John 13:34&35
"So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples."
Hebrews 13:1&2
"Continue to love each other with true Christian love. Don't forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it."
I have always considered one of my gifts, possibly a spiritual gift, to be hospitality. Since knowing our Ethipian friends my definition of how to love and show hospitality has changed. They know how to really show love, to draw you into their family. This was so evident when we were in the hospital. Two wonderful families drove from Cedar Falls to visit us. Many of their friends visited and loved on us. They brought us wonderful food, mangoes, this yummy warm oatmeal drink, a man who spoke Haydia (Teme's heart language), flowers, companionship and encouragement. When our story appeared on the news, an Ethiopian man came to thank us for "saving one". That means so much.
We are learning how to love. I so hope that we are able to love our friends and family in the way that we have been loved.
I have said that I have been amazed at the friends we have made since adopting Teme. So many of those that have shown us love during this time are new friends, people that we have not known very long. I would just challenge everyone who reads this to show love to someone today. It means so much! Send a card, take a meal, give a word of encouragement. It doesn't take very long or cost very much...and who knows you might even entertain angels.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
Long overdue update
Before I even start the update...Thank you: Stoddard family, Gez and Tarik, Teme's class, teachers and room parents, the Starbeck and Tjaden families, Daigles, Tesfas, Grandpa Al, Tilahun and Nunu, Muellers, Jim, Lynn, Sue, Weimers and many others, I am so sorry if I forgot anyone, Your love and prayers has carried us through these last couple of days.
Friday night after Teme got back to the room Scott stayed at the hospital and I took the girls back to the hotel. It had been a long day for everyone. Thank you Gillette for having nice, well-equipped waiting rooms. Eight hours waiting in a waiting room went as well as it possibly could have gone.
About the time that I came back Saturday morning Teme started waking up agitated and in pain. We spent most of the day managing pain. By 9 or 10 in the evening he was himself for about 20 minutes. He sat up and ate some and talked coherently. It was nice to see after our day. Scott was afraid to leave Noelle and I at the hospital overnight but that is what we did. Teme did great. I woke up every two hours when the nurses came in and struggled to get back to sleep, but better me than him!
We had a great day on Sunday. Lots of visitors, both from Waterloo and from the Minneapolis area. Sunday late morning Scott headed back to Waterloo with the girls for a little school and work. Jake was one of our visitors and he and Teme shared a pizza and a nap. I also took Teme for a little walk in a wheelchair and we played a little Wii. Shortly after we returned to our room Teme's pain became uncomfortable again. We had an uncomfortable night and morning. Lots of drugs. He is comfortable now and just ate a little.
This morning the plastic surgery team removed Teme's bandage to change the dressing. He and I both did better than I expected. He was a little squirmy with the pain of removing bandages from fresh stitches but not too bad. And I saw no sense of emotional distress at this point, which was very relieving. The area that they grafted from his heel is larger than I thought and there are two places where they relieved the stress of some scaring and made "lightning bolts". I told him we will have to start calling him Flash Larson. Later the orthopedic doctor came by. I did not realize that they also grafted bone. The heel bone was attached with three screws. So to prevent any damage to the healing process Teme will be limited to a wheelchair for about 3 weeks. That should be fun, huh, Mr. Nass? Teme is very active but we thought it better to really limit him than leave any room for errors or accidents. He will transfer from a wheelchair to a walker just to keep him at a reasonable speed:) They were able to remove his epidural this morning, so one less tube. They said some patients actually do better on oral meds so we will see.
I cannot express how great Gillette has been. How privileged we feel that our son was able to have a surgery that has been done 7 times EVER. It required, beyond excellent surgeons, a "good" upper leg, "bad" knee and lower leg, and a "good" foot. Apparently not that common. In the long run this surgery will promote much fewer problems with his stump and therefore enhanced mobility. Thank you to those of you who recommended Gillette, Brionn and the Newmans. Thanks you most of all to our mighty saviour Whose plan is so much greater than ours. Who has this whole process in His hands.
Thank you specifically for those of you that prayed for Noelle. She was magnificent Thursday through Saturday. At the thought of going home without mom both girls became a little "fragile". Please continue to pray for Scott and the girls for the next couple of days. And continue to pray not only for Teme's healing but that he and I would have an opportunity to bond in a special way as we are alone for a few days. So far so good!
Sorry no pictures yet. The Tesfas were nice enough to bring me my camera but I did not have my computer cord in my bag as I usually do. So I will update some pictures sometime on Wednesday.
Friday night after Teme got back to the room Scott stayed at the hospital and I took the girls back to the hotel. It had been a long day for everyone. Thank you Gillette for having nice, well-equipped waiting rooms. Eight hours waiting in a waiting room went as well as it possibly could have gone.
About the time that I came back Saturday morning Teme started waking up agitated and in pain. We spent most of the day managing pain. By 9 or 10 in the evening he was himself for about 20 minutes. He sat up and ate some and talked coherently. It was nice to see after our day. Scott was afraid to leave Noelle and I at the hospital overnight but that is what we did. Teme did great. I woke up every two hours when the nurses came in and struggled to get back to sleep, but better me than him!
We had a great day on Sunday. Lots of visitors, both from Waterloo and from the Minneapolis area. Sunday late morning Scott headed back to Waterloo with the girls for a little school and work. Jake was one of our visitors and he and Teme shared a pizza and a nap. I also took Teme for a little walk in a wheelchair and we played a little Wii. Shortly after we returned to our room Teme's pain became uncomfortable again. We had an uncomfortable night and morning. Lots of drugs. He is comfortable now and just ate a little.
This morning the plastic surgery team removed Teme's bandage to change the dressing. He and I both did better than I expected. He was a little squirmy with the pain of removing bandages from fresh stitches but not too bad. And I saw no sense of emotional distress at this point, which was very relieving. The area that they grafted from his heel is larger than I thought and there are two places where they relieved the stress of some scaring and made "lightning bolts". I told him we will have to start calling him Flash Larson. Later the orthopedic doctor came by. I did not realize that they also grafted bone. The heel bone was attached with three screws. So to prevent any damage to the healing process Teme will be limited to a wheelchair for about 3 weeks. That should be fun, huh, Mr. Nass? Teme is very active but we thought it better to really limit him than leave any room for errors or accidents. He will transfer from a wheelchair to a walker just to keep him at a reasonable speed:) They were able to remove his epidural this morning, so one less tube. They said some patients actually do better on oral meds so we will see.
I cannot express how great Gillette has been. How privileged we feel that our son was able to have a surgery that has been done 7 times EVER. It required, beyond excellent surgeons, a "good" upper leg, "bad" knee and lower leg, and a "good" foot. Apparently not that common. In the long run this surgery will promote much fewer problems with his stump and therefore enhanced mobility. Thank you to those of you who recommended Gillette, Brionn and the Newmans. Thanks you most of all to our mighty saviour Whose plan is so much greater than ours. Who has this whole process in His hands.
Thank you specifically for those of you that prayed for Noelle. She was magnificent Thursday through Saturday. At the thought of going home without mom both girls became a little "fragile". Please continue to pray for Scott and the girls for the next couple of days. And continue to pray not only for Teme's healing but that he and I would have an opportunity to bond in a special way as we are alone for a few days. So far so good!
Sorry no pictures yet. The Tesfas were nice enough to bring me my camera but I did not have my computer cord in my bag as I usually do. So I will update some pictures sometime on Wednesday.
Friday, February 11, 2011
In Recovery
We haven't seen Teme yet, but he is in recovery. Things went great. He has a lot of stitches so we will be heading back up to have those removed under anesthesia in about three weeks. About an hour until we get to see him.
Surgery Update
It is 4:25 Central time and Teme entered surgery at 12:50. We have only had one update shortly after they put the epidural in. They expected the surgery to take four hours but they are doing quite a bit of reconstructive work using Teme's heel. It is pretty amazing actually. The local Minneapolis CBS station has been covering Teme's story. They came to the hotel last night to watch him swim. Today they interviewed Scott, Teme and I before surgery. They were also able to take a camera into the surgery for awhile. The segment will air Sunday night at 10:00. I will post the link when I have it. Noelle has been an amazing big sister!! Very loving and incredible. Sabrina is doing great considering the long waits!
We just received an update! Teme is doing well but the surgery will be about another hour and a half. They are just starting to place the skin graft.
Unbelievably, I forgot my camera:( I should have access to one tomorrow and will try to post some pictures. Thanks you so much for all of your prayers. We FEEL covered in prayer!!
We just received an update! Teme is doing well but the surgery will be about another hour and a half. They are just starting to place the skin graft.
Unbelievably, I forgot my camera:( I should have access to one tomorrow and will try to post some pictures. Thanks you so much for all of your prayers. We FEEL covered in prayer!!
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
He has my world in His hands!
*He has Teme's surgery in His hands!
*He has my mom's skin cancer in His hands!
*He has Noelle's anxiety and depression in His hands!
Nothing is impossible for HIM!! I can't do this by myself. I need you Jesus.
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