When we first met her (you can read about that here) we weren't sure how much longer she would live, being told a surgery to repair the hole in the roof of her mouth was absolutely necessary. Months later, after being evaluated for the surgery, it was determined she was a good candidate, however her body would not survive the surgery at the malnourished weight she was at. We began purchasing cases of Ensure and praying for her weight to go up. Ensure, here in the Dominican is $70 for a case of 24 and she is now up to drinking one and a half a day. Yasmin saw Wendy last year and her grandmother was concerned about how uneven her back was. Upon examination, we learned she also has Scoliosis and a swirling skin color pattern indicated some neurological defects as well. We were told she may never walk, or be able to take care of herself. We were heart broken. (you can read that post here)
We prayed and prayed and with faith believed he could do the impossible. I was stunned the day I learned she was walking. (read about that post here) This sweet spirited girl was WALKING! Her weight was greatly improving. The cloudiness in her eyes was disappearing. God was answering prayers.
A couple of weeks ago Yasmin was hospitalized for Pneumonia. Her immune system doesn't fight off sickness very well and often times a simple cold will turn into something worse and she needs to stay at the hospital while her body heals.
When we learned Wendy was coming back to the DR on a trip with GO, we knew we had to get Yasmin in to see her. Wendy thrilled with seeing her walk and her weight! We were in for another surprise though, there happened to be an Oral Surgeon on the team (THANK YOU GOD!). He was able to look into her mouth and determine that the way her mouth was growing, the gums and the bones where her cleft pallet was located are butting up against each other, naturally shutting off the hole. Yasmin's mom confirmed this by saying that very little liquid comes out of her nose anymore!
Dr. Anderson explained that it would be best at this stage, to not pursue the surgery since it is not impeding her ability to eat. In the future if it presents a problem we should move forward in having her evaluated. They are also researching the other medical issues they believe Yasmin may have so we can know how to best proceed with helping with her medical needs.
We are praising God for the way he answers prayers and performs miracles every day. We count Yasmin as a gift in our lives that we have been able to see God's handprint in who she is and how he is healing her miraculously each and every day and teaching us to have faith in the midst of it.
We are grateful for everyone who has continued to pray for Yasmin and given so generously to her medical needs!
Much peace,
Alan and Jackie
Here's a picture of when we met Yasmin when she was 16 months old:
August 2011
and yesterday with Doctor Anderson and Doctor Wendy!
September 2013
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