I AM HOME

Brano is home.......

He arrived back on the early hours of Thursday morning.

Caroline Got out with him around 8 pm .she then had to change sheets and clean the Ronald MacDonald house.

It will be so good to have us all home in the house tonight for the first time in three weeks.

Hospital food is good ..but Carries cooking is so so good...!

I will send more pics shortly this all happened around 1 am by the time they got back.

Bran is sore he is very tender and very weak,his wound is still tender.

He freaked out this morning when Caroline showed him some bottles of meds.

He is standing At a bit of an angle and his head is a little to one side........He needs to retrain his little body to his brand new posture.

Today is the first day of a brand new life for the wee man from Ethiopia.

Simply

Your pal

Jim

Brano Food From other Ethiopians

Bran In Truck in Basement CHLA

Who owns this Red Bike

Carrie home for Dental appointment its Tuesday night in CHLA I am on the backshift-Accidently I took the red bike into the hospital....I never seen it in my Bag ......oooops..!

Monday 2nd November

Well, Monday has come and nearly gone and we are not home!!!!

Berhanu still has some unfinished business that he still has to do (if you know what I mean!!!) before he can get home.

Today was a good day with the physical Therapist, he walked well and was holding his head good,

Cannot remember if we have already said that Berhanu has one leg longer than the other, so that is throwing his balance off a little!! He will get an X-ray in the next day or so to determine exactly what is going on there.

I think we managed to get through to him that he will be going back to the house, as he was on a high later in the afternoon, so I am hoping that, that will motivate him to get around and also to do his unfinished business!!!!

Tomorrow I am leaving here at 5am as I have a dental appointment. Our friends Jill and Laura are leaving San Juan at 5am to come and sit with him till Jim comes up later in the day. Tomorrow night Jim will be have the night shift (yee ha).

I pray that within the next day or two we will be sending you photographs or Berhanu at home, but till then we will be blogging from CHLA!!!!!!!

Bran crazy face

Ethiopian nurse /Jim have conversation Link at base

Click on here Bran4

Wilburs owner goes to sleep link at bottom

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjDOZbn46xQ&feature=youtube_gdata

Having our own Dress up Party!!!!!

As you can see, we decided that if we cannot get to the Harvest Festival at the church, then we would have our own!!!

I could not believe my eyes when I came back to the hospital today!!!! Berhanu looked so much better and just about back to himself!!!! He was smiling and interacting with Jim and I, it was such a blessing.

At present he is still sitting in the little wagon waiting to go back into bed for the night. He is tired, as this has been the first day that he has been awake all day long!!!!

We are hoping that he will get to go home soon!!! Even as early as Mon/Tues, that would be so good to have him back in the house again and to get him back to full strength.

Bethany has been patiently waiting for him coming home, as she is not allowed in the hospital because of the "piggy flu", so I am sure that if he gets home at the beginning of the week, she will be pleased.

Everyday has been such a blessing with Berhanu, we are so thankful to God for being given this privilege to take care of such an angel. Just remember that God can put people into our lives that are actually angels, which means we can be entertaining angels, so we should always be kind, considerate and loving, the way that God would love!!!

Tomorrow is a new day, and I pray God's mighty hand on Berhanu.

Nightie Night!!!!

Walking the DOG CHLA

Just out for a walk Sat Morn

Go to you tube Type in Jamesnicol7 for recent Vids

Bran Walks

Bran in the toy shop

Since the operation -he is leaning to the left when he sits when he stands and seems to be listing to the side where his hump was.

I have other videos that are too long for the uploader I will figure out how to get them on.

Sat Morn another rough night....Bran was good but Oscar who we are sharing a room with kept us up most of the night.........

jim

Fri Night-CH Cafe + Garden +Incredibles

Brans Nurse From Ethiopia

Bran has had his surgery he is out of ICU its now Friday Morning.

Caroline was with him until yesterday now I have the Thursday Night -Friday night Shift.

We have had a bad night .He is being weaned off Morphine.

He has been up every second hour crying .They have given him some Morphine Shots to keep him Going.

He has withdrawn into himself and is very shy..........This is the way he reacts when he is in pain or does not want to eat.......No temper tantrums or crying ......just the silent introverted man.

This Video Clip Lets you hear Amharic being spoken...Its just like Scottish ......nobody can understand a word you are saying.

CHLA employ 3000 people........what were the chances of getting a nurse from Ethiopia. Senja

came from Ethiopia when she was 16 -her family had a business ,it was taken from them and they became threatened in Ethiopia.

She is a lovely person who has really helped us big time.

Only God can control those odds 3000 -1 chance of getting a nurse who speaks Amharic.

The more I get to know Brano ..............The more I think that he has experienced things that have made him have a withdrawn -reclusive side to his character.

I think that time with us would bring him out of a life of Greys and dull colors into a vibrant normal loving family where Hughes and affection are every day life.

When your told your loved every day, your are a beautiful child, your doing well......when you swim in a sea of confidence ................you start to believe in yourself...

Simply............. Bran needs the basic commodity of love............God allow us the gift of giving him that Love.

I am now in Ronald MacDonald's house to get cleaned up and prepare for the night shift.

MacDonald's are so generous- really, really kind to allow many of the families to stay here for free............

God bless the big Mac !

I will post a couple of other vids later of the Bran walking his dog called Wilber........?

The kid is on the mend......!

biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

jim

Bran is Smiles better

Today has been Berhanu best day.

He is out of ICU and is back on the ward. We have had some visitors from Ocean come and see him. He is still feeling rough but much better than last week.

He was only face down in the theatre for 4 hrs as opposed to 8 last week.

Caroline has been here since Tuesday night. I am now taking over at the CH Hilton in LA.

Carrie saw the X rays today and his spine is must better....We will post the X rays when we get them the difference is remarkable.

He is now off Morphine and is getting another type of medication for pain.

His little tummy is now switching on.

He is worn out and has very little energy.....he appears to be withdrawn, I think the two operations have made him very wary of people with a medical look.

The main thing is, he is on the mend..........Surly God answers prayers.

Branos Doc in Ethiopia Rick Hodes

HOUSE CALL

The doctor multitasks while visiting ten-year-old Fetia, who had surgery last year—arranged by Hodes and performed by visiting American surgeons—for a cleft palate and other facial deformities. The girl, once largely confined to her home, is now comfortable in public. To honor Hodes as their guest, the family holds a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony.

The Israel Connetion

We have no choice we must help this man

God Blesses those who bless the Jews!

DR Rick Hodes

A specialist in cancer, heart disease, and spinal conditions, Hodes first went to Ethiopia as a relief worker during the 1984 famine. He returned there on a Fulbright fellowship and in 1990 was hired by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), a humanitarian group, as medical director for the country, overseeing the health of Ethiopian Jews who planned to immigrate to Israel. He discovered Mother Teresa's Mission while searching for a teenager he'd been treating for heart disease. When the boy disappeared from the hospital because he couldn't pay, Hodes tracked him down at the mission. Hodes became a volunteer and was soon spending as much time there as at his salaried job.

The Doc who sent Brano

Research Rick Hodes his story is amazing ........what can we do to help him............?

http://www.aish.com/ci/be/48880347.html

Video of Ric Hodes in Ethiopia

http://www.rd.com/your-america-inspiring-people-and-stories/dr

-rick-hodes-helps-the-children-of-ethiopia/article104652.html

Dr. Rick Hodes Helps the Children of Ethiopia

Dr. Rick Hodes has devoted his life to helping Ethiopia's

most desperate kids-including the five he adopted.

His philosophy is simple: "Don't Say No

By Kenneth Miller

In Ethiopia, there is one doctor for every 40,000 people and never enough medicine. In a nation with a per capita income of $220, modern treatment is reserved largely for the rich. But at Mother Teresa's Mission, Rick Hodes, MD, devotes himself to healing the poor.

"I like helping people nobody else is interested in," says Hodes, 55, the senior attending physician at the mission, in Addis Ababa. A native of Long Island who trained at Johns Hopkins University, he sees 20 adults and children a day at no cost to them. Many travel hundreds of miles from remote villages, sometimes in the backs of trucks, to his one-room clinic, where he stops at nothing to get them what they need.Watch Dr. Rick Hodes in action

If his patients require sophisticated medication, he hunts it down. He arranges free surgeries abroad. He moves kids who need special care into his own modest home (three bedrooms inside, three in an outbuilding) or another that he rents nearby. "Whenever half a mattress is free," he says, "I take in someone new." Some are abandoned kids who live on the streets; others come from families who can't feed them. In addition to providing medical treatment, he oversees the children's education, lining up donors to pay for both.

Most striking of all, Hodes, who is single, has adopted five Ethiopian children, the maximum allowed. He started in 2001 to put two orphans—Semegn, now 19, and Dejene, 15—on his insurance plan so they could have surgery in Texas. "It was kind of a scary decision, so I thought about it for a few days," Hodes recalls. "The answer that came to me was, God is offering you an opportunity to help these boys. Don't say no."

A specialist in cancer, heart disease, and spinal conditions, Hodes first went to Ethiopia as a relief worker during the 1984 famine. He returned there on a Fulbright fellowship and in 1990 was hired by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), a humanitarian group, as medical director for the country, overseeing the health of Ethiopian Jews who planned to immigrate to Israel. He discovered Mother Teresa's Mission while searching for a teenager he'd been treating for heart disease. When the boy disappeared from the hospital because he couldn't pay, Hodes tracked him down at the mission. Hodes became a volunteer and was soon spending as much time there as at his salaried job.

Until two years ago, he financed his mission work out of his paycheck or by begging aid wherever he could find it. Now the JDC helps with fund-raising, but Hodes still digs into his own pocket when a patient needs bus fare or a meal. He buys shoe polish for boys who support themselves by shining shoes. He pays the rent for a widow whose daughter is undergoing multiple spine surgeries.

"Rick could have done very well for himself practicing in the United States, but he chose to do something so much harder," says Irving Fish, MD, director of pediatric neurology at New York University Medical School, who visited the mission recently. "He's totally selfless. I've really never met anyone like him."

Hodes does without comforts most Americans take for granted, like hot water and reliable electricity. He has all but given up on finding a partner with whom to share his life and work. But to him, these aren't sacrifices. To quote his favorite passage from the Talmud, an ancient book of Jewish law: "Saving one life is like saving an entire world."

Readers Digest on Doc Rick Hodes

Watch this Video of Rick Hodes in operation and be humbled he ahs given his life to the Children of Ethiopia...

Thsi is the Doctor who sent Brano to us.........this is truly remarkable.

http://www.rd.com/video/dr-rick-hodes/video106963.html

Tuesday Night

Time is 9.40pm and I am in the RMH and feeling really happy and settled tonight. Berhanu is sleeping as I left PICU.

He is aware of things going on around him tonight, which is so different from last weeks surgery!!!

He is also very settled and not in pain, which is excellent!!!

As Jim said in one of his last posts, being at CHLA in the last couple weeks, makes you realize how fortunate we are in our lives when we have our health and strength.

Thanks to you all for your prayers today, I believe that the surgery and the outcome was due to, two important factors.

1. The wonderful team of surgeons that we have had through out the two procedures and

2. Our God and master that gave these wonderful surgeons their gifts to heal broken children.

Keep all your comments coming, it has been a blessing knowing that there are so many wonderful, caring people in our lives.

Jim and I will never be the same after this!!!

Away to watch the end of dancing with stars (sad I know) prayerfully I will be watching it again in the house next week with my precious B.

From The Ground in Ethiopia.....

This email comes from the Doctor on the ground in Ethiopia that sent Brano.

Read the last line especially- nobody has asked about him and he has now been gone from home for 5 weeks.

This is real stuff from the front line.

From Doc Rick Rodes in Ethiopia to jim

Hi Jim,

Please give me your mailing address, I will burn you a CD and mail it to you.

In short, I am based at a Catholic facility xxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxx xxx
though the nuns don't like to have that name in print) and I work in 3
areas: heart disease (congenital and rheumatic), spine disease (TB of
the spine and severe scoliosis), and I treat kids for cancer. People
come from all over the country to be treated by me.

In the past few years, I have sent 50 spine patients overseas for
surgery, 24 heart patients, and treated over 20 cancer patients.
Besides my normal, very busy clinic which is completely free.

My mom lives in Laguna Niguel, and I have a brother in Laguna Beach.

Internet here is very slow.

Getting containers cleared from customs here is almost impossible.

I am employed by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, www.jdc.org
a 95 year old NGO based in NYC which passes 100% of donations on to
us. It is very well run and highly respected, no problem with the tax
part. And though I am a Jew (based in a Catholic mission), the
patients are all religions and ethnicities. My program was recently
examined very closely by a team from the Ministry of Health here, who
gave us a fantastic evaluation.

I see my role here as helping people that nobody else is interested
in. You can see some pics on the Reader's Digest website, just type
Hodes into the search engine.

Contributions can be made by check (AJJDC, 711 3rd Ave, 10th floor,
NY, NY 10017, att: Will Recant - checks should be marked "for
Ethiopian project"), or via the JDC website.

The website you cite is blocked here, i will be happy to see it next
time I'm in the USA.

My life is financially poor, otherwise rich, quite chaotic and
stressful, but ultimately very happy.

Berhanu has an uncle in the village but he has not called me. Nobody
has asked for any pics. Social worker? It' only me!

thanks.
rick

Operation Complete Bran In ICU

Bran hues Operation has been a complete success.

Dr Skags came out to tell us that the operation went well and that his spine is remarkably straight. The lump on his back is now almost gone and even in intensive care he is on his back and is looking flat and really really good.

At time of typing we are in ICU and are surrounded by another three children who are in critical care .monitors ,and staff every where. All of need to have masks on because of swine flue ect.

The Level of care is incredible,Bran is under constant supervision and has two nurses helping back to recovery.

It has been a long night ........I stayed last night ,Caroline will stay tonight I will fight my way back home through the LA traffic around 10am.

I will miss the mens study tonight.........I really enjoy it and the small groups.

Biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

jim

Angels at work- Op begins 7.30am

..................And so the Angels begin their work......................

Its 5.30 am and it time for Branahue to have his last part of surgery.
The Hospital is a buzz with constant activity and action.Bran. is aware of whats happening -the nurse on our floor who speaks Ahmeric has explained all that is to be done.

He is aware he is heading for another bout of sever pain as the surgeons move the spine into its final location and secure the final titanium steelwork to straighten his spine.The process involves cutting some ribs out and removing some segments from the ribs to form a new rib cage.

At time of typing I am in the Cafe in the basement of the building awaiting a call from the doctors .

I am amazed at the quantity of children who are in surgery,The pre op area was like a space station preparing all of the children with tubes monitors and sensors......so many Doctors and nurses working on Children simultaneously.

Dr Skaggs came and asked me if I had any questions - I said yes can I have a bit of the temporary steelwork in Brans back after the final operation- he said it may be a bio Hazard but he would get it cleared and then would give me a titanium rod that has been in his back for the last week...

I believe these men are doing the work of God.For some they are God - but for me they simply are the hands of the master surgeon.
Why does God not just speak the healing words and repair the children the way Jesus is documented in Jewish and Roman History.

I just don;t know -but I do know we have a responsibility to do all we can for humanity ....The ways,the timing of God will one day be clear..........amidst all this pain and agony .it's hard.

Branhue Heptu ...........the meekest man I have ever met........so helpless yet receiving so much help.

Dear God , please heal this child may he stand Strong stand tall and enjoy the wealth of a healthy life. God I am your child so blessed .please share the blessing with Bran .make him whole.
Amen and amen.

Your pal

jim

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Ethiopian Street Kids