Curioduo

High-res My son JJ, adopted a year ago, glimpsed the ocean for the first time today. (at Rockaway Beach)

My son JJ, adopted a year ago, glimpsed the ocean for the first time today. (at Rockaway Beach)

Continued Momentum

littleheartsmedical:

So much has been accomplished on this trip. We have awakened early and hurried off to plan our future here in China and see children during work breaks who can use all the help they can get.

So far we have met with officials from BaYi Children’s Hospital, Beijing United Hospital (BJU), Chunmiao Foundation and Philips Healthcare. 

Our team will work side-by-side with doctors and nurses at both hospitals (and probably others) as we train advanced techniques to treat heart disease. Dr Zhou and his team at BaYi, Dr Rutstein and his team at BJU are amazing, service-focused people!

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An Afternoon at BaYi Children’s Hospital

littleheartsmedical:

It is Tuesday afternoon and I have been sitting in Dr Zhou’s office in BaYi Children’s Hospital for seven hours. 

Dr Langley is observing a surgical case that Dr Zhou is performing, Dr Armsby is in the heart cath lab with two cases and Tanya is in the Pediatric ICU observing the nurses at work.

I have no internet access and have been able to furiously clean up notes from our many meetings, as well as create a ton of working tools and documents which detail our plans with our various partners here in China.

As I type, I can hear a woman crying outside of Dr Zhou’s office. I can not understand the words a friend or family member of hers is speaking into a cell phone. But even language barriers can not block the raw emotions felt by a family member as their child suffers. 

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High-res Merry Christmas!! If you look closely at the kids’ stockings, you’ll notice that while not all the fabrics are identical, all the stockings share many of the same pieces. Much like these stockings, our family members are unique, distinct individuals who share a common thread: the qualities of love and unconditional acceptance that make up our family. Stockings made by Yours Truly beginning in 2001 when Jake was born and each year we’ve added a new child (with much-needed tips from my creatively-gifted wife).

Merry Christmas!! If you look closely at the kids’ stockings, you’ll notice that while not all the fabrics are identical, all the stockings share many of the same pieces. Much like these stockings, our family members are unique, distinct individuals who share a common thread: the qualities of love and unconditional acceptance that make up our family. Stockings made by Yours Truly beginning in 2001 when Jake was born and each year we’ve added a new child (with much-needed tips from my creatively-gifted wife).