Tison had many of his friends at his big party on Sunday. He had a fun day and enjoyed all his friends coming to celebrate with him. Tison will soon be leaving the U.S. and going home. There has been plenty of tears shed as the days count down. It is hard to thank everyone who has had a part in helping him because there have been so many. His main physician came to say goodbye to Tison. It was a joyous event with plenty of food and cake. He...

I do not know what you need to have a sense of encouragement. The recent reports on two of the children who are being cared by our medical staff in Indonesia was exactly what made me feel encouraged. There were two little girls who have needed our help and prayers. Jien is now nine years old and Junita is less than a year old. They both needed miracles.Jien has recently started to walk with assistance. She is so weak and frail but seems to have...

Jien has been fighting for her life. The medical staff have treated her with little progress. She is now nine years old and less than 20 pounds. She has T.B. and malnourishment–that is a terrible combination. We have all been concerned and cheering her on. It seemed like every small bite of food was one more step closer to her being healthy.We just got the best news yesterday. She is not only walking but she has begun to eat more. She is...

Tison went to surgery yesterday. He was scheduled to have his right ear repaired. The outer ear was pulled over to a closed position. Due to the burn injury his ear was folded forward and was closed–you could not see his inside of his ear. It was a concern because it was very obvious when you looked at him. He was very self-conscious of it and wanted it to look better.He has had several surgeries that addressed more functional...

We have friends who have a large farm in Alaska. Tison was invited to come down and ride machines with their son. Here is a boy born in Indonesia and now very much a part of life in the arctic.We arrived with plenty of daylight on a beautiful sunny day. It was a little cool but the sun was bright and Tison was more than ready to get on the snow machine and have some fun. He got his winter clothes on and we hardly saw them again. They were just...

She is seven months old and has had more pain than any child should endure. Junita was injured in a hot oil accident. Her face, scalp, arms and upper chest. She was diagnosed with a 25% to 50% chance to survive the accident. Her mother ,who was also injured in the accident, brought her to our clinic in Kusuri asking for help. She needed skin grafts and had little time to waist. The staff made the decision to transport her and her mother to a...

Little Jien is still alive and continues to fight. She is now 9 years old. Jien has T.B. and has recently lost two kilograms (around 4 pounds). She is now around 15 pounds. She has little gains but she need to have sustained weight gain.Jien’s mother died of T.B. and she has a grandmother with her. She gets lots of love and support from the medical staff. She has had very good medical care but continues to barely hold on to life. She does...

This Monday Tison got up just like any other day—other than he could not have breakfast. He got dressed and bundled up in the car. It was around minus 25 degrees F. so we had to wait for the car to warm up. We arrived at the surgery center and he knew the routine. He got his wrist band and was escorted to the pre-op room. The nurses were hardly noticed as they did their paperwork and took all his vital signs. We did find out he is gaining...

Tison has been in Alaska for ten months. He is speaking English very well and has made a couple good friends. His friend, Isaac, spent the night–they played and watched movies. This is a new concept for Tison–to have a friend spend the night. What a life–watching movies, eating popcorn and drinking soda. He is having fun and building friendships. Tison is a good friend and is kind to the other children he knows.He has several...

We are cautiously optimistic about the results of the last surgery. Tison’s doctor took a look at the graft on his shin which was done a week ago. Dr. W. was very happy with the results of the surgery. The graft was holding–this is so important because of the potential infections if the graft doesn’t take.Tison will have to have another couple weeks of limited activities. It will be very hard on him because he is so active. We...