Since my last post, Hope has changed surgeons. She has had a total of 5 surgeries since January 2018. She had a palate reconstruction surgery in January 2018, a 2nd bone graft in May 2018, her jaw surgery with the RED device in July 2019, the RED device removal which resulted in needing metal plates in her jaw in October 2019, and just recently she had a P-Flap surgery (lengthening of her palate) in June 2020. Her final (hopefully) surgery is scheduled for August 2020, which will be here nose and lip revision. Here are before and after photos of Hope after jaw surgery. She's still swollen in the after photos, but you can definitely see the difference and how successful her jaw surgery was.
Hope and Maggie also graduated from High School in May 2019. This was a HUGE accomplishment for them. When we adopted them, we did not know what school would look like. Well they worked hard and made it through 7 years of public school. And earned their diplomas.
Right after graduation, Maggie was told about a housekeeping job in the neighborhood. She applied and was hired on the spot. She loved it at first. But then after a few months, she was getting bored. And the hours were not enough. So she applied at McDonalds and was hired. She was working about 2 months when she encouraged Hope to apply. Hope did not want to. She didn't think she could do the job. Well we all encouraged her to apply, so she did. And Hope was hired. Maggie has been working there since November 2019 and Hope was hired in January 2020. They are both loving it, and are doing a great job. Maggie works at the drive thru window. She loves meeting all of the customers who come through. She has even gotten to know the regulars. Hope works on the grill and cooks the food and wraps the food etc. They have made new friends and really enjoy working. They typically work Monday-Friday from 7-4. COVID had shortened their hours a bit, but not by much. We are thankful that they have been able to work through COVID. And Maggie just got a raise. She was so excited.
Hope is 21 now. We honestly keep forgetting that she's an adult. ha ha. We are still taking her to the children's hospital (because that is where her surgeon is). They have agreed to let surgery continue there but once she's 22 then she can no longer be a patient here. So we are doing our best to finish up the cleft surgeries before May 2021. She should be done in August 2020 unless COVID shuts down surgeries again.
Maggie is 20. She was so happy to be out of the teen years. She has tried to take the written driving exam 3 times now but has not been successful at passing. This is discouraging to her. We keep encouraging her to keep studying. She loves working and she loves hanging out with her new friends.
August 6th will be 8 years since they became our daughters. The last 8 years have definitely been a rollercoaster ride. I hope and pray that the girls will continue to work hard, and achieve goals that they have.
Until next time......
