Update #3

I'm finally getting around to finishing the 3 part update.  Not sure who is reading but this is as close to a journal as I am getting so here it goes...

DOCTORS

Poor Lukey has been to a lot of doctors and has more to come.  First off was a general check up with our beloved pediatrician, Dr. McKinney. (Sorry, Tiff, I don't think I can bring myself to surprise him with an unsolicited hug).  He said he looks great but sent us for blood work and stool samples (yuk!). The blood work did not go well.  Apparently, he has hidden veins. After trying twice at St. Luke's, they recommended going to Children's.  Luke didn't even cry when they tried the first arm (which included lots of digging) but when they started prepping the second arm he started to cry.  He never fought but it was pitiful.  As we walked into Children's Hospital he started crying again. It was terrible but they were barely able to get enough blood.  This made him afraid of very doctor we went to after that but he has finally learned that it doesn't hurt every time.  His blood work came back fine but we discovered 2 parasites that have totally messed with his belly.  He's all clear now but still healing.

We had an initial consultation with the hand surgeon.  This is a specialist that people from all over the  country come to.  His initial thoughts were not encouraging.  The X-rays showed that his radius is not just short, it is nonexistent. This doesn't bode well for surgical treatment.  We will see him again next week at Shriners' and probably start with physical therapy to try to get some movement in his fingers and to teach them to move independently.  If that works, they might consider surgery. He really gets along just fine the way he is.  He can dress himself (although it is a struggle and it's hard to let him struggle), he can feed himself, open doors, ride his tricycle, turn pages, play with stickers.  His fine motor skills are not that far from a child with typical hands.  The hard things will be tying his shoes, doing buttons, etc.   Right now, one of the biggest concerns for me is when he falls.  Most people catch themselves with the heel of their hands. He catches himself with the end of his arm bone. It really hurts.

At the end of October, we will be seeing a pediatric dermatologist for a mole that the pediatrician is concerned about.  He may have to have it removed. I find it almost funny that after all the research and preparation for his hands this little thing might be his first surgery.


LANGUAGE

This kid is absolutely brilliant!  We have been home about 6 weeks and language is going so well!  After coming home, we were sad because we had no one to translate his cute little stories for us (like his drunk beauty goat).  We did ok using little bits of English and Mandarin to communicate basic need but it was hard to know what he was thinking.  We tried having friends speak Mandarin to him but he won't listen or talk back.  He just tells them "no". I think he knows he needs to learn English.
Now, he can tell us a lot. It's still a mixture of "Chinglish" but he really gets his point across.  Today we had the best example of this so far.  We went to Andrew's school and he told me that Luke's school (his orphanage) is bye bye.   I asked if he liked his school.  He said, "Yes." He went on to say, "Shen Shen at Luke's school.  Jing at Luke's school. Yue Yue at Luke's school.  Luke go bye bye on airplane, go home. Tao go bye on airplane. One, two go bye bye."  I asked him if he likes his friend Yue Yue. He said, "Yes!" I asked him if he knew Yue Yue was coming home.  He said, "Yes.  Yue Yue guo lai (come here) on airplane." He said a few more things that I couldn't quite understand but this was such a blessing to get into his head a little about where he used to live.

OVERALL

We are head-over-heels in love with this little boy who has fit so seamlessly into our family.  It's fun having a preschooler in the house again. It's also sometimes exhausting but that's just fine with us.  Everyone is getting along very well and Luke is even transitioning into his room with Andrew.  I'm sure we will hit some bumps in the road. I promise to be honest about the successes as well as the challenges.  As always, thank you so much for all of your prayers!