Evi Video

November 28, 2006

Friends and Family,

We hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. Danny, Evi, Caleb and I had lots of fun celebrating Turkey Day with Danny’s aunt, uncle, cousins, and grandmother who came in from Flagstaff, AZ and Fort Collins, CO to celebrate with Danny’s cousin in Allen, TX. Danny and his uncle spent most of the day helping Cousin Steve put up a new fence. Danny enjoyed working again. Visiting with Danny’s family was great. We even took a trip to the Dallas Zoo earlier in the week. We had a great time, but we also missed all of our friends in Lesotho. Last year we celebrated Thanksgiving at our house in Lesotho with about 50 other friends.

Speaking of Lesotho, we would like to ask all of you to pray for that country. Normally Lesotho is fairly safe and politically stable, but with the upcoming elections sometime around January or February, things are become a bit worrisome. Last week a Dutch aid worker with the Clinton Foundation was shot and killed during an assassination attempt on the Minister of Trade in Lesotho. Please pray for the safety of our friends in Lesotho and also for peace for the entire country.

Thank you for all of your prayers for Evi and our family. We went to the doctor on Wednesday for another checkup. The doctor said that the wound is behaving atypically, but currently it is improving. The open wound on her shin continues to improve and get smaller. We are holding our breathe and praying that this trend continues and we don’t take anymore steps backwards in the healing process. The doctor, however, was very, very concerned about Evi’s knee which was broken in 3 or 4 places in the accident. Her knee has become quite swollen, and Evi cannot straighten her leg completely. We were given some physical therapy homework and a leg brace that Evi wears at night to help straighten her knee. Danny and I were afraid that this would become a big battle with Evi, but miraculously she doesn’t seem to mind very much at all. What a blessing! The doctor will re-evaluate her knee on Friday and possible do X-rays if things haven’t improved.

We are still battling with Evi’s weight, but fortunately she hasn’t lost anymore weight this last week. Hopefully we’ve stopped loosing and can start gaining. Evi’s always been a tiny little girl, but now she’s so, so small. Even her 2T pants are falling off of her, and I bought most of her pants before she lost so much weight so I purchased 3T.

We covet your prayers during this time and really appreciate all of your support. The love we’ve received from all of you is one of the things we are most thankful for this holiday season. God bless all of you.

November 27, 2006

Today we were able to take Evi to the Dallas Aquarium. It was a lot of fun and the kids really enjoyed themselves, well at least Evi did as Caleb slept the entire time. Evi had a lot of fun watching fish, monkeys, snakes and tons of other critters all over the place. When the weather is nice and we have time it is really nice to get Evi out of the house. This week will be busy with doctor visits for Evi and hopefully by the end of the week we will have a plan for the next few months. Below are some specific prayer requests and praises:

Praise:
* A great thanksgiving with Family
* Evi's leg is starting to heal back up again

Prayer:
* Pray for Evi's scarring on her knee. There is severe scarring on the side of her knee, and this may be limiting movement and causing discomfort when she straightens her leg. X-rays will probably be taken Friday to further look at her knee swelling and pain.
* Pray for health for the entire family, as everyone has been a little sick these last couple days.

It's hard to believe that this week will mark three months since the accident. Sometimes it feels like it was yesterday and other days it feels like it was years ago. We are so blessed to have the assurance that God is in control. I often wondered why Evi was so strong willed and determined. Well, I guess I know now.

November 20, 2006

The last few months have been a roller coaster ride of ups and downs. Evi's leg was looking better, then worse, then a little bit better again. We are praying that we are now at the end of this cycle. Evi's leg is starting to look much better. The wound is gradually beginning to close up and the mysterious black spots covering her leg are starting to disappear as well. God has blessed us with such an incredible little girl. Through the struggles of a hospital stay and loosing her foot she remains strong beyond her 3 years.
Please continue to pray as there are still things that have to happen before we begin to fit for a prosthetic. A few months ago we were concerned that her leg was always straight and that she would never bend it. Now that Evi is scooting around everywhere she always lifts her leg up to avoid it hitting anything. Now she has a constant bend in her knee and it is painful for her to straighten it. Her knee is also swollen. We have fitted her with what we call a "leg warmer" to keep her leg straight all night long. We are amazed that she has not complained at all about wearing this at night.
Yesterday her Sunday School teacher told me that Evi was talking about getting her new foot and couldn't wait to "run, jump and play" again. We are so excited, and look forward to the day that Evi can walk on her own again. These pictures were taken last week when we went to the Dallas Zoo with my Uncle, Aunt, Grandma and cousin.

November 16, 2006

As many of you know we have been concerned about a large spot on Evi’s shin that was not healing like the rest of her leg. On Tuesday we took her to the doctor and the wound specialist at the hospital. They are concerned about the leg and are unsure exactly what is happening with her large open wound. There are large black spots on a lot of the lower leg that is close to the shin. The fear is that all of these black spots will open back up and become more open wounds. We are using a different kind of bandage and are praying that the leg will close up over the next couple of weeks. Once again the option to go back to the OR for another skin graft is a strong possibility. Please pray with us that her leg would heal without having to have another skin graft. Our next appointment is on Wednesday the 22^nd.

Evi has really made progress and can’t wait to get her new foot so that she can “run and jump” again. She even talks about the rock that fell on her leg. We are very proud of Evi and she is being such a strong little girl. Once again thank you so much for your prayers, phone calls and words of encouragement. You have truly blessed us during this experience. Leslie and I are discouraged that we taking steps backwards. We were fully expecting to be fitted for a prosthetic before Thanksgiving. Now we are praying that we will be able to do this before Christmas. But God is in control, and we are truly blessed by the generosity of Park Cities Baptist Church and particularly an adult Sunday school class that has adopted us during our stay in Dallas.

November 13, 2006

Friends and Family,

Thank you again for all of your prayers. Danny is doing very well. He has a little bit of a black eye from the surgery and a few headaches, but has otherwise healed very well. He’s also very excited to be able to breathe so well. He said he didn’t realize that it was possible to breathe just through your nose without opening your mouth. He had a follow-up appointment with his doctor on Thursday. His doctor said Danny’s deviated septum was one of the worst cases he’d ever seen.

Evi also had an appointment on Wednesday. The doctor was a little baffled by the worsening condition of her leg. He called in a wound specialist who recommended a foam type bandage. The best part was that we didn’t have to give her a bath until yesterday. Usually we have to give her a bath everyday. Yesterday’s bath was not a good experience. Her wound bled a lot, which really scared Evi. Danny and I were disappointed that the wound didn’t look any better, but at least it didn’t look any worse either. In fact, except for the one open wound, the rest of Evi’s leg is looking really well. We are most disappointed that extra time the leg is taking to heal delays us being fitted for the prosthetic. Evi’s next appointment is Tuesday, so we are hoping that the foam bandage begins to help by then.

Evi continues to make progress with her mobility. She’s not only scooting, but also crawling now. She even used her walker a little bit over the weekend (something she had up until now completely refused to even try). Evi’s also enjoying visiting with other kids now. We’ve even taken her to Sunday School twice now. She continues to sing, play, and even dance. Every day I’m amazed by her beautiful spirit. She has started to talk about the “big rock” that fell on her and gave her leg an owie. After that she gets a big grin and shrieks with excitement about the fact that she will get a new foot. She can not wait to run, jump and kick balls again.

Caleb is doing well. He’s still my angel baby, and most of the time he sleeps at least till 5 AM or so. I can’t believe how fast he’s growing. He’s already 4 ½ months old (though he’s beginning to wear 6-9 months clothes!) I feel sorry for him though because Evi requires so much time and attention, taking away from the time we could spend with him. He’s such a wonderful baby and a true joy to be around.

I’ve enjoyed getting to know some of the ladies at Park Cities Baptist Church whose mission house we’ve been staying at. I’ve been attending the Ladies Bible Study and MOPS group. It’s been a lot of fun. I’m still exhausted, but Christ continues to give me strength.

Blessings to all of you,

Leslie & Danny

November 3, 2006

Friends and Family,

Thank you for praying for Danny and his surgery today. We checked in at the surgery center this morning at 6:30 and arrived back home around 1:00. The doctor said Danny’s surgery went well. On the way home, Danny said he already felt like he could breathe better than he has in a very long time. Danny is resting in bed right now. He’s having some pain, nausea, and bleeding but is otherwise doing well. Please continue to pray for a quick recovery.

Also please continue to remember Evi in your prayers. Danny and I are concerned about the shin area. The area had almost completely healed up. There were 3 spots about the size of nickels that were still open wounds. For some reason these areas have stopped healing and started getting worse. Now the three spots have grown and merged into one large open wound. Please pray that Evi’s leg would heal completely and quickly.

I would also like to ask you to life me up in prayer as well. The last two months have definitely taken their toll on me physically and emotionally. To say that I’m exhausted would be an understatement. I’m currently battling a bad cold while trying to care for Evi, Caleb, and Danny. Please pray that God would give me the strength to carry on and take care of my family and also that He would comfort my anxious heart as I struggle emotionally to handle Evi’s traumatic injury and difficult recovery.

Thank you for your prayers,

Leslie
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