On the Way Home

We woke up today with an overcast sky and rain falling. The temperature was a cool 45 degrees f that is about 7 degrees C. Quite a contrast to the day we arrived when it was overcast and raining. Torrential rain from hurricane Hannah. The temperature that night was a balmy 90 degrees F, thats 32 C, the humidity made it feel like a sauna at 120.

We had our breakfast at "our diner" the Three Star DIner. Hannah ordered her standard silver dollar pancakes with chocolate chips and an apple juice. This was the same diner we ate at our first morning here. When we got to the restaurant Hannah asked if we could sit at the same table that we sat at our first morning. Hannah got the significancy.

Unfortunately, Hannah was not able to manage the bulk of the pancakes as she is really having a hard time with the new bite plate she has in her mouth. We tried some Rice Krispies when we got home and she seemed to be able to eat those alright. She reported fair success in getting them in and down. I'll take every calorie I can get right now. Flying today may be a culinary crisis as we have to leave the house at 2:30 pm for our 5:40 pm flight. I have some nutella sandwiches and grilled cheese in mind and some cereal ready to go and I will make a mac and cheese that she can eat cold on the flight. That is if she eats. Prayer is really needed in this area. I thought the food issues would go away once she recovered from surgery but the placement of her wedge yesterday seems to be a bigger dilemma than I anticipated.

What wedge you ask? Hannah spent 3 hours in the dentist chair yesterday having an acrylic wedge secured onto the bonded upper plate in her mouth. The gap between her upper and lower teeth on the left side was 6 mm. A great result according to the Drs. They then molded a piece of acrylic to fit tightly between the two bite surfaces so she could use that side of her mouth to chew on. In 8 weeks the bone will have consolidated and then the next step is to start pulling the teeth down into contact with the bottom teeth and complete her bite. It is amazing how the bone fills in as the teeth are coming down. It will take Hannah a few weeks to learn how to manage talking, saliva, and food with this new bulky thing in her mouth.

Hannah was the perfect patient while having her mouth pulled this way and that way. Not a complaint from her. She was amaziing! At one point in the process we had a few minutes while Sabina (the technician) was doing some work on the wedge, so we skyed home. It was 7:30 and everyone was getting ready for school so they were all in the kitchen when we video called (skype is a video conference facility available on the internet for free if you have a camera on your computer) It was really cool for them to see Hannah in the chair. The staff in Dr Grayson's office found the entire process facinating. Sabina couldn't believe they were in Vancouver and Hannah was in her chair.

Our last duties here at the house will be to wash the sheets and do a final clean of the bathroom. The washer and dryer are in use right now so time will tell if we are able to get our chores done in time. I have seen this senario play out on other occaission so I will see if I can access another washer on a different floor if these ones don't come available in the next hour of so.

As we ready to leave I am having lots of thoughts about the people we have met here. How do you say goodbye? We will follow the stories of the kids who have web sites or blogs, but goodbye is a very different experience here. As I have said in other posts, it will take me a while to figure this out. I would be interested in your thoughts on "goodbye" so either post a comment or send me an email at john.davies001@gmail.com and let me know what you think.

I have journeyed with these families for 2 months now and I have created bonds with some of them that I will hold for years to come. I hand each of these children and their families over to Jesus now as I leave.


Stay tuned for our re-entry updates over the weeks to come.

TTFN
Hannah and John