This past month has been a whirlwind of ups and downs. First and most importantly, Brian's dad died a few days after St. Patrick's day. He had been ailing for quite a while and had gone into a nursing home at the beginning of February when it got too difficult for his mom to take care of him at home. He was actually doing much better, and we had started to talk about ways we could bring him home for the day on Easter, so it seemed very sudden when we lost him. He was a wonderful man, always made me feel so welcome in the family, and was such a giving member of the community. We will miss him so much, and I think it is finally starting to sink in that he isn't here anymore.
A few weeks ago, Brian went to see his doctor about his shoulder and finally got the go-ahead to schedule his surgery. His surgery is now scheduled for the end of May. We are praying that everything goes well and that he will be good as new and won't have to worry about his shoulder ever dislocating again. Of course, we are also looking forward to being able to move ahead with our adoption. We have put ourselves on "hold" until after his surgery, and we have told our agency that we will be able to view files from the SN list beginning sometime over the summer.
Last year I had contacted a local surgeon who specializes in one of the specific needs that we are willing to consider. His office staff was wonderful and very encouraging. They told me that they were very willing to review the files of any children we might be looking at, and we thought we were all set. We talked a lot about how fortunate we felt to have such a good specialist right in our community. So, I called the office again once we knew that it was possible that we would be looking at files this summer, only to get a voicemail message saying that the doctor had retired and his entire office has closed! I was completely devastated and as close to my breaking point as I have been throughout this adoption. I did remember that there was one other specialist in our community, so I called that office. The secretary didn't really understand what I was talking about when I asked if they could review a medical file for us. Finally she told me that she would have the doctor call me and answer my questions. The doctor called me at home and we talked for a long time about her experience, long term prognosis of the types of needs we are looking at etc. She was wonderful! She said that she would be happy to look at the medical information for us when we finally have a referral. She really put my mind at ease and confirmed for me that they types of needs we are considering are needs that will most likely be very manageable. Somehow I feel like this might just happen after all! :)
