7/1/09 Update from S. & H.

Here’s an update on Isaiah’s shoulder and a cheeky little photo …

The saga continues … A day after I had written the great news about Isaiah’s shoulder, we get a call from one of the doctors.  He wants to get a third opinion about what the lump might be because after looking at the MRIs, he and a radiologist still think it might be a hemangioma!  Arrgghh!  So he recommended that we hold off on the procedure until he hears from some specialists at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.  He then wanted to do the procedure on July 13 –only 6 days before we’d fly back to Central Asia!

NHF Softball Did Us Proud …

courtesy of Andrew K., NHF News Special Correspondent

This past Sunday, NHF played their first playoff game against Chodae KM, a team that they had already beaten twice during the regular season.  Despite missing many of their regulars, NHF was looking to carry the momentum gained from winning their last 4 games of the season into the playoffs.  However, the high-octane offense of Chodae proved to be too much for NHF to handle.

Update from S. & H.

Our friends, S. and H., have about 4 weeks left before they return to Kyrgyzstan.  Here’s an update received around midnight this morning:

Thanks for all the emails and your prayers for Isaiah.  We have some good news and then some even better news to share!  The surgeons at the Children’s Hospital in DC said that the growth on his shoulder is definitely a lymphatic  malformation.  It’s not serious and can be treated with a procedure called sclerotherapy.  Here is a good website that
explains in detail the condition and treatments -
http://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/health/info/vascular/diagnose/lymphatic.htm

Alice: My Shopping Robot

Given all the babies arriving this year, I imagine shopping for even mundane items can turn into a major production for growing families. Alice is a new service that works with manufacturers to sell directly to consumers. The site makes money from advertising, not from a retail markup, so the typical retail middleman is cut out of the equation. Of course, the manufacturers will want to capture some of that margin, so don’t expect wholesale pricing.

Anyway, shoppers can define a basket of everyday goods (e.g., diapers, trash bags, etc.) and Alice will remind you when you may be running low. Shipping is also free. I haven’t used the service yet, but it looks promising —  read this TechCrunch review to get a more in-depth look. This isn’t a web/consumer blog, but there are so many people with toddlers and kids now, I’ve got to believe someone is interested. Good luck!

Gmail Ninja

What belt are you?

A quick scan of our email lists indicates the majority of NHF uses gmail (or Google Apps email). Google has added features to Gmail steadily over the past year or so, and recently compiled a helpful tip sheet. Given the amount of email I receive every day from all sorts of sources, I rely heavily on Gmail’s advanced features to find and organize stuff.

So take a look at the tips, you’ll probably s find something useful.

noreSERVations: pizza + movie this Friday

We will be doing pizza + movie theater night this Friday, June 26th. Movie is TBD between Transformers, UP, and Star Trek. Location for pizza and movie is TBD dependent on movie title.

Please RSVP with Will L. or John H. with your preferred movie. An email will be sent to only those participating. Thank you.

Urgent Prayer Request From S. & H.

Received at about noon today …

Isaiah has another urgent prayer request that we’d like to ask pray for.  It’s about his shoulder. We had an ultrasound done and it turns out that the lump isn’t a hemangioma after all, but more likely a vascular malformation that he’s had since birth. And if this diagnosis is correct, his condition is more serious. A hemangioma almost always disappears, but vascular malformations do not and could even grow as he grows. The worst case scenario would be that the malformation grows into his shoulder joint and greatly reduce his mobility. Plus, since the fact we will be going back to a place where the medical conditions are quite primitive, the doctors advised us to get an MRI before we leave.

Usually getting an appointment takes at least a few weeks and even upwards to a month or more. But praise God, the doctor just called us this morning (Thursday) and said that there is a morning slot available tomorrow (Friday). He called it a miracle that we could get the appointment the next day! PTL!

Please do pray for this testing. Isaiah will have to be sedated so pray for everything to go well. And once we get the results, we’ll have to decide what to do. We have another appointment at Children’s Hospital in DC with some vascular surgeons on Tuesday (June 23). Pray for wisdom as we talk about the different options.

Lastly and most importantly, pray for healing! God has brought much healing to H’s Rheumatoid Arthritis. Pray with us for the same miraculous healing of Isaiah’s shoulder!