Good News, and a Request

Our director called yesterday to give us an update on what's going on. They have decided that since the accreditation is taking longer than expected, that they will transfer all of our home study paperwork down to their agency in San Diego. They are working on this right now. I'm really happy about this because they have a really good reputation with their post-placement reports. So I'm hoping that they can get the official OK from the state of California to take us on as HS clients.

The travel date scene has changed again too. It turns out that this coming Monday is a holiday in Russia (where's that Russian holiday list?) and the MOE is closed on Tuesday, so the two other families are not going this weekend as I mentioned earlier. In fact, Ekat has asked that only one family travel at a time, so all three of us are now scheduled for each consecutive week of the remaining weeks in November. Kevin and I are now supposed to go right after Thanksgiving, which gives us plenty of time to make sure our paperwork is in order.

To me this is good, since each family has it's own week, and the schedule is less random. It's as if we are actually on someone's calendar now in Russia! Again, I am still cautious until I have our tickets in hand. =)

I want to clarify that it's not necessarily our Home Study agency that dropped the ball. They were affiliated with a different Russian coordinator (or placement agency) that neglected to make post-placement reports a priority. Our HS agency is doing what they can to resolve this issue. (It seems to me, however, that they ought to be somewhat more proactive about PPRs, since this directly impacts all clients intending to adopt from Russia.)

It's been a good day, but for one thing. Yesterday I talked to my sister-in-law, J. J is married to Kevin's older brother, and they have two young children. She's been sick since summer with pancreatitis, which has only been worsening. She's had numerous tests to try to identify the root cause of the problem and nothing affirmative has turned up. She hasn't been able to eat because of the pain it causes. Just yesterday I found out that she's tried a feeding tube, and is now on a continuous IV so that she doesn't have to eat. Her doctor now believes that one of her blood pressure meds was causing her pancreatitis, so she is off the med. For anyone out there who can, please say a quick prayer for J, that her pancreas will heal and she can start eating again soon. If you don't pray, just think a good thought for her. I'm very very worried about her. Thank you!