Evi Walking!!

December 11, 2006

Thank you to everyone who prayed for Evi and her surgery today. Evi did great. We arrived at the hospital at 6 AM. We checked into the hospital as an inpatient for the day, and we were even assigned to our old room where Evi had spent almost 6 weeks. We praise God that Evi was not frightened by the whole process. She woke up from the procedure in a good mood, ready to drink some apple juice. She was excited because the doctor was able to make her cast bright pink. We are so thankful that Evi didn’t have any pain from having her knee stretched and straightened. The plan is to change the cast on January 4^th then every week thereafter until Evi’s leg can be completely straightened.

We also got some good news today. Members of Park Cities Baptist Church were able to find us housing when we return to Dallas. It’s a wonderful answer to prayer and a huge blessing.

We’re looking forward to celebrating Christmas with family and friends in Arizona. We will be leaving Dallas on Thursday morning and arriving in Flagstaff on Friday evening. Please pray for safe travel and also that the whole family will travel well. It’s a long trip!

God bless and Merry Christmas,

The Hulls Family

Please pray

Tomorrow morning we check into the hospital at 6 AM to prepare little Evi for day surgery. This is not a huge deal, but because of the possible pain involved it will be better if Evi is unconscious. They will be putting her entire left leg in a cast in order to stretch out her knee. Her knee must be able to have full movement so that she can properly use her prosthesis. Please pray for Evi as she will spend the next month or so in this cast. We will then visit physical therapy on Tuesday and Wednesday before we leave for Arizona. We will keep you updated on what we learn on Monday.
Thank you for praying...

December 8, 2006

Hello, here is our latest update on Evi and our family. We spent a lot of last week visiting with the doctor and the physical therapists. Our goal was to stretch Evi’s knee so that she would be able to have full deflection of her knee. Unfortunately after several weeks of this, there was no change in the knee deflection. As a result Evi will be checked into day surgery on Monday in order to put a full cast on her left leg that will force the leg straighter than it was and hopefully gradually stretch the scar tissue that is preventing her from putting her leg straight.

Even with the discouragement of putting Evi in a cast, she has made some great progress in the last week. The wound on her shin is looking remarkably well, and is getting close to the point where it can be fitted for a prosthesis. This is a huge encouragement after two months of setbacks. Please continue to pray that it will heal completely before we return back to Dallas on January 2^nd for further castings or prosthesis fittings. Evi has also learned to use her walker this week and enjoyed showing it off to some friends this afternoon. She still prefers to use her bottom to scoot around but will not be able to scoot with her cast.

We will leave Dallas this next Thursday and will arrive in Flagstaff on the 15^th. We are looking forward to spending some quality time with family and friends while visiting. We would also love to invite you to come and visit with us on Sunday December 17 between 3 and 7 PM or the 19^th between 5 and 8 PM. This will be an informal time to meet and share about our time in Lesotho and our present adventure in America with Evelyn. This will be held at my parents’ house in Flagstaff. Please contact me if you are interested for directions. We are looking forwarding to spending time with you, and thank you for your fervent prayers for Evi during these last 3 months.

As a family we are doing well and adapting to the many changes in our life. Caleb is growing and we are amazed that he is almost 6 months old. Two weeks ago we began to feed him some baby food, and he can’t get enough of the stuff. Mom is tired and has a lot on her plate as she prepares to move once again. She looks forward to the day when she can move somewhere and know that she can stay for a while. I miss flying and going to work everyday, but I’m keeping busy helping to care for Evi and Caleb.

December 1, 2006

Friends and Family,

We returned to Scottish Rite for Evi’s check-up today. We started off the visit with a visit from the Child Life Department. Evi was nominated earlier in the year for the “Hero of the Month” award from the Kid’s Wish Network. They met her with some balloons, a T-Shirt and a gift card. Although Evi had no idea why they were taking her picture or why they gave her balloons she had a good time. Now for the medical side of things: The doctor agrees with us that the wound on her leg is healing. Evi’s knee is also slightly improving, but not significantly enough. The scar on her knee has slowly tightened all of the skin tissue behind the knee, causing it to hurt when the knee is straightened. Beginning on Tuesday, we will begin physical therapy at the hospital 2 or 3 days a week. We are also meeting with Evi’s doctor twice next week. If Evi is not able to straighten her knee by next Friday, the doctor is going to take her to surgery (she will have to be put under) and put a cast on her leg to straighten her knee. Please pray that the physical therapy will be successful and that a cast will not be necessary. The good news is that even if Evi does require a cast, we will still be able to visit Arizona during Christmas for a couple of weeks. We’ll have to return to Dallas the beginning of January for more doctors’ visits and the making of Evi’s prosthetic. If all goes well, Evi will hopefully have her prosthetic and will begin physical therapy sometime in February. February is a little later than we had originally planned which creates a few difficulties, but nothing God can’t handle. For one thing, the mission house that Park Cities Baptist Church has so generously allowed us to use for the past few months will be occupied starting in January. The church is currently exploring other options to help us out with housing, and we’re praying that God will provide just as He always has. We’re so thankful for His provision during this tumultuous and traumatic time. We’re also thankful for all of you who have supported us with your gifts, surrounded us with your prayers, and encouraged us with your love. Please keep praying for our family, specifically for mobility of the knee.