she was beside herself.  Kathy made all the arrangements and I must say she outdid herself.  She managed to get us free meals and snacks, reservations at wonderful restaurants and even breakfast with the princesses in Cinderella's Castle!  Before we left Janissa had her "first" real hair appointment.  A wonderful woman named Linda did cornrows so we wouldn't have to mess with her hair while on vacation.  She cried because they have to pull so tight to get them to stay in; however, one they were in she didn't want to take them out.  Tons of Disney World photos below:

Magic Kingdom



Janissa's Favorite Princess, Rapunzel

Breakfast with Princesses

Yummy Breakfast

Water Park

Animal Kingdom

Epcot Center

Being silly in our hotel room

Some of the great food Kathy managed to get us for free!!

Yes, I do realize I'm only showing you desserts; however, we did have incredible "real" food as well, including African, Japanese and Italian.

The day after we returned home was Halloween. 

Can you guess who Janissa dressed as?

Before I knew it Thanksgiving and Christmas were upon us.  We had the school programs and lots of family visiting.  Lucky for us, Joe and Flaget were here for both holidays.  Kathleen and her family (well part of the family) came for Thanksgiving and Tom, Kathy and the two boys were here for Christmas.  As you can see from the photos below, Janissa just adores her cousins, aunts and uncles.

Thanksgiving Program

So many cooks in the kitchen!

Janissa with her cousin "Danny Boy"

With Matthew and Daniel

With Aunties

Christmas came and went so fast!  We participated in lots of activities.  We made sure we rode the train and reindeer carousel at our local mall, Janissa participated in her school Christmas program, we went to Disneyland 2 or 3 times while it was decorated and spent a lot of time with family and friends.  This year we also went to Irvine Park and took the train to the North Pole to see Santa!

For the second year in a row we met all our friends at Chuck E Cheese on New Year's Eve.  It's an annual thing that we look forward to.  In January we also celebrated Timket, an Ethiopian Holiday honoring the baptism of Jesus by St. John.

At Chuck E Cheese on New Year's Eve

Timket Celebration

All the Beautiful Children

Melat, Malia, Zaela & Janissa

Best Buddies - Kwali & Janissa



Just to catch you up, we found out last week that Janissa needs to have surgery to put tubes in her ears and to remove her tonsils and adenoids.  She has failed 2 hearing tests and is constantly asking, "What Mommy?"  She has had chronic ear problems since birth and I can't remember the medical term, but basically her ear drums are pushed half way into her ear space.  The tubes will help drain all the fluid and the ear drum will eventually move back to where it is supposed to be.  The poor thing has been sick more often than she's been well and we hope this will take care of that.  It is scheduled for the end of next month.

Finally, this blog has been private for quite some time.  I know how much I love to stumble upon and read other people's blogs, especially those raising Ethiopian children, so I am once again making this one public so everyone can see it.

I will try to blog again after the surgery to let everyone know how she does.  Until then, take care!