Pictures of the Week - July 3-9

There's a mouse in my house.  I saw it earlier this week and, of course, it totally freaked me out.  I refuse to call it a rat, as it would elevate my anxiety level.  So I've borrowed a cat, Little Tiger, from a friend.  Along with Little Tiger, though, comes her 5 kittens who are still nursing.

Little Tiger has also caught on to our vision of fostering!  Her owner found an abandoned kitten the other day and brought her over to nurse from mama.  Little Tiger seems to have taken to her newest addition, cleaning her and nursing her.  We hope that this baby kitten will grow to be as strong and active as her other brothers and sisters!

 

Five kittens content in their box

 Little Tiger

 Our newest addition

 And they're out!  They started crawling out of the box today...

Pictures of the Week - June 19-25

The annual Children's Sports Day (the city's version of our Special Olympics) was this Saturday.  Sports Day was held at one of the local primary schools, and there was quite a turnout of kids and families.  I was amazed at how many children with special needs are here in this city.  I've been told often that children with special needs are usually abandoned because families either cannot afford to care for the child, or they don't want to, especially since each family can only have one child.  So I was surprised and touched to see so many families show up with their children who have special needs - there were children of all ages with cerebral palsy, in wheelchairs, or with a genetic disorder like Down Syndrome, to name a few.

Assigning numbers

On your mark, get, set...

and go!

Resting in the shade

Three-legged race

Volunteers from HOJ

Happy 4th!

To my friends and family back in the US...Happy 4th!  I'll be missing the BBQs and the fireworks...please enjoy them for me!

a visit to the Consulate

It's visa renewal time and my passport has run out of visa pages, necessitating a visit to the US Consulate.  So I made an appointment for Tuesday and headed over to the US Consulate after clinic, for my first ever visit.  I wasn't quite sure what to expect except from what I've seen in the movies - doors opening so you can run in while being chased by the police for a crime you didn't commit, US flags flying everywhere, a sense of security and home.  Hmm...I can only blame myself for feeling disappointed with the real thing.

First of all, I couldn't find the entrance.  All I could see was a building surrounded by a large wall and wire fence.  The "entrance" turned out to be in the middle of the wire fence, nothing fancy.  The wire fence spanned about a block, with the street blocked off to traffic.  In fact, the street was blocked off to pedestrians, too, except for the middle area to let you walk to the entrance.  A guard was at the entrance to verify my ID.  I was then directed to a small window, where I showed my ID (passport) again, and was allowed to enter a building where I was instructed to leave all of my belongings, including (and especially) my phone.  I didn't care about leaving my phone, but I was upset about leaving my Filet-O-Fish.  I had grabbed some Mickey D's on my way over, and assumed that I'd have time to finish my lunch while waiting for my visa pages.  At least my fries were consumed en route!

After "storing" my belongings, I was then instructed to leave the building and enter the main building, BUT I had to follow a certain path to the building.  The main building was literally across the way and I could have crossed diagonally to enter the building.  But my instructions were to go straight to the end, turn right at 90 degrees and walk straight to the entrance.  After going through another inspection, I finally made it!  And it took one hour to add visa pages to my passport, pages that looked like they were taped on.  On my way out, I had to leave and reenter to collect my belongings.  The whole ordeal was very structured, no-nonsense, and I felt confined while I was there.  Definitely no warm fuzzies.

I can only assume that things are structured in this way to maintain order, control, and safety.  In the same way, I like to live my life with structure and order because it gives me a sense of control and security.  But sometimes I overdo it, and end up alienating people, as I felt during my visit to the Consulate.  Life is not structured or organized, and really, I am not the ONE who is in control, no matter how much I want to be or think I am.  And I desire to be a fragrant aroma to those around me, not, as one of my friends puts it, "a stinker."  So every day, I am challenged to 1) relinquish my need for control, 2) trust in the One who is sovereign, and 3) live as a sweet influence to those around me.

Picture of the Week - June 5-11

I know, I know, it hasn't been a full week yet.  But I'm sure that this would have made it to Pic of the Week.  Remember YW, the little one who stayed with me for awhile?  Well, she is now with a long-term foster family and they brought her to clinic for a check-up today!  She is doing really well with the bottle and her feeding tube has been removed.  We are planning on getting her seizures further evaluated to make sure that we've got her on the right meds and dosages.

I am so touched by this family.  They have just enveloped her into their lives and hearts.  I was only expecting mom to come in with YW today, and was very surprised to see both mom and dad at the check-up.  Dad was just as eager as mom in answering our questions, as well as sharing his own concerns and questions that any typical parent would have in caring for a child with these special needs.  What an awesome couple!

Proud mommy and daddy of YW!

And because I can't help it...here are some earlier pictures of YW when she was with me.  These would have ended up in those missing Pics of the Weeks anyway!

 YW in her first outfit

 After the feeding tube accidentally came out the first time.  It wasn't until the second feeding tube came out the following week did YW take the bottle well enough to keep the tube out.

 Sleeping in her new bed

 Listening to music via my iTouch (the pink thing on the left) - she likes Matt Redman

Not caring too much for tummy time

Picture of the Week - May 15-21

My family came to visit this week and it was a wonderful time to just be together!  They got in some traveling to nearby cities, and I had a chance to show them some of what I've been doing since I've been here.  I was touched at their enthusiasm around the kids I care for...here they are helping me out at work!

 Michael and MingMing sizing each other up

Aunt Catherine loving on NiNi

 "How did I get roped into this?"  Mom, Dad, and feeding time!

Family photo with Grace and the kids at HOJ

community

Can I just say how awesome I think my community is here??  I have been touched, encouraged, and overwhelmed by the servant's attitude and generous spirits of those in my community!

It has been only 24 hours since YW has come to stay with me, and I am now well-stocked with formula, diapers, baby clothes, a bouncy chair, and more!  Friends and strangers alike have been ready and willing to joyfully give their time (even at the last minute) to babysit while I'm working this week, and another family is ready to care for YW the next two weeks while I'll be traveling.  I do not feel alone in the care of this child and it is such a wonderful feeling.  As the saying goes, "It takes a village to raise a child."  I'm beginning to get a glimpse of this village for YW, and I think she is in a most excellent place.

Picture of the Week - May 8-14

YW is our newest member of our foster program!  She's staying with me until we can find a long-term foster family for her.  Here she is sleeping, and yes, in a suitcase.

Some of the issues that YW has include a seizure disorder and not feeding well.  The tube in her nose is a feeding tube because she is unable to eat enough by mouth to stay nourished.  She is also very delayed developmentally and is sensitive to too much stimulation.  Hopefully, most of these issues will improve (if not resolve!) with time and lots of TLC.

Picture(s) of the Week - April 17-24

We went out to the countryside this week, and we were blessed enough to have an ophthalmologist, Dr. K, come with us!  Not only was it a great learning opportunity for our residents on how to do a good eye exam, but we had a bunch of our kids with Down Syndrome evaluated by Dr. K.

Dr. K teaching and demonstrating how to examine the eye

Our residents putting it into practice

Oh, and Happy Fu-Huo-Jie!

Picture of the Week - April 10-16

In an attempt to avoid future blog-a-mania's, I'm going try a weekly update and see how it goes.

Meet XM, our newest addition to our foster program.  We went on Thursday to pick him up from the orphanage.  He is 5 months old and it doesn't look like malnutrition is a concern (a rare thing to see).  We were asked to foster him because of concerns for frequent infections - he's been diagnosed with pneumonia three times since birth.  Hopefully, we'll be able to figure out the problem soon!  In the meantime, he's joined a family with 2 little ones of their own, so he now has a big sister and brother to love on him.

blog-a-mania

I realize that it's been quite a while since I've blogged about life over here, and I apologize.  Here are some updates about what I've been up to...enjoy!

I've been doing a lot more traveling recently, some for work and some for vacation.  All have been fun, but I'm also glad to be back home.  I took advantage of the weeklong Spring Festival holiday and went to Taiwan to see family.  I met up with family from both sides of the family, some of whom I'd never met before.  I loved every minute of this trip!

Enjoying dinner with Aunt Catherine and her family.
She and my uncle are my second set of parents in Taiwan,
and they were wonderful hosts!

The long-awaited Chili's bacon cheeseburger!
I had been craving a good ole' hamburger for months,
and it was delicious down to the very last bite.
Still not sure why my family was so shocked to see me polish off everything...

Reunion with my uncle from my dad's side.
It's been over 10 years since I last saw them,
so it felt like the first time to meet them.  I loved meeting my family,
 and I hope that we'll be seeing more of each other in the future!

The International Flower Expo was in town...
how could I pass that up?
Can you tell which country we're visiting?

More family!  I tell you, Taiwan is my second home...

Where our conference was held

After spending such a rich time with family, I then headed to Thailand for a weeklong medical conference with like-minded workers.  And it was awesome!  There were hundreds of people at the conference, including many families with little ones.  My days were filled with various seminars updating us on current medical practices, and evenings were filled with testimonies from those working in the field.  Mealtimes were busy with meeting people and making new friends.  This was such a sweet time of education and fellowship, all rolled into one.  What a great combo.

Casting workshop

Joan looking pretty happy with her cast

Reuniting with good friends

Skit night by the kids.  A seriously hilarious skit about traveling between E. Asia-stan and W. Asia-stan.

Feeding time!

Signing our life away to go ziplining

On our way down

Healthy ice cream??  Sounds like an oxymoron to me...

Teaching the ayis life support and basic healthcare

My most recent travel has been to Macau and the southern part of China to do some orphanage work.  We visited a foster home and two orphanages, providing medical checks on the children in these places.  There were three of us from this city (a pediatric colleague, me, and our pediatric assistant), another pediatrician from the US, and 2 family physicians from Macau who went on this trip.  It was a great vision trip, and we hope the relationships that were formed will lead to more opportunities in the future.

Medical checks on the children

The kids learning life support, too!

Back home, I've continued to be busy with our weekly trips to the local orphanage, a local foster home, working in the clinic, and teaching our residents.  During one of our academic afternoons, the pediatric faculty did a developmental session.  We invited families with children ages 1 year and up, and had the kids draw and play before us.  We had the residents observe, interact, and compare the skills of each child according to their age.  The kids had fun and we learned a lot from them that day!

Here are also some more firsts...
- watching a movie in a real movie theater (the popcorn was sweet, we had assigned seats, I understood half of the movie because it was in the local language...I now know how to say "I support you" in the local language)
- going to a child's birthday party (there were four cakes, pin the tail on the donkey, balloons, presents, a puppet show, the works)

J pinning his tail on the donkey

H blowing out her candles!

- surviving the entire winter here (lots of hot chocolate and baking)
- making my first medical error on my own (since finishing residency, not fun, very humbling and scary)
- pr-ing in the local language
- being in a book club (we've already read through a few books, I love my group!)
- fostering a child (only for four days but enough to give me a new-found deep, deep respect to all parents)

picking up QH from the orphanage along with two other families

QH resting in bed, looking at me warily

QH with her ayi - not sure why my ayi is not smiling because she was pretty joyful during her time with us.  Maybe it's a culture thing to look serious in photos.  QH, on the other hand, had a really difficult time transitioning from the orphanage - she cried all the time and refused to eat or drink anything during her four days with me.  I saw her a few weeks ago when her foster mom brought her in for a check-up.  She has really adjusted well, and is now eating tons of different foods, smiling, and playful!

- karaoking (both with my local friends and with my foreign friends, we've got some talent on our team!)

can't go wrong with John Denver!