It has been a whirlwind of a day.
First, safe travels to my friend Theresa. She is on her way to pick up her sweet daughter the fabulous Miss Orange in Ethiopia.
Second, HUGE congrats to my friend Rachel and her family for passing court in Ethiopia.
And then in our news, Kiya's blood tests for Hepatitis C came back NEGATIVE :) We are so thrilled that she is still testing negative for the disease. And it gets better, the doctor said we will repeat blood work in 1 year. No more blood tests at least for awhile :)
After I got this fabulous news, I went and ordered Kiya's birthday cake. It is set to be picked up on Wednesday. Also being picked up on Wednesday are balloons or boons as we like to call them. (If you haven't read the Belly Button book it is a must).
This weekend brings lots of things to do. Some friends are moving to Tennessee after the holidays so we are going out for Ethiopian food before they leave. We will miss them for sure. Dave is off to the Packer game on Sunday and then we have to go grocery shopping for Thanksgiving which is a HUGE task.
For now I am hoping to catch a little nap if Kiya naps that is....
Showing posts with label hep c. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hep c. Show all posts
Friday, November 20, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Thank you
I just need to say a big THANKS to everyone who sent me a note, an email or posted a comment on my blog yesterday. It is nice to know that Kiya has people rooting for her even if she has only met one of you in person and probably doesn't even remember that even though we are secretly arranging a marriage between Sammy and Kiya :). I realized that I too have only met a couple of you in real life.
Yet I know that when I need support or prayers or a pick me up you are all out there in blog land. How I would have survived this whole adoption thing without blog land is beyond me.
I am anxiously awaiting the phone to ring with her test results, even though I know it may not happen today. I got a few questions yesterday that were quite personal, as in did we ask for a child with a medical condition and things along those lines.
First off, Kiya in my mind doesn't have a medical condition. She may at some point but she doesn't right now to my knowledge. Secondly, we did fill out a form with medical conditions that we were okay with or would consider at time of referral. This medical episode if you will was not on any checklist. Yes it is a checklist and hands down the worst piece of paperwork I have ever had to talk about or fill out. It is just weird to say yes to this or no to that or maybe. We wouldn't have those options for a birth child.
In the end it wouldn't have mattered had we known this info at referral or not. She was from day one our little girl. We weren't prepared for this episode but we are more than equipped to handle it. International adoption comes with unknowns and risks. We knew that. We are okay with that.
Someone even asked me if we had known this info at referral would we still have accepted. YES! Without a doubt 100%. Worst case scenario, it is a liveable and maybe some day treatable illness. She can lead a totally "normal" (I hate that word) life. Sure it would require specialists, and blood tests and maybe medicine but it is manageable.
We are holding out hope that she falls in line with the statistics that say her chances of actually getting Hep C are slim but if not it is what it is. What really stinks is that we can't reach out to her birth mom. Since it is likely that is how she was exposed to it to begin with. We worry about Zinash and her health. We are fortunate to have specialists, medical care and even medicine if need be. She may not and likely doesn't. Untreated this could be a fatal condition. That breaks my heart.
Back to waiting for the phone to ring...Thanks again everyone for the support and if you need anything at all I am in blog land for you as well. I know how important the support is when the tough stuff comes up.
Yet I know that when I need support or prayers or a pick me up you are all out there in blog land. How I would have survived this whole adoption thing without blog land is beyond me.
I am anxiously awaiting the phone to ring with her test results, even though I know it may not happen today. I got a few questions yesterday that were quite personal, as in did we ask for a child with a medical condition and things along those lines.
First off, Kiya in my mind doesn't have a medical condition. She may at some point but she doesn't right now to my knowledge. Secondly, we did fill out a form with medical conditions that we were okay with or would consider at time of referral. This medical episode if you will was not on any checklist. Yes it is a checklist and hands down the worst piece of paperwork I have ever had to talk about or fill out. It is just weird to say yes to this or no to that or maybe. We wouldn't have those options for a birth child.
In the end it wouldn't have mattered had we known this info at referral or not. She was from day one our little girl. We weren't prepared for this episode but we are more than equipped to handle it. International adoption comes with unknowns and risks. We knew that. We are okay with that.
Someone even asked me if we had known this info at referral would we still have accepted. YES! Without a doubt 100%. Worst case scenario, it is a liveable and maybe some day treatable illness. She can lead a totally "normal" (I hate that word) life. Sure it would require specialists, and blood tests and maybe medicine but it is manageable.
We are holding out hope that she falls in line with the statistics that say her chances of actually getting Hep C are slim but if not it is what it is. What really stinks is that we can't reach out to her birth mom. Since it is likely that is how she was exposed to it to begin with. We worry about Zinash and her health. We are fortunate to have specialists, medical care and even medicine if need be. She may not and likely doesn't. Untreated this could be a fatal condition. That breaks my heart.
Back to waiting for the phone to ring...Thanks again everyone for the support and if you need anything at all I am in blog land for you as well. I know how important the support is when the tough stuff comes up.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Say a little pray
I haven't blogged about this in a while but the time has come that I need to let off a little steam and say a little pray for Kiya.
During routine blood work once first home from Ethiopia, Kiya tested positive for Hepatitis C antibodies. She then tested negative for Hepatitis C. What does that mean? It means that she was exposed to Hep C likely from her mother but she at that time did not actually have Hep C.
Well it has been 3 months and she needed to be retested. We learned today, that she is still testing positive for Hep C antibodies. We are going in for additional blood work to test for Hep C the disease.
There is a less than 5% chance that she will ever get Hepatitis C but as long as she is testing positive for the antibodies we have to stay on top of it. The doctor had hoped that when she was a year she would test negative for the antibodies but she didn't. So we are going to have to repeat all of these blood tests again in 3 months.
We have done our homework and are prepared for whatever may come. We are of course saying prayers that she continues to test negative for the actual disease and that in 3 months she won't still be testing positive for the antibodies.
The worst part is the actual blood draw. It is so tough on Kiya. She doesn't have great veins so it is usually torture for her. Last time they had to prick her finger to get the blood. They come near her with the rubber tie for her arm and she starts screaming. She hates it and I hate it as her mother.
Wish us both luck.
During routine blood work once first home from Ethiopia, Kiya tested positive for Hepatitis C antibodies. She then tested negative for Hepatitis C. What does that mean? It means that she was exposed to Hep C likely from her mother but she at that time did not actually have Hep C.
Well it has been 3 months and she needed to be retested. We learned today, that she is still testing positive for Hep C antibodies. We are going in for additional blood work to test for Hep C the disease.
There is a less than 5% chance that she will ever get Hepatitis C but as long as she is testing positive for the antibodies we have to stay on top of it. The doctor had hoped that when she was a year she would test negative for the antibodies but she didn't. So we are going to have to repeat all of these blood tests again in 3 months.
We have done our homework and are prepared for whatever may come. We are of course saying prayers that she continues to test negative for the actual disease and that in 3 months she won't still be testing positive for the antibodies.
The worst part is the actual blood draw. It is so tough on Kiya. She doesn't have great veins so it is usually torture for her. Last time they had to prick her finger to get the blood. They come near her with the rubber tie for her arm and she starts screaming. She hates it and I hate it as her mother.
Wish us both luck.
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