Back in Wewak... Work & the Market

 Jonathan loves to help dad and the guys to build anything! Here they are mixing cement to build a retaining wall.

 Jonathan loves to help his dad at work!

 Jonathan working hard to help dad!

Shopping at our favorite grocery store... they have large aisles.. small carts and even large carts with cars attached for kids to ride in. And sometimes we can even find good stuff there like apples or nuts or gluten free flours!

And sometimes we find very different food items! Whitejelly fungus, no thank you!

Every Saturday we go to the local produce market to buy our usual items... pineapple, papaya, coconut, cucumbers, bananas, sweet potato and sometimes a treat of lettuce, carrots, sour sop or tomatoes. Jonathan is pretty good at helping out!

Last Day in Brisbane and Heading Home to PNG!

 Waiting for our last dinner out before heading home to PNG!

 

Dr. Kate told us that Naomi is developing wonderfully at 6 months old! So thankful to hear that! And all we can do now is monitor Naomi by watching for two things… measuring her head, to make sure the extra melanin spots, aren’t blocking the fluid flowing through the brain… and multiple headaches or sudden movements to indicate seizures. She said that the next two years will be the mostly likely time in Naomi’s life that something might develop because of her NCM condition. But 80% of children do not have any side effects from NCM. Please pray with us… pray that Naomi is in the 80% bracket.

So we will need to return to Brisbane or Boston (which ever we are closest to) once a year so that Naomi can have a checkup MRI. The doctors will monitor the extra melanin spots in the brain to make sure nothing has changed. Naomi will also see an eye doctor each year to make sure her eyes are looking good. And she will need to see a dermatologist each year. The dermatologist that we saw here told us that there is no need to have all of Naomi’s birthmarks removed because whether or not they are there, the areas will still have to be monitored for skin cancer. Although there might be one or two birthmarks that she may want removed for cosmetic reasons in the future.

The doctors here have been so very helpful. They have given us their email addresses so we can email with questions if anything comes up while we are in PNG over the next year. The dermatologist said to send photos of Naomi’s birthmarks if any of them change… and she can take a look. In the meantime Naomi should wear spf50 sunscreen and a big hat and sun resistant swimwear. 😀

We are so thankful for Dr. Kate who told us to just enjoy watching Naomi grow and let us know that her and the other doctors will do the work of monitoring her health as we return each year. We are also thankful for the Ronald McDonald House and the staff here who have been wonderful as we have worked through the last 10 days. God has provided for us in many ways here… family times at parks, yummy food, an old friend and new friends to visit and beautiful fall weather as we enjoyed the city of Brisbane on the river. And of course Jonathan is quite happy with his new boomerang… which he can throw quite far… and hasn’t quite figured out how to get it to come back to him. 😀

 YUM! French Fries!

 Our family enjoys plane rides!

 But Jonathan was excited to get back to Wewak!

And Naomi was happy about it too. :)

A little Shopping and Exploring!

 Jonathan and I were excited about shopping and exploring Brisbane!

 Naomi wasn't too sure what to think.

 This is Jacob's face after we bought a phone that puts us into this century. :)

 And this is my face after we bought this phone. :) Here in PNG, internet is very expensive, but cheaper if you use a phone to check email and use internet. We also needed a new camera because I accidently dropped it on our way to PNG. :( :( Very sad... so now we have a phone that takes great pictures... see... checks our emails, lets us go on the internet and also talk to people or text as people do these days. :)

 Jonathan had fun in the mall riding on a few things...

 Jonathan also really enjoyed getting his boomerang, which Jacob surprised him with... this is back at our room at the Ronald McDonald House.

 He was actually pretty good at throwing it, but still can't get it to come back to him. :)

 We met Gary and Janelle, brother and sister-in-law to friends in our home church in MA! And we took a little walk around Brisbane. Very fun!

 Gary (Judy's brother) and Janelle, brother and sister in law of a friend... it was good to meet them and take a bit of a walking tour!

 Tired and hungry after our tour and waiting for our food.... some good Australia burgers!

 YUM!

The Ronald McDonald House!

 So thankful that we could stay at the Ronald McDonald House!

 We were on the 6th floor and right across from us, was the Children's Hospital, the 6th floor where we spent a lot of time.

 We even had a place to cook and some food available to us.

 We enjoyed some food there that we can't get here!

 Jonathan and Naomi enjoyed playing around the kitchen/dining area while we got our meals ready or cleaned up.

The Not So Fun Part of Brisbane...

 Waiting for 3 hours at the hospital to see the doctor for the results of Naomi's MRI.

 After waiting we found out that Naomi does indeed have NCM.

We are very thankful for the pediatric neurologist, Dr. Kate, and the team of doctors that she brought together to help Naomi. Dr. Kate went over the MRI results with us. Naomi does have NCM (Neurocutaneous Melanocytosis), a complication of multiple congenital nevi (multiple birthmarks), a very rare condition. The MRI showed two very small spots of extra melanin on the brain, and a possible extra spot behind the optic nerve. There are no extra melanin spots on her spine! She also had a EEG which showed no problems.

 But Naomi was not happy about the EEG... she just wanted to sleep!

And she finally did, the last 15 minutes we were at the hospital!