Susan is doing FABULOUSLY!!

Friday, February 24, 2006 at 12:05 PM PST

Well Susan was released from the SICU on Tuesday and the whole process was captured on film. We were being followed by cameras and that is always a little weird.

She has been improving slowly but steadily since then. I can see that this is going to take some time to heal. I hate it when she coughs because I can see she is in real pain. Yesterday for the first time her little goldfish mouth came back for about ten minutes. She slept well last night but the night before was just terrible. She woke up too many times. Yesterday she cried if you just looked at her and she hates anyone to touch her especially the nurses. As soon as they appear I think she maybe expecting something painful to happen.

It took her half a day to rediscover her fingers. She sucks two fingers on her right hand when she sleeps and because they tied down her arms and legs she was not able to comfort herself. Being able to use them again helped her calm down. She also sleeps on her stomach and being unable to do that effects her sleep. Her fingers have also been a source of amusement for her. She has been studying them so carefully. There are so many things attached to them: IV's, tubes, tape and a bandage and so she has a lot to look at. That has been better than the toys I brought, go figure.

This first paragraph I wrote at 5 am in the morning it is now 10:30 am and she has been smiling her little open mouth smile and playing games with me. She likes peek-a-boo but she was putting her arm over her eyes and pulling it away. Her new trick is blinking her eyes. She is asleep right now and that is a good sign. Her scar is looking really good and it is healing well. If all of this is not enough it would seem that she is teething. I suspected it before the surgery, but you can see the bumps pushing their way up her gums.

Susan and I landed up on the front page of three of the four newspapers that I saw. We were on all the news channels, which I did not see. Dr Tan from ICU said she was getting ready for work when she heard her voice on the TV and then went to have a look. Dr.Li looked like the cat who swallowed the canary. They have been so pleased with all the publicity that this story has received and what it will do for their reputations and the hospital. I have no problems advocating their hospital because Dr.Li, Tan and the staff have been just fabulous. They also got some "face" because I told them that Dr.Li was recommended by an American organization that works with orphans, Love Without Boundaries. Dr.Li has been my "agent" and keeps making appointments for me. Today there will be an English radio station doing an interview. I am so glad that I will not have to struggle in Chinese. They also liked the Valentine's day cards the Wootan's made for Susan which I taped onto her bed.

The one more interesting part of the interviews: I mentioned in an earlier e-mail that Dr.Li knew that we were praying for him. He mentioned this to the news reporters. So here I am totally blind sided by this question. Did you pray for Dr. Li and for Susan? So I decided to be honest. Yes, we did. More than one thousand people prayed for them. I said that we are Christians and when we encounter this kind of situation we pray and ask for help from God. That is the way that foreigners think. I am not sure if that part got on any interview but that was a total surprise. I got to talk about religion to a Chinese TV station that broadcast by satellite around the world and all over China.

It looks like we might be able to go home on Monday. This date is still tentative so when I know for sure I will let you know.

With much love, laughter and gratitude,

Amanda