Naomi had her first medical appointment today, with our pediatrician. She had to have 4 shots, a blood draw and a TB test, the poor kid. She cried and yelled, but recovered very quickly and was soon playing. However after her nap she was tired and cranky, and perhaps slightly feverish. She is sleeping well so far tonight. Over the weekend it is my job to collect stool samples -- oh joy. And I must use a complicated device in her diaper to collect urine. I also need to try to flush some wax out of her ears so the doctor can get a better look in them on Monday. She says many cleft palate babies (in this country) automatically have ear tubes inserted due to chronic ear infections.
To explain why we are doing all this, many doctors agree that internationally adopted children should be tested for a wide range of problems and their immunizations should be done over again, due to unreliability of information and questionable quality of medicine given to orphans overseas. So we must start from scratch.
This will be a summer of many medical appointments, as we strive to catch her up on all the infant care she would normally have gotten from birth, and as we get her cleft palate evaluated. We will take her to a specialist from the craniofacial team at CHOP on 6/25. I don't know when they will want to do her palate surgery, but it could be soon. Our pediatrician has also recommended we take her to CHOP doctors to check her eyesight and hearing. In case you are wondering, she has been covered by our health insurance from the moment she was given to us.
I just hope we can keep our heads clear when all the specialists gather around and pour lots of medical-speak into our ears about what needs to be done for Naomi. I also want to set up an appointment for Early Intervention services for her, particularly to help her with speech issues after she heals from her surgery. What a blessing that Naomi seems to be a generally happy and resilient child. I guess she has had to be a survivor.
We would appreciate everyone's prayers for all the issues above, and also for us to give proper attention to Danny's needs in all of our busyness. Thank you.
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We will be praying for wisdom in all of this for you and that the Dr.'s speak in a way you can understand. Don't be afraid to ask questions or get someone to "translate" for you. Also, while I don't want to be alarmist and while I certainly don't think that getting help with her speech related to surgery etc. is a bad idea (probably a good one). Be sure to think about or investigate how any papers you sign related to such educational help might (or might not) impact your desire to homeschool. (I don't know that it is a big deal for this kind of thing but I have heard some things that I didn't pay a ton of attention to about special needs kids services and impact on homeschooling mostly in terms of extra hassle with the system)
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