Today marks the first anniversary of the opening of Maria’s Big House of Hope! To celebrate, we are bringing you more news from Mikey Shook about the surgeries that have been going on this week. We are sorry they have not been more regular, but electrical and internet outages in China prevented daily postings. At any rate, Show Hope is beyond thrilled that the support of our sponsors has helped to change lives and establish MBHOH as a wonderful healing home for these precious children with special needs in this first year of operation!
Monday began early with the 6:30am repair of Asher‘s cleft palate. It is so interesting because Dr. DeSantis, the plastic surgeon, was gracious enough to show us what he does as he goes through the surgery. Grace, who was featured in the last sponsorship update, was the second surgery of the day, and her cleft palate repair went great!! After lunch, Dylan’s cleft palate repair was completed, thus ending the 12 hour day of surgeries succesfully!
Monday evening, Steven Curtis, Mary Beth, Shaoey, Stevey Joy, and Robin, Joyce and Katie Hill arrived at MBHOH. They didn’t skip a beat when they got here, and ran up to the the surgical ward to take a look at what was going on. As they had been traveling for about 24 hours straight, they quickly called it a night to prepare for the next morning of surgeries.
On Tuesday, SCC led the group in morning prayer. Brooks was the first child to have surgery that day, and also the first child whose surgery SCC and Mary Beth were able to witness! As you may have seen on MBC’s blog, they were able to get up close and watch the entire surgery as Dr. DeSantis explained the procedure. Rob and Joyce Hill, along with their daughter Katie and the Chapman girls, were able to scrub in to watch the next surgery. They all had a blast seeing the incredible transformations taking place first hand.
The last surgery to wrap up an amazing week was for Susie, whose cleft lip was repaired. The procedure was quick and smooth and the team finished by 4pm. Everyone took time to rest and shower before we went to a great western-style dinner. We were all exhausted, but happy because of the massive and amazing impact of the week’s happenings on the children at Maria’s Big House of Hope.
Several of the children who had surgery earlier in the week are already back on their feet (literally and figuratively) and smiling away this afternoon! It’s amazing to watch the resiliency of these children through their recovery. One day we see them in the recovery room just after surgery, and the next day they are smiling (though a bit sore) back to their regular selves. This truly has been an incredible week in the unfolding history of MBHOH. Thank you for your prayers!
