Thursday, February 25, 2010

Next Surgery

March 4 will be a big day for Tison. He will have his second surgery since arriving in Alaska. He was sick when his second surgery was originally scheduled. It was rescheduled and the countdown begins. This is a very important surgery because the surgeon will work on removing the contractures on the left ankle. This will hopefully allow his foot resume the normal flat position. He has been walking on the side of his foot since the burn accident.

It will take a while for him to recover from this surgery. He has been active and doing so well in the snow. He likes to be moving, so the time waiting to heal could be tough. I feel he will do OK but we need to pray for him.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Down Hill

It seems like Tison loves going down hill. He has adapted to the winter in Alaska very well. Who would have thought a child who knows only sandy beaches and tropical weather, would feel so at home in the snow. His host family has made it possible for him to enjoy sledding, snow machining, and snowboarding.

I have watched Tison play soccer for hours in Indonesia, even with his disabilities. Soccer is really a popular sport in Indonesia. He told me, "He liked snowboarding more than soccer". Liz Wood wrote--he might be the first Indonesian snowboarder. The value of all this is he remains active and he is open to enjoying the environment of his new home. Going down hill is really making it, over a hill, in a way.

Monday, February 15, 2010

He Left for Home

He came as a translator and to help Tison adjust to his new home in Alaska. Hendra was here for over two months. He is an amazing young man with a hunger to learn and a gift of serving. He did everything he was asked and did it with a humble gentleness. His study of the English language started when a young American came to Indonesia and taught an introductory English class. Hendra had a passion to learn and pursued his degree in English. He did not know he would some day come to the U.S. as an interpreter.

Hendra left on Friday for Jakarta. He had lots of experiences here in the cold north. He had never been colder than 75 F. while growing up in Indonesia and he experienced minus 40 F. while he was here. He got to see several moose and hundreds of caribou. He loved the frozen waterfalls near Valdez and could believe people in this bitter cold would be in bathing suits at a popular hot springs. He taught a class on Indonesian to several of us. He is a very gifted teacher--we were challenging students.

He has left for home--we will really miss him. I think he really found a home here. He has a five year U.S. multiple entry visa. I hope he will come again--we need a good Indonesian language teacher up here.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

No Surgery Today

We all walked into the surgery center at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital early in the morning on February 4. Tison had picked up a cold over night. That was not a good sign for the scheduled surgery. The nurse came into the pre-op room and took his vitals and expressed a little concern but said the decision to have the surgery was up to the Anaesthesiologist. We waited for a while and then the Anaesthesiologist came in and in a short time he made the call to cancel the surgery.

The surgeon came by later and told us he thought the next surgery will be in about three weeks. This is a part of the process and we will take it in stride. You cannot predict when a child will get sick or have an injury. We cannot look in the rear view mirror and asking the "if" or "we should have" questions. We just face each day and each situation with hope and prayer. He will have a couple days off school, trying to get well.

Hendra, the interpreter, will leave next week for Indonesia. He has been awesome and has already stayed much longer than we first thought. He has made it much easier for everyone. We will miss him, but it is time for all of us to go to the next level.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Nine Little Fish

Tison has been very active since he came to Fairbanks. The Johnson's, his host family, have made many opportunities for him to enjoy the fun activities of Alaska. In Indonesia, Tison's father is a fisherman, in the remote region of North Maluku. Tison talks about his father and the fish he catches, now he is also catching fish. It is very different when you can drive on the lake and drill a hole in the two feet thick ice and put your hook and line down the hole.

He went out this weekend and was so happy they caught nine small trout. He is having a good time while he awaits his surgery on Thursday. The Johnson's have been very careful to keep him active in the intervals between surgeries. Tison will have many memories of his time here--he will remember the day they caught nine fish. I am sure these little fish will grow in his mind and become nine big fish, if he is a true fisherman. He will also have the memory of so many people who have been kind to him and made his time in Alaska enjoyable.