Dad's Back

I made it back to Cincinnati during the wee hours of the morning Saturday. Pam and Katie seem fine. This shot was taken a couple of days ago when the gal came to the Ronald McDonald House to do braids for any of the kids who wanted one. Doesn't Katie look good? She can't close her mouth anymore, which is too bad, and her teeth don't meet, which is too bad. But at least we have some airway left open! So we must count our blessings.

We're still not exactly sure what we're going to shoot for during the last surgery coming up on Wednesday. We do know he's going to release the clefting in her temples, and add another layer of cheek bone, plus some chin bone. If we can do anything to help the mouth and teeth close together better, I think that would be good, but I'm not sure that's possible without more hardware, and we can't stay around any longer to have hardware removed. This needs to be a "walk-away" kind of surgery, where once she has had a few days to recover, we can just leave. I need to be back to work by Monday, 7 Nov.

Thanks to everyone for the letters, packages, gifts, prayers, fasting and love! It's all meant a lot to all of us. Please don't send anything via mail that won't arrive by Wed, 2 Nov, as we plan on heading for home NLT Thu, 3 Nov in the a.m.

Monday (day after tomorrow) is Pam's birthday, so we're going to find a great way to celebrate her life! She's been the main trooper in all this, besides Katie, and she deserves a day of joy centered on her.

We send our love and greetings to all. - Glenn