Catching Up The Blog!

Hello, Everyone! Many of you are probably wondering if we have fallen off the face of the earth since coming home from China, but we're still here! I'm sorry we have fallen so far behind keeping the blog up. We were only home for 3 days before we started making the trek to Birmingham to see a team of specialists about Abby's medical condition. The news we received floored us because Abby had been misdiagnosed in China and her condition was much more severe than we knew. Because we were so devastated, it was hard for us to put a public post on the internet. Below is a letter we sent on September 28th to a few people asking them to pray. We will try to start from there and update our blog so you can see what our Abby has already been through and where she is today....she's an amazing little girl!

Dear Family and Friends,

We are writing all of you to ask for intercessory prayer for our Abby.

When her pediatric neurosurgeon initially examined her, he thought there was no spinal fluid on her brain because she was so smart and funny and had such good hand-eye coordination. But her MRI this past Thursday revealed that there was spinal fluid on her brain. So now she will be having 2 major surgeries in the next 8 days. The first surgery will be this Monday, September 29th, to fix the meningocele on her back (this is a milder form of spina bifida). Abby will be recovering from that surgery in the hospital for 1 week. Then the following Monday she will be having a second surgery to insert a shunt in her brain to drain the spinal fluid off.

Michael and I were both devastated when we received this news. We just didn't see it coming. But we have had a chance to catch our breath now and are trying to focus on the positive! There are many things that should be wrong that aren't. And Abby is doing a lot of things that she shouldn't be able to do with her condition. We are standing in faith and believing God for 2 sucessful surgeries that will restore her to full health.

We are asking anyone out there who is willing to please fast and pray for Abby the next 2 Mondays, even if you are only able to fast for one meal. We could not have made it this far without all of the prayers and support. Even though we feel anxious, we are still excited to see the great things God will do for our little Miracle Girl.

Blessings,
Michael and Jawanna O'Quin
(and Abby too!)