My neighborhood and surgery for Eli

Isaac has been asking me to take "aesthetically pleasing 'Japan' photos".  He really wanted the power lines and sunset so we paused our cleaning after dinner and walked outside our apartment and took some photos.  These first photos were taken just steps from my apartment, some up to a block or two away.  This is my neighborhood!  There are also pictures from Felicity playing on the roof and from the 38th floor of the Yibasu tower in Ebisu (about two subway stops from my house).  There are some pictures from Meiji Shrine, one of the most famous shrines in Tokyo.  I've tried to visit it a few times but every time get halfway there and have to turn around for some reason.  I finally got there with some of Mike's colleagues wives.  I have the weirdest life right now...

I finally have counselors and a secretary.  I've been the Primary President for over a month and today my final counselor and secretary were called.  I feel relieved.  It took a lot of prayer, and even more waiting.  I feel like I learned a lot in the silence while I waited to get an answer.  We are still without nursery leaders, a music leader, a co-teacher for the older class, and activity day leaders for the boys and girls so there is still a lot of work to do and I hope we can get people called soon.  

Eli needs surgery.  He started PT on Tuesday and the Physical therapist thought that Eli wouldn't need surgery and we got our hopes up but after meeting with the surgeon on Thursday we realized that the injury was as bad as we originally thought and he has a torn meniscus that needs to be stitched up.  He will have surgery on the 19th and spend the next eight weeks recovering--two weeks non-weight bearing and then six weeks working up to walking.  Then, he will need about six months of PT.  It exhausts me just to write it all out.  In Japan, if you go under general anesthesia you are required to stay overnight.  The surgeon suggested that we request a private room so that I can stay with him since he is underage and otherwise he would spend the night in a room with four or five other people.  Mike and I had a trip to Hokkaido planned as a small getaway and we will need to cancel or reschedule it because it was going to happen during Eli's non-weight bearing period and I do not trust Will and Isaac to help Eli during that time.  We also need to cancel a day trip with Steve and Carol that was going to happen the day after Eli's surgery.  I'm bummed.  I'm frustrated with the added stress to my life now but mostly, I just feel really sad for him.  This injury happened on the second day of the summer and he will still be on crutches when he goes back to school.  He has been so positive but I know he is scared for the surgery and feels down when he considers the long recovery.  

We did have a small miracle this week with getting the referral from insurance and I don't want to forget that.  The doctor told us on Thursday that he scheduled the surgery already for the 19th so that Eli could have the most time to recover before school.  He wanted us to show up the following day, Friday, for the post-op.  I woke up early on Friday and called the insurance.  The procedure here requires that I call someone in Singapore and tell them what I need and then they call a nurse assistant line in Japan and I repeat everything I just told the guy in Singapore.  Then, the nurse line in Japan tries to get the referral approved.  This is the procedure for every appointment I need and I am more often than not put on hold for long periods of time.  I waited over 30 mins and the man in Singapore tried to connect me to the person in Japan but they were busy so he said they would call in 30 minutes.  Over two hours later I got the call.  It was now 11:30 and the appointment was at 2.  I asked if there was any way to get the appointment approved quickly and she said it was impossible and especially since it was a Friday but in 3 business days I'd have the appointment approved.  I waited until 1:30 and then had to call the hospital and tried to explain to the Japanese receptionist that we didn't have an approval to come to the appointment and had to cancel.  I also called the surgeon (who speaks very good English) and explained the predicament.  He said we would have to reschedule for next week (when Mike is in America and I'd have to drive Eli on my own).  I just decided that I would be brave and do the hard things on my own but I felt really crabby and worried about the entire thing.  At 2:20 I got a text saying that they approved the appointment!  I called the surgeon back and he said we could still come in and have the pre-op appointment.  Mike drove us and we were met at the door by a sweet old retired Japanese lady who volunteers at the hospital as an interpreter.  She helped us through the process and in 3 1/2 hours we had Eli's blood drawn, an EKG, an x-ray, the meeting with the anesthesiologist, and all the paperwork signed.  I felt that it was a miracle and feel so relieved that I didn't have to figure all this out on my own.  The surgery hasn't been approved yet but the nurse line in Japan was able to convince the hospital not to charge us the $20,000 up front before we left the hospital so that they can still have the time to get the referral for the surgery.  

Living here is such an adventure and so complicated but I feel grateful for the times when I see that God is helping make it possible for us to do the hard stuff.