Surgery and Home

I am so sorry for the time it took me to get around to posting this!  I found it easy and convenient in the hospital to post updates on facebook and sort of let blogging slide.  As most of you know Catherine had surgery Friday June 7th at Johns Hopkins to lengthen the rod in her rib cage which is supposed to spread her thoracic cavity to accomodate her lung growth.  It was a LONG day as we didn't have to arrive until 11 am (nothing to eat or drink after midnight the night before, of course!) and they didn;t take her to surgery until 2:30 pm that afternoon!  Ugghhh!  She was in great spirits despite being very hungry and thirsty, joking with the nurses and doctors and giving lots of toothless grins!  Surgery went well, although it was a bit more involved than we had originally thought it would be; they installed a second rod to stabilize the first as well as cut through several ribs which had re-fused.  By 6:30 pm she was in recovery and asking for juice, looking much more herself than I remember after her first two surgeries.  What a blessing!  Over the next 24 hours, we were able to wean her from the morphine pump and get her on oral codeine so she could actually go home.  Another HUGE blessing that she only had to spend one night in the hospital!  She has been home several days now, and despite some rough moments, she has done extremely well for the most part!  We cannot thank our friends and family enough for all their prayers and positive thoughts which have been sent our way!

Adoption Slideshow

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Happy Third Gotcha' Day!

Wow!  It has been a year since I posted....my how time flies!  Catherine is celebrating her third year home with us, and our family continues to be blessed by our little China princess with the sweet (now toothless!) grin!  Where do I begin to describe her joyful zest for life and her love for family that fills our home?  She is constantly telling all of us how much she loves us and dancing around the house in anything pink, sparkly, or frilly that she can find!  Recently she has lost several teeth giving her a very cute gap-toothed grin.  Her favorite activities include dancing, singing, coloring and drawing, as well as keeping all of us in line...most especially her big brothers!  We affectionately call her "mini-mommy" or "micro-mommy" as she is so good at micro-managing the affairs of the household :)  Today has been a wonderful day of playing games and reading stories (she actually read to me which is very fun) and taking a nature walk together.  Tonight we plan to have her favorite meal (rice congee) and then take a walk to the nearby yogurt shop for dessert.

On another note, Catherine has her yearly "tune-up" to lengthen the rod in her rib cage at Johns Hopkins Hospital this Friday.  We covet your prayers for a safe, successful operation!  This one should be a short stay in comparison to the last two, probably only a night or two in the hospital.  Stay tuned to the blog for updates!

Finally, some wonderful Krol family news:  we are adopting again!  Our newest daughter, Lu Rui Yuan is 4 years old and waiting for us in China.  If all goes well we should travel to China late July/early August to bring her home.  I will be posting more about our new sweetie VERY soon!  Catherine (and all her brothers) are looking forward to her homecoming!

God has blessed us so, so richly!