Wednesday we will have the opportunity to go to Iowa City for Sidney’s pre op exam. Her surgery is not scheduled until January 7th. After our pre op appointment, we go in for a genetics appointment. The hospital was excellent about working us in for a double appointment. Genetics must be a specialized field of expertise? I am saying this facetiously of course. Our pediatrician’s office placed us on the waiting list for an appointment in August. We scheduled the appointment a couple of months ago, and from what we understand only three appointments take place per day.
I saw on the news that Wednesday is supposed to be a blizzard. We might wait another six months to unravel the mystery, so I say for the millionth time as an adoptive mother, “I am releasing control!” Luckily, the hand surgeon’s nurse had the foresight to give us all the information necessary for Sidney’s surgery on January 7th. During Sidney’s last appointment, we went through all the information necessary for the anesthesiologist, all of her information was taken, and we were given pre op directions. It is an outpatient surgery and takes about three hours. I think I have told almost everyone, but she will have a full arm cast for three weeks and a split for two more. The full arm is because she is so little it will fall off. The other hand comes six months later. We plan to wait until after summer, next September. No fun being 2 and not able to be outside running around and getting dirty. I believe strongly in letting my kids wallow around in the dirt outside.
We are anxious for the appointment with the geneticist. If I had to venture a guess I would say something environmental caused Sidney’s condition. After seeing the rice paddies and fields surrounding Changsha and knowing rice paddies are also everywhere in Changsha, I believe her mother could have been exposed to a pesticide of some type in agriculture. Changsha is the capital of Hunan province, and Hunan is the second largest rice producer in China. I could be totally off base about Sidney’s condition however have done a ton of reading to come to this conclusion. I have also made conclusions about agriculture or a pesticide based on the high percentage of girls who are abandoned from rural areas. After seeing rice patties with huts sitting in fields, I can almost imagine the desperation of her parents when they saw a condition which was certainly insurmountable by western medical standards.
Onto something not so heavy….we went and cut down our beautiful 7 ½ foot Christmas tree! No, it is not the most magnificent Frasier Fur I have ever laid my eyes on which was a whopping $70. It is the garden variety Christmas tree, and we love it! Eli is old enough to remember tradition, and he and I had so much fun getting the decorations out. We could not get it finished before bedtime Sunday night. He made it clear that no more ornaments needed to go on unless he was there; telling me he thought the tree had plenty of ornaments. He promptly woke up this morning and asked to continue decorating.
Sidney’s reaction was great! Who could resist lights and the fun! She was fond of taking them off the tree and has finally learned they belong there. What kid should not have the thrill of enjoying Christmas? This is literally worlds from where she was last year at the same time.
Over the last week, we have witnessed a transformation which is palpable. Sidney is smiling! Not just smiling her small tiny, I am barely going to curl up my lips, because I have never smiled before and don’t really know how to express myself when I am happy smile. This is a full faced, eyes lit up, kind of smile. This melts my heart! Other transformations are her physical appearance. She has grown over an inch and gotten 6 teeth. Four are molars. Amazing what a little nutrition will do for catch up on growth. What has been even more amazing is the thickness of her hair.
When we first bathed her on the first night we had her in Changsha, I was horrified at how far back she had physically scratched the hair off her head. We know now this was likely the rash which was caused by giardia. This has now cleared, and her hair has completely filled in. This is also certainly due to better nutrition. We assume she got vegetables but question if meat was ever in her diet. She is still not fond of meat, but we give her a lot of eggs and peanut butter, in addition to other foods with obvious nutrition like fruits and vegetables.
OK, enough musing on the part of this adoptive mom, I could go on forever!
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