Jo'burg Visit

Ben and a couple of other MKs at the zoo

Ben and the polar bear

Ben and I at the Bird Garden

Ben petting a lion for the first time.  Directly after this, he tried to kiss the lion on the nose.

Feeding the Giraffe

Ben loved feeding this goofy ostrich too.  Every time he gave it food, he howled with laughter. 

These guys were a few feet from our car as we drove through the lion park.

This is from our first game drive.  We came around the corner a few minutes into the visit and found 7 giraffes.

These two little African kiddos watched these African animals wander around us like they were looking at squirrels or cows.  Just another day in the life of an MK!

Do you see the lion?  On our game drive we saw 3 of the African Big 5.  These lions would have been easy to miss, but some cars were stopped watching them.

I suppose nursing a rhino could be a painful experience.  I'm glad not to be a rhino mommy.

Ben and I are finally home.  Oddly enough, Ben's doctor visits all came out fine.  He's a healthy little 3 year old.  I finally got some answers from the doctor too about the trouble I've been having with my neck and shoulder.  Seems I managed to do some ligament damage from my inability to keep two feet firmly planted on the ground that was irritated or worsened by my little fender bender.  The doc gave me some drugs and some kind of torture treatment (AKA home traction) and told me not to play any more contact sports or drive on bumpy roads.  So, I suppose I'll be retiring from playing football and wrestling, but the bumpy road thing will be a little harder.  God is good and I know He'll either lay on His healing hands or sustain me to do what He's called in His strength.

We had to wait 8 days after we were medically cleared to catch a flight home.  I was pretty frustrated by the delay as we were both ready to come home and my work was piling up on me while we were away.  Some good friends took care of us from the time we arrived until we left and they showed us some of the neat places around South Africa.  We visited a lion park, a bird garden, the zoo, and even stayed the night in a game park.  It was fun stuff that we may never have the chance to do again.  I am grateful for time spent with dear friends. 

Ben had a hard time being apart from family, but we are all super glad to be back.  I'll have to put my nose to the grind stone to catch up on my 2 1/2 missed weeks, but I really love being here, so I'll be glad to do it.

My friend Deron took all of those great game park pictures and the pictures from the lion park, so that you could see a little of our trip. 

Thanks for remembering us in prayer.  It means a lot to us.

With love,
Heather

The Results are IN!

Well, I know some of you have been waiting to hear from us for a couple of weeks now, so I wanted to let you know where we stand. 

Ben got to see a very nice pediatrician here that checked him from head to toe.  Initially he told us that Ben looked good, which was very good to hear as many causes of long term anemia that can't be corrected are very scarey.  He told us that we would temper the blood results with what he could see in person.  I could tell he was preparing me in case the labs were bad and trying to ease our nerves while we waited.  I was appreciative of his attempt, but the long and the short of the whole thing is we've been battling this for a while.  I had done some research on what tests they might run to find the solution, and those weren't great either.  So, when the doctor called a couple of days later to let us know initial results from the bloodwork, I was a little incredulous and waited for the whole story to come out before letting you know.  The phone report was that Ben's labs were, get this, NORMAL.  Well, that makes no sense and then again, how many people were praying for our sweet boy?  So I breathed a little easier, but waited to hear face to face what the doc thought.  As we sat in his office and looked at the lab results line by line and saw them fall in  the normal range, with the exception of two little numbers that were only a hair outside.  There must have been 30 or so result lines.  Then the doctor floored me by saying, "He's totally fine.  Don't give him anymore medicine."  This child has been on iron supplements for a good portion of the last 2 years and all of the sudden, he's fine.  Seeing my questioning look, the doc said (in his Brittish accent) "If you would like to do something for him, go get him a Mac Burger."  Yes, they have McDonald's here, can you believe it?! 

So as crazy as it sounds, Ben's fine.  It sounds so weird because we expected a lot of answers, but not that one.  Then again, that's exactly what we prayed for, so why am I surprised?  My favorite African reached in the vehicle the day before we left, put her hands on Ben and prayed that God would heal him.  Praise be to the God Most High, that heals.

When I get back home, I'll send you some pictures of Ben petting a lion and feeding a giraffe. 

Why aren't you back home, you might ask.  Well, it seems that we are currently stuck here because of me!  I had a little fall, out west, that I wrote about.  It seemed to have caused some sort of injury to my neck/shoulder/arm that doesn't want to heal.  Since we are here, I had to see the doctor too.  I didn't get off quite so easily as Ben, at least not yet.  I had my MRI today and hope to get some answers tomorrow.  I know I'm not so cute and cuddly as Ben and since I did fall and hurt my own self and there is no way this is not so life threatening, you are not quite so interested in my silliness.  I just thought I'd let you know why we are still in Jo'burg.  I don't know when we'll get back home, but I've got work to do, so it can't be too much longer.

So, thanks for your prayers.  Keep them coming if you don't mind. 
With Love,
Heather