January 7, 2009, 8:39 a.m., P.T.~
Dear Journal~
Terri Ben Ami here. Thought I'd write in here, to let you know how our little family is faring.
Nashi, our only daughter, continues to get stronger since getting out of the hospital only a few short weeks ago. She had an upper respiratory infection that threatened to develop into pneumonia; she is still on the antibiotics, and so far, they seem to be doing their job, much to everyone's relief.
Wally had a cold over Christmas; he was one miserable little guy, but he is now over it. He does have a residual cough, and we're flooding him with Vitamin C, so he doesn't have a relapse. So far it's been helping.
Hyman, our second oldest child, is the only one who's remained healthy. I hope this continues; I don't need HIM getting sick on us!
We had a most wonderful Hanukkah celebration. The children enjoyed their gifts, and lighting the candle every evening. Christmas went equally well: the children went into spasms of joy over the loot that Santa Claus brought to them. They are still enjoying their new toys several weeks later.
In addition to the toys, we got a new kitten, a little Maine Coon that Hyman has promptly christened "Hairball". It is about twelve weeks old, and it is so cute! He's taken to Nashi; he sleeps by her head just about every night, and Nashi loves the sound of his happy, contented purrs in her ear. She hears the purrs, and she breaks out into an ear-splitting smile that lights up her entire face.
On Christmas Eve we went to our church for Christmas Eve services; it was beautiful! And on the first day of Hannukah, at sundown, we went to temple to observe the holiday. It was very moving, just as the services always are.
We said a special prayer for Israel, who is imbattled in a war with the Hamas terrorist organization; we prayed for God to keep Israel and her people safe from harm and danger, and pray for a quick end to this war.
It is a scary, uncertain time for Israel, the world, really. We have relatives back in Israel; I only pray, hope they get to shelter or that God surrounds them with His protection and mercy.
Wally continues to amaze us with his brilliant little mind. At the age of four, he is picking up new English words every day, and he is quickly adapting to the American way of life. In fact, to look at him now, you would think he was born in America instead of in China: he's taken to hamburgers (with cheese, thank you very much), omelets, and french fries; those are his favorite foods, and he'd have them every day if he could! LOL
Tovah sprained his ankle the day after Christmas: he tripped over one of the children's toys that was left in the middle of the room, and he fell; as he did, he twisted his ankle, and he couldn't get back up. It scared us silly; we thought he'd broken it. We bundled Tovah into the car, took him to the ER, where doctors examined his foot; it turned out to be a nasty sprain. He's been hobbling around on crutches for the past week; he should be getting off them by sometime next week: he's getting around better every day, and the pain is going away, much to our relief.
Meanwhile, I remain home, taking care of the children, tending to Nashi's needs. I sometimes feel overwhelmed with Nashi's demands, but I know she can't help it. It makes me sad that she will never walk, talk, read a book, go on a date, have a boyfriend, drive a car, get married, have a family. Someone will always have to take care of her, even if she gets to be an adult, "if" being the operative word. Doctors still don't know how long she will live, so we choose to make every day we have with her a gift.
Every day she wakes up breathing or not sick is a blessing from God above, and we thank Him every chance we can.
For New Year's Eve, we took the children to the church, where they have a respite program. They spent the night there; there are workers there who are trained to work with handicapped children, and the children love it! So do we; we get a break from caring for Nashi, and we can actually do things. We went out dancing on New Year's Eve and out to eat; it was fabulous! The next day, about noon, we picked up Wally, Nashi, and Hyman from church, and they had a great time, too.
On New Year's Day, we went out to eat; we went to Golden Corral, where we had a wonderful meal of cabbage, black eyed peas, meat loaf, potatoes, lettuce, turkey, dressing, cranberries, and for dessert, a choice of pecan, pumpkin, or lemon meringe pie. It was delicious. Nashi enjoyed being out, and she enjoyed having her nutrition suppliment. All we did was hang the bag on her IV pole that's attached to the back of her wheelchair and let gravity do its work. It takes about an hour, and the food went to where it needed to go: to her stomach.
We did get some stares, but we took it in stride, and proceeded not to let it bother us. We concentrated on eating and enjoying each other's company.
Well, I am going to go now: Wally's crying; think he fell. Hope he's okay; will have to see what happened. I will write in here again, probably next month or the month after. Until then, this is Terri signing off; take care and Yeshua bless!
~Love, your friend, Terri Ben Ami. :)
