Professional Parenting

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  a Miracle

Success Story - Nora

Nora is a 15 month old medically fragile child with short gut syndrome. Short gut syndrome is a condition where the child is born with a mal-rotation of the small intestine; the rotation causes the intestine to begin to die and ultimately be removed. The majority of Nora's small intestine was removed when she was just 10 days old. Due to the removal of most of her small intestine, Nora has 24/7 medical needs that re-quire daily feeding via a feeding tube and receives her daily nutrition through a central line. Nora also is in and out of the hospital frequently with blood infections and procedures caused by the shortening of her small intestine.

Nora was placed into foster care a year ago with her foster mother Maureen. Maureen has been fostering children in her home for over 20 years and for 7 years with Professional Parenting. Maureen spends countless hours caring for Nora, missing work and when necessary sleeping at the hospital as crisis occurs.

Recently Maureen was informed that Nora would definitely need a liver and small bowel transplant, and was placed on the National transplant list. Without a liver and small bowel transplant, Nora will not survive many more months, but with a successful transplant she could live a nearly normal life expectancy. Maureen moved to Cincinnati, Ohio just before Christmas to await a match donor for transplant surgery. She is leaving her family, support network, job, and home, to take the next steps to care for Nora's ongoing medical needs. It is parents like Maureen and kids like Nora.that inspire me. They are truly are flowers in the midst of adversity.

Success Story - Sarah

When I was a kid I loved a good story.Pippi Longstocking, Matilda, Laura Ingalls, Annie.these girls filled my head day and night. Each one had whimsy and in the words of Amelia Earhart, "moxy". It is no surprise that my sweet girl loves a good read as much as I do. However, while I wish I could take the credit for her head-in-a-book-look.I know that Sarah fell in love with "stories" all by herself.

She loves stories of those that are hurting that are healed.those that are in slavery being set free.and those that are in distress becoming princesses. Sarah loves those stories because they are hers. Four years ago Sarah was a little girl with lots of loss, hurt, fear, and even anger. And she acted accordingly.often hurting others or "tantruming". She was hard for most to handle and yet what she needed most was someone to stick around. School was tough for Sarah and she had a one-on-one to help her daily. A foster family stepped in at her lowest point and honestly saved her. They spent months doing the hard work of loving a kid who didn't know how to receive love..and lots of victories occurred.

When Sarah finally became relinquished for adoption a respite worker of hers mentioned it to my husband and I. We had been dreaming of adopting a little girl and Sarah was perfect for us. While she came with a lot of hurt we saw that she was a brave and courageous little girl with a lot of "moxy". She took a chance on us.and the rest.is well FAMILY.

The last two years we have truly grown in ways we never thought possible. I say "we" because it is not only Sarah that has grown but "we" have as well. We never knew we could love this deep. We never knew this much joy could from so much hurt.

This year Sarah graduated from several of the programs she was involved in to help her with her anger, hurt, and loss. She also no longer needs a one-on-one and is able to participate in daily activities with normality. As well, she made her first best friend.a huge feat for someone that had a hard time trusting others just two years ago. There are so many things for Sarah to be proud of but the best part is that Sarah's story is one that she can now be proud to share.