Happy Birthday Daddy!

Daddy and Kerwin being "silly".


I've been looking back at previous blogs to see what was going on a year ago. Last year today my mom arrived in Port-au-Prince to spend two weeks with. Apparently in the excitement I forgot to acknowledge my husband's birthday. So this year I want to be sure to do it right. Thank God this year we will all be together for it as well. My inlaws are coming down to visit today and we are going out with my parents to eat before the UK game which I am going to with the guys (except for Kerwin who is staying with the Grandmas).

I could never have asked for a better father for our son. How important it is for Kerwin to have a loving, present, and involved Daddy. I am so happy that we have taken this journey together. I love you, Honey!

For a special birthday post here is a list of the top 10 things Kerwin and Dad do together.

1) Play baseball, football, basketball, soccer, golf, and anything else you can do with a ball.

2) Go to CiCis Pizza.

3) Go to softball practice.

4) Watch UK football on TV. (Mike watches and Kerwin plays until they make a touchdown and then jumps around and celebrates).

5) Go to the playground.

6) Read books.

7) Do homework.

8) Kerwin helps Daddy do anything from coaching softball to pumping gas.

9) Get icecream. (Kerwin always gets vanilla).

10) Play games.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MIKE!

HIV Facts

This is not a typcial post for me, but for some reason I had a thought this morning as I was getting out of the shower. We committed to Kerwin knowing about his CP and hearing loss. However, we did not know what other issues we may have had to deal with but we he was ours no matter what. In the process of the adoption he visited several different doctors and had blood work drawn. Even though we didn't suspect anything to show up, we were so relieved to see HIV negative, Sicle Cell negative, and a host of other negatives. However, today I let myself think "What if?" And then I thought about other orphans living with HIV. Will they ever have the chance to be joined with a loving family an be given all the opportunities that parents fight for for their children? Well tonight, I came across a blog that I had never seen before and here this woman was copying a post she had read on the blog of a family who had adopted a child with HIV. It was suggested that each person who saw the post should tell two more, so that more people will be educated about the truth about children living with HIV. Please help educate others about this misunderstood topic.

But isn't HIVContagious?

HIV is a very fragile virus, and there are very specific ways that it is transmitted. HIV is only transmitted when the virus enters the bloodstream. This only occurs through sexual contact; through the use of contaminated needles or other sharp instruments, or receiving a transfusion of HIV-infected blood products; and from a mother who is HIV-infected to her child during pregnancy, childbirth, labour and delivery, and breastfeeding. HIV transmission does not occur with normal household contact. It is not transmitted through tears, saliva, mucous or other bodily fluids. It is considered a "communicable" disease - meaning you can't simply "catch" it. In addition, when an infected person is on treatment, the levels of HIV in the blood are brought so low that they are considered undetectable - meaning the possibility of transmission - even through contact with blood, semen, or vaginal fluid - is that much more remote.

Aren't these children going to die after their families bring them home?

Many people don't realize that the prognosis for children on treatment for their HIV is excellent. They are expected to live long, normal lives. In fact, in the west, HIV is now considered a chronic illness rather than the terminal disease it used to be. Sadly, this isn't the case for those HIV infected children living in resource-poor settings, where 50% of infected and untreated children are not expected to live past the age of two.
Is it true that you can have HIV and not develop AIDS?
Absolutely! There are over 30 medications approved by the FDA for the treatment of HIV, and more are in development. These medications bring the levels of the virus so low in the body that the virus can be considered undetectable in the bloodstream. Patients receiving treatment for HIV can expect to live long, healthy lives without developing AIDS.

What about all of the children who don't get adopted?

We recognize that adoption is only a band-aid answer. It is one small piece in a big puzzle - we are working to provide holistic HIV+ orphan care through our Hope Houses launch in Ethiopia.

What if I catch HIV from my child?

Many people don’t know that HIV is a very fragile virus. As soon as it leaves the body, it begins to die. There are no documented cases of HIV transmission through casual household or school contact. HIV+ children can (and do!) share cups, baths, pools, dishes, bathrooms, etc.! In addition, when children are on treatment for their HIV, the amount of the virus in their bloodstream can be brought so low that it is considered “undetectable” – meaning the amount of the virus in the blood, even through contact with blood, has been brought so low that the possibility of transmission has become even more remote.

What if my other children touch her blood?

Most households with HIV+ children find that this was one of their initial worries and, in fact, becomes not much of a worry at all once their kids are home together. There are very few activities where the blood of one child would enter the bloodstream of another child. Families simply train their children never to touch another person’s blood or “owies” and practice universal precautions in their homes (using gloves when dealing with blood, covering all sores with a band-aid, etc.).

What if no insurance company will cover my child?

Here’s the great news! It is a legal requirement that all adopted children be added to group insurance plans without pre-existing condition clauses in all 50 states! And many states also require that private insurance plans do the same! In addition, all 50 states have funding programs that will assist with the costs of HIV treatment within specified income guidelines. For specific information on your state's programs and insurance requirements, please request our State Fact Sheet for your state.


Here's the address to a blog devoted to bringing children with HIV home to their forever families.
http://www.fromhivtohome.blogspot.com/

Good day in Haiti!

Hi everyone,

The LCA group went to Ansefoleur for VBS today and then we walked through a voodoo temple. We rode in the back of a pickup truck for about an hour. VBS there went really well and we had a good day. Many of the kids came back and played with the children in the baby orphanage and special needs orphanage this afternoon.

Yesterday we all rode a sailboat to Tortuga Island for a VBS there (only 1 person threw up on the boat). It was very hot over there, but the kids there seemed to enjoy our VBS.

Tomorrow we will be going to the mission's main orphanage in Port-de-Paix (about a 45 minute drive). Continue to keep us in your prayers.

Thanks,
Mike Haake

Hello from Haiti!

The LCA team has made it safely to Haiti. We had a long, but good day riding the bus across Haiti yesterday. This morning we went to church and did our VBS program at children's church. Everyone is doing very well and having a great time so far. Tomorrow we will be riding a sailboat to Tortuga Island to do a VBS there.

So what's happened since the last time I blogged

We've had sporadic internet use since the last time I blogged so that and a lack of motivation on my part has led to about a month hiatus but I'm back. The main thing that has happened since I last wrote is that Kerwin now has his casts off. He had them removed this week and there does appear to be a good bit of benefit from the Botox. He is able to get quite a bit of dorsiflexion as my PT friends say. Now we hope to maintain that flexibility with stretches and the wearing of his braces. He is actually having to readjust his walking, yet again, and is still having a bit of trouble getting used to walking with the casts off. By the end of the six weeks, he was walking so well with the casts on that I thought that walking would be a breeze once they were gone. However, nothing with this(leg) process ever seems to make sense to me. Kerwin is now enjoying baths again (he's in the bath tub right now at my mom's house) and we are looking forward to swimming soon.

Kerwin has been doing hippotherapy (therapy on horseback)for the last few weeks and loves it. His favorite horse is name Shaker and he tells everyone that he gets to ride forward, backward, sideways, and standing up. He also gets to stand up and pet and groom the horse and then feed him some carrots at the end of the session. It is a great program and so peaceful in the therapy barn. It's also really great for him physically. He has to work very hard to sit up straight and stand on the horse. Last week we were really excited because his classroom teacher and her daughter came out to watch him. He has been asking about seeing her ever since school let out.

Kerwin went to two weeks of summer school/camp. He enjoyed it but came back tired, hungry, and grumpy everyday. To tell you the truth, I'm kind of glad it's over. Mike is staying home with Kerwin and doing some tutoring as a side job. I have been working some PRN this summer but I am also enjoying a much more relaxed schedule.

We are getting ready to go to the beach this weekend. We can hardly wait. I think Kerwin is going to love the beach. He enjoyed the sand so much at the Santa Monica Pier this spring. I think he'll enjoy this so much more because he will have buckets and shovels and can really build stuff with the sand. We will probably also go fishing off the pier, crabbing, golfing, and see the local sights. Hopefully, I'll have some great pictures to post after vacation!

Our friend Andy Olsen has been working on a story for the Lexington Herald Leader about Kerwin and our adoption process. It is supposed to run some time in July. I will try to let everybody know what day it will be running as soon as I find out.

A beautiful day for flying

The whole group before flying

Kerwin with headphones on

Mike actually flying the plane... AHHH!

Our house...If you've been there maybe you can find it

So yesterday I was a party for ARK Rehab, a company that I do some work for. One of the owners of the company is my friend Monica who was the one who invited me to go with her to Haiti on a short term missions trip several years ago. It was on that trip that I met Kerwin and after that trip that God called us to adopt him. So Monica will always be special to us. So anyway, yesterday we were at this picnic at the local minor league baseball team park and she asked us if we wanted to go up flying tomorrow in her dad's plane. We didn't have anything else going so we did. We had a wonderful time. Kerwin loved it and Mike even got to do the take off. He did not do the landing, thus I am here writing this blog. We got to see all of Lexington, downtown, the UK football stadium, the Legend's baseball stadium, and we even flew over our house. It was actually very easy for us to identify it since it was so clear and we were down so low. I could even see our white car parked in front of the house. I was the only one who got airsick and I spent the last half of the flight trying not to lose my lunch. I'll know better next time...Dramamine! But is was a beautiful day and a great memory. Thanks Monica and Louis!

Kerwin working around the house

We spent last weekend up in Northern Kentucky with Mike's family. Saturday, I helped trim up the doors at Mike's grandmother and great aunt's house. They had some new carpet put in the but the guys never came back to do the doors. So instead of hiring someone else to do it, Mike's dad and I cut them off ourselves. Well, Kerwin really wanted to help so we let him clean the dust off the doors after we sawed them and help carry them back inside. Then after dinner on Sunday, I went to work on a chair at their house. It had several layers of upholstery on it and the last one was looking kind of ratty. So I helped take of the ripped fabric and put the chair back together again. Well, Kerwin wanted to help with that too so I let him put all the screws back in. He loved it. He learned out to hold the screwdriver steady with one hand and turn it with the other. He was so proud of himself for helping.