23. April 2019

It’s been months since I’ve written, and I’m not sure why. There’s more to say about my life, but I guess I felt like the majority of the “revelation” of my adoption story was complete and I wasn’t sure where to go next. Every now and then, I get asked when I’ll be writing again. It’s so kind of people and always catches me off guard. I’m still surprised at how many of you have been reading along, but thank you.

This morning I was reminded of all of this by scrolling past Facebook memories. On this day in 2019, Patrick posted a picture I sent him of the two of us-side by side images. We had just made contact. The rest of my story was yet to be discovered, but AncestryDNA had determined that he and I were cousins. I remember that day, and that conversation. I remember where I was sitting, his voice, how I felt…he was (and is) so full of life. And I thought, oh my gosh, if this is my birth family, this is amazing.

Of course there was a lot left to unfold between that day and this, but it turned out that it was by birth family, and they are amazing. What’s crazy is that now it doesn’t seem new that they’re part of my life. I’m in regular contact with many of them. There are a few that I’ve grown close to as I’ve been able to spend more time with them. They are a really great bunch of people, and I’m proud to call them my family.

Another update to report is that Connor and Brady, my two sons, had their follow up visits post- lung embolization in February. They both got great reports! We (Derek and I) weren’t surprised. Both boys play basketball, and we could see that they were visibly running the court more easily than the year before. Last year, Brady was needing to sub out frequently due to getting winded after a few trips up and down the court. And Connor would be seen bending over to catch his breath. Not this year. Brady played full games with no breaks. Connor ran hard with little effort.

On their physical exam, both had increased percentages of oxygen saturations. Brady’s bubble study echocardiogram was markedly improved. Connor doesn’t do that study due to an unrelated heart valve issue, so he’ll have a chest CT in a few months, but we expect positive results there, too. Dr Hammill was really pleased with them both, and other than Connor’s CT, they don’t need to come back for a couple of years. Yay!!! Once again, huge thanks doesn’t begin to cover what I feel for Drs Patel and Ristagno and the team at Cincinnati Children’s. They truly changed our lives.

I’m writing this entry from Florida. I’m here with my family on what has been a very sunny Spring Break week so far. After a LONG year (for us all) in many ways, this break has been exactly what we needed. They’re all still asleep, but I’m so thankful for the Facebook memory today to trigger my mind back to April 2019, and remind me to get back to the blog. There’s more to say. 🙂