The Road to Straight started Curvy and Twisted

 Born a tiny baby girl with very unique features, we can only imagine what her biological mother must have thought. I am sure she felt a deluge of emotions. Whatever her reason, she made the choice to give her baby a chance at something better. Sadly, we will never have the opportunity to let her know that was a very good choice. That baby spent the first 7 years of her life in an orphanage with no diagnosis and no treatment for her very unique needs. God brought her to us and I am so glad he did.

When Erika first joined our family, she had severe scoliosis and kyphoscoliosis. This means her spine was twisted and curved, which gave her what we affectionately called her "hump." 

Despite her curve being so significant, she was surprisingly agile and had no physical limitations because of it. She was very independent and could get nearly anywhere she wanted to inside our home. She would even climb on to the barstool all by herself and sit by her siblings. When we were outside the house, she used a manual wheelchair which she pushed herself, but only because she can't really crawl around outside on her knees.

One morning in the summer of 2019, Erika laid down on the rug in front of the couch and watched TV from there, all day. Her back was causing too much pain for her to move. She has a very high tolerance for pain and doesn't express it openly. Seeing her not moving or even trying to, I knew right away something was wrong. As soon as I could, I took her to see the orthopedist.

X-rays were taken and the curve had only increased a little. We are not sure why it was now an issue after so many years of having no negative effects.  

She wore a brace which helped alleviate some of the pain, but everything was not "okay."

Unfortunately, there were too many days of her not moving around and no longer being independent like she was before. We had some phone calls with a skeletal dysplasia specialist in another state and the doctors shared imaging and notes. After a conversation between that specialist and our local orthopedist, it was decided that it was time for surgery.

In January 2021, Erika was admitted to the hospital and had her first surgery to place a halo. This was the beginning of a very long hospital stay.  

8 screws attached the halo to her skull

The halo is used to put her spine in traction. Basically, they use weights and a fancy contraption to slowly and gradually pull her spine straight. Each day in the hospital, which ended up being nearly six weeks, more weighted bean bags were added to apply more "pull" on her spine.

She slept every night in this chair which kept her in traction and continued stretching the spine to straighten up that curve.  

We are forever grateful to have been blessed with a creative, compassionate physical therapist at the hospital named Jenn. Living in a hospital this many days gets rather boring, so Jenn came up with a way to get us out of that room and doing something she enjoys. 

  
We brought her tricycle from home and Jenn brought in this walker type contraption that kept her in traction while riding her tricycle all over the hospital, including on the elevator so we could cover more floors. We even made a trip to the first floor to get some Starbucks once or twice.

Finally, big surgery day was here! The day after Valentine's Day. The plan was to do a full spinal fusion, so no more curve, no more hump, no more pain. Erika was supposed to continue wearing the halo for a little longer, but it would be attached to a special vest and we would be at home. She would have to go back for one more surgery to remove the halo, but that would be nothing compared to all this.

 Surgery took nearly all day long. When the doctor came out, I was relieved that it was done. Then, he told me they were able to remove the halo. I cried... this meant "the hard" was over. Now we start the road to recovery. We can do that! Our girl has such determination and strength and perseverance; she will dominate recovery.

Seeing her back so beautifully straight was astonishing!

Then we discovered a new "hard."

She no longer had that flexibility and agility that she had before.  Everything was so different. She couldn't even sit up on her own. Her torso grew 4 inches when the spine was straightened, leaving her arms short in proportion to her torso. Now when she sits, she can't touch the seat with her hands so stopping herself from falling over doesn't happen. Pushing her manual wheelchair herself doesn't happen either because she can't reach the wheels.

She started physical therapy shortly after surgery and then was referred to aquatic therapy.           Aquatic therapy is a beautiful blessing!

Working with her therapist Heather has been life changing! She learned a whole new way of getting things done. And she figures out more every day.

In July 2023, we bought a new house and have made LOTS of changes to make this house the best it can be for her and her special needs. The last thing we need now is a bathroom built for her.

Seek & Serve is going to help us make that happen.

But, it will require help from everyone we know!

If you are able to make a donation, 

PLEASE CLICK HERE

Or, you can share this story and the donation link with everyone you know

and ask them to share with everyone they know.

Got Grit?

 This girl is so admirable! I believe she was born with a very brave and selfless heart.  When we adopted Erika, she was content. Her hearing was not the best and her vision was poor, but she was content. She couldn't walk independently, so she scooted around on her knees. She never got to leave the orphanage, so she was content with spending time with her one friend she had there. Of course, he was blind and needed help with a lot of things, so Erika made that her reason to get out of bed every morning.  She is very selfless and finds great satisfaction in doing things for others.  We made her a member of this loving family and taught her that she is needed, valued, and loved, and that it is okay for her to need others as well.  We showed her that it is okay to want more for herself, and we encouraged her to work towards that goal.  

Buried deep inside her somewhere was ambition, resilience, perseverance, and determination like I have never seen before.  These impressive characteristics are not buried anymore.  For years she attended physical therapy once per week and rarely missed a day of at home exercises.  Spinal fusion surgery caused a little detour in her plans but landed her in aquatic therapy.  This was a change of direction, but it also put her on a better path.  Every day she rides her tricycle around this house for 45 minutes. Even while in the hospital wearing a halo in traction, she continued riding her tricycle every day. She uses dumbbells to strengthen her arms and back and now has added walking laps around the inside of the house after her tricycle rides in an effort to strengthen her legs and hips more.  As soon as our neighborhood pool opens, she will be there every single morning around 10am to swim laps for an hour. I put on a swim belt and drop her in the water and she goes. Last year she did this and succeeded in swimming 600 meters at a triathlon.  This year, her goal is to do the swim portion again, and to also do the bike portion on her own new adaptive trike. 

She still has that extreme selflessness.  She cooks meals for our family and bakes brownies for anyone who seems to be having a tough day. She always says thank you to everyone for everything.  My momma heart wants to do everything I can do to give her more, but especially because of her selfless heart and her grit.  We were trouble shooting an idea one day and she kept trying a different approach despite each method failing.  Inside, my heart was crying, not just because each approach was failing, but maybe more because I had such great admiration for her determination.  I tell her all the time, "We will find a way, we always do."  She believes me now.  Now, she puts in the effort to help find a way.  

We bought this house nearly two years ago with plans to make the main level fully accessible to her, and to give her a bedroom best suited to her needs.  We took down several walls widening the entire kitchen and dining room so power wheelchairs can easily navigate around our house because priority number one for our girl is to be able to have her friends who also use power wheelchairs come over and hang out. We also put in an island with a roll under sink for her so she can cook and bake for everyone like she loves to do. Currently, we do not have an accessible bathroom in our house. So, inviting friends over hasn't happened yet. This also means we carry her upstairs to my bathroom for bathing, and she sits on my vanity to brush her teeth. As she gets older, I feel this is becoming increasingly inadequate.  She needs the ability to be more independent.  

Independence = Empowerment

We need an accessible bathroom on the main level of the home. Then, she will be able to handle all daily life activities on her own. She needs the freedom that comes with independence.  Taking care of yourself is empowering.  She will always need a little assistance in life and honestly, that's why God brought her to our family.  She is a huge help to me!  I want to give her the ability to help herself as much as possible.

We have done such a good job teaching Erika to ask for help. We know that isn't easy, just like it isn't easy for us to ask for help either.  But, I am going to ask for help.  Erika works diligently to reach her goals and improve her life.  I need help to make this final step toward her independence a reality.  Please help us to help Erika.  Seek & Serve is helping us to raise the money we need to have a bathroom built for Erika.  You can make a tax deductible donation at this link here: 

**Erika's fundraiser link**

If you are unable to make a donation, could you please share with everyone you know?  

Once she has this extra independence, I know her ambition is going to grow even bigger!  

Look out world!  

She dreams big, 

                                                  lives BIG,

                                                                                    and loves BIG! 

Let's help make the road to her BIG dreams a little smoother!

Where are we now? -- We are "included"

 Such a long update is needed.  I am not even sure where to start. It has been ten years now since I was last in another country, completing our perfect-for-us family.  I believe that perfect-for-us is exactly that, everything we need and right when we need it... exactly as God planned.  His plan is beautiful! Little did I know that trip did not complete our family. It continues to grow, nine children, a daughter-in-law, a son-in-law, three grandsons, and two more grandbabies on their way before the year is done. I have been told more than once, "You're going to have a lot of grandchildren."  This big family is just going to get bigger and bigger and I can't begin to describe how that makes me feel.  

Over the past 12 years, my sweet adopted "babies" have each endured orthopedic surgeries and physical, occupational, and speech therapies. We have learned the value of a good ophthalmologist, contact lenses and eyeglasses (yes, one of them wears both simultaneously.)  We have embraced the power of hearing aids and c-pap machines. We have become unofficial members of a whole new community.  Within that community, we learned about adaptive sports. Some incredible minds have come up with a way to allow physically challenged and disabled persons to participate in sports with non-disabled people.  They call this "inclusion."  

    INCLUSION means creating an environment where everyone feels
 welcome, respected, and valued, 
regardless of their ability, background or any other characteristic.

Their whole lives they have been excluded from activities because of their inability to participate physically or sometimes just because they look "different."  Being included just feels so good, makes you feel valued, and more importantly than anything, being included leads to making friends. I don't know when inclusion first began but I am forever grateful that it exists. 

Right when my children reached the age when they started to notice their differences and began to feel like they didn't fit in anywhere, we learned about the Kyle Pease Foundation. (God's beautiful timing again 😍) For us, the Kyle Pease Foundation is where we are included. This foundation has truly great employees and extraordinary volunteers. Not only do the volunteers give their time and energy assisting the physically challenged athletes across the finish lines, but these volunteers also bond with the athletes and make their differences seem to disappear.  They have mastered the art of inclusion.  My kids feel welcome, respected, and valued, and beyond that, they feel embraced.  It's like a second family.  (Look at that.... family growing again.)