At around 2:00pm, Brandy was transferred to a private room. She is still very sleepy, but the nausea seems to be going away.
I just went back and visited with Brandy. They had her sitting up in a chair, which is one of the first steps to leaving the ICU. She didn't much care for sitting up, but she did it well. As I left, they were putting her back into bed. The main nurse, Rebecca, let us know that our private room was being prepared and that we could have a bed brought in for me - I plan on sleeping here this evening. Everyone here at the hospital and at House Clinic have been so wonderful and accommodating! Right now Brandy is still nauseous, but has been enjoying ice chips, water, and orange sherbet.
-Logan Just now, I was curious to see how many people checked our blog yesterday during the surgery. On an average day, we usually have 100 - 150 visitors. Yesterday, April 6th, we had nearly 400 people visit the blog! I want to thank all of you for being so concerned with my wife's condition. It means the world to me that you took the time to read through the posts about her surgery. Thank you again! It's so nice to know that there are so many people out there who truly care, not only about our adoption journey, but about Brandy's well-being during this stressful time. Thanks and God Bless! Brandy is doing great today! She has been very nauseous, which we were told would be the case after surgery. She's extremely sensitive to motion, so they've told her to keep her eyes closed when we go back to visit with her. The internist, Dr. Stefan, just spoke with us about her condition and said she's on par to get out of the ICU today and be moved to a private room. Her vitals are great, and she's able to speak with us, although she is still very groggy. She has had some slight facial paralysis due to the nature of the surgery. Her facial nerve received some bruising during the removal of the tumor. The paralysis is slight and is only noticeable at the corner of her mouth when she makes certain expressions. This paralysis should go away with time (within the next few weeks according to the doctors).
The biopsy results from her tumor should be back to us within the next few days - all of the doctors have told us that they are most certain that it is a benign tumor. I will continue to update everyone. Thanks again for your thoughts and prayers! We just got word from the surgeon (Dr. Friedman) that the tumor was actually a Meningioma. We were told a few times by the House Clinic physicians that the tumor could be this instead of an Acoustic Neuroma based on its structure shown on the MRI scan. The Meningioma tumor is similar to the Acoustic Neuroma, but instead of starting in the ear canal, the tumor originates on the brain's lining. Most Meningiomas are benign and require follow-up monitoring by means of MRI (most likely at 6 months, 1 year, etc.) We are pleased to know that the tumor is removed and are praying for a speedy recovery. Thanks again for all of your support!
 Logan here writing this from the hospital waiting room. Brandy's surgery started around 1:15pm (Pacific Time). The nurse from the operating room just called me and said she is doing fine and that they think they will be done with surgery around 6:00 or 7:00pm (Pacific Time). Thank you all again for your thoughts and prayers. I'll try my best to keep everyone posted.
 We are leaving for Los Angeles today. I am glad that the time has finally come to get this over with!
We have so many wonderful people praying for us this week. We are so thankful. There are a lot of things going on over the next two weeks and we thought it might be easier if we broke our prayer requests down by day. Monday April 4th - Safe travel for me, Logan, my parents and my brother. We are flying from Indianapolis to LAX with a layover in Dallas. Tuesday April 5th - I have three doctors appointments and lab work throughout the day. Wednesday April 6th - Surgery. I have to be there at 9:30 California time. Please pray for the surgeons and for my quick recovery. And most importantly that there are no lasting negative effects of the surgery (i.e. facial paralysis). Thursday April 7th - To be released from the ICU. Friday - Saturday - for healing and quick recovery in the hospital. Sunday April 10th - for safe travel for Lori (my sister-in-law), Amanda (my sister), and our son River. They are bringing River out to us. I should also be released from the hospital on this day. Tuesday April 12th - Safe travel for Lori going back home. Wednesday April 13th - stitches should be removed! Saturday April 16th - Safe travel home for all of us!! : ) We appreciate all of the prayers, phone calls, emails, cards and well-wishes we've gotten these past few days. Everyone has been amazing. We are so grateful. Logan will try to keep everyone updated here. There has been a lot of stress and upheaval for those of us hoping to adopt from Ethiopia lately. So many questions, rumors, and unknowns. Logan and I are fortunate to be in a supportive community of adoptive families that we have met through our YahooGroup, blogs and Ethiopian events in Indianapolis. So many of our friends are struggling just like we are. We have friends who have referrals, but no court date. Friends who can't pass court because of a single missing paper. Friends who, like us, have been waiting so long for a referral. And then, for us, there is that tumor beside my brain. We are no doubt in the middle of the craziest, most stressful months of our lives. But this is exactly what we signed up for (okay, the tumor isn't, but that is beside the point). Despite what some may believe, we did not sign up to adopt from Ethiopia because it was going to be easy. We signed up for this because once we knew about the millions of orphans in the world, we couldn't just "have more of our own" as they say. Once we knew about Ethiopia, once we learned about the country and we understood the effects of AIDS and famine and extreme poverty we couldn't not adopt from Ethiopia. Our dedication to Ethiopia won't stop with the adoption of this one child. Inter-country adoption is an answer for some individual children in the most dire of cases. When a child is destined to live and possibly die in an orphanage that doesn't have enough food, enough diapers, or enough medication... inter-country adoption can provide a loving family, a home, a school, a doctor, all of the things the child would not have had. Adoption doesn't solve the orphan crisis. It certainly doesn't solve Ethiopia's problems. Last November, the day before our Both Hands event, Logan and I were bedridden with the Norovirus. I'm not a quick reader, but I had plenty of time on my hands that day and I read From Ashes to Africa, a book Angi let me borrow. In the book, they referenced a speech that Bono once gave at an NAACP event. They wondered just how "Christian" a rock star like Bono could really be. But after they heard his speech they wondered if they were as "Christian" as Bono. Logan and I looked it up on YouTube a few days later and... well... he explains exactly what we have found out to be true this year. Only he explains it like a rock star. We're number FOUR!!!!  Yesterday was a very exciting day for our friends on the AWAA Yahoo Group. There were five referrals (a two month old boy, a three month old girl, an eleven month old boy, a fourteen month old boy, and an 8 year old girl). Plus, for the first time in many months, AWAA sent out On Deck emails. Tim and Angi Cooper got theirs, and that means that they can expect their referral in the next 1 - 3 months! Are you thinking that you recognize Cowboy River? You might know him from his PBS series Super Why.  Or maybe you've seen him at the doctor's office...  Update: There was yet another referral! This time for an eight month old boy. That makes six referrals yesterday! Praise the Lord!
|  About Us
We are Logan and Brandy Wade. We live in Indiana with our 4-year-old son, River. Adoption was our first choice for our second child. On January 19, 2012 we accepted the referral of an infant girl from Ethiopia. We passed court on April 19 and on July 29 we brought home Willow Temar.  Ethiopia
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