Shriner's Visit

On Monday, September 17th, we took Desi to Shreveport, Louisiana for her visit at Shriner's Hospital. I tried to get her into Arkansas Children's Hospital, but they cannot see her until January of 2013:-( The main reason we wanted Desi seen much quicker was because she continues to fall quite frequently for no apparent reason. We drove into Shreveport the day before her appointment and had dinner with our wonderful friends, The McConnells. Their children Evan and Sydney are the same ages as Jenna and Desi. Our visit was short, but we enjoyed our time with them SO MUCH. Now the appointment at Shriners.....First of all these people are FANTASTIC!!!! Really, they are. We were so impressed with the people and the process. Talk about having something down to a science. These guys have it!!! Once we got checked in and filled out all the paperwork, they called Desi back for x-rays. Let's just say, she had A LOT. Next we were called back to our room and spoke with a nurse that went over quite a few questions with us. Then Kathy came in. She is the nurse practitioner and she was in our room for at least 45 minutes observing Desi. During our conversation we found out she and her husband had been considering adopting from CHINA!!!! Yes folks, God places us in these situations all.the.time:-) We discussed in great detail the agencies to use/not to use, etc. I will go so far as to say that after our talk, she probably has already filled out an application to adopt!!!! Anyway, next was Dr. Gates. He did his own observation/examination.....well, he did AFTER Desi gave him his examination. Yes, she actually took her stethescope and "listened" to his heart:-) It really was too cute!!! The next few minutes were absolute joy for us to hear. Dr. Gates told us that Desi's spine (other than the Spina Bifida Occulta area) was perfect, her hips were perfect and the reason for the falling was just because she had been in an orphanage for 4 years. It's classic Developmental Delays. The cure.....let her be a kid!!!! He said it may take another year before she's completely caught up to where she should be, but she WILL catch up. He told us that having her in gymnastics was fantastic and would help her with her delays:-) They also told us that she did NOT need a prosthetic arm because she was doing just fine without it!!! They did prescribe occupational therapy for her just so she can learn to do her day-to-day activities easier. And so that's it. We can stop worrying about her health and just enjoy raising our daughter. Thank you Jesus!!!