Yesterday I received a call on my cell phone while I was at the office from Melissa from FTIA. She said the words that I've been longing to hear for 27 months (although it feels like 27 YEARS!)! "We have a match for you!" OMG...really? I found myself being very cautious with my excitement, however. We have reviewed so many files and found that many of the children have far worse conditions that what their files say initially. You really have to dig deep and - - have your Doctor review the file as well!!!
Melissa began to read me the file of a little baby boy that was about 18 months old. It seems he has some fairly significant heart problems and has already been hospitalized several times with "heart failure" and had at least one open heart surgery (poor little guy). Melissa sent me the files and I told her I would get them to our physician right away (I rushed them over during my lunch hour yesterday).
Well...Dr. Liu finally got back to me this morning and proceeded to tell me that this child's cardiac defects were very rare and very complex. In fact, he had "Tetralogy of Fallot" which is actually 4 different maladies in one inside the heart (he has two holes in his heart, his aorta is in the wrong place, etc.). He said that it is possible to fix the problem (which would probably require multiple surgeries), but that keeping it fixed is an even bigger problem! We would always have to worry about this child being too active and he would need constant check ups from a cardiologist for the rest of his life.
In addition to that, in spite of what one report stated (no Hep B), one lab test confirmed that he tested positive on TWO different Hep B tests! One test wasn't as much of a concern (surface antigen), but the other was more serious and indicates that he did, in fact, have exposure to Hep B. Our Doctor is very cautious about this because there are so many unknowns.
And thirdly - - this child's test results on the DDST (Denver Development Screening Test) came back abnormal which is a big red flag regarding his mental and physical development and could have been caused by his heart problem (possibly from the cyanosis he suffered from insufficient oxygen in the blood).
So...it was with a heavy heart that I had to call Melissa this morning with the news that we would be passing on this child. Every time this happens, a little piece of my heart breaks. Every child deserves a good home, but we need to do what's right for our family. I'm afraid that this child's condition is too heavy of a burden for us.
I long for the day when we will find "our" child! I hope that day will come soon. I hope that when that day comes, we will open the file and just know that we have met our little munchkin!! You see? In spite of the constant pitfalls, I am still full of hope! (Some days I just believe it more than others.)
Melissa began to read me the file of a little baby boy that was about 18 months old. It seems he has some fairly significant heart problems and has already been hospitalized several times with "heart failure" and had at least one open heart surgery (poor little guy). Melissa sent me the files and I told her I would get them to our physician right away (I rushed them over during my lunch hour yesterday).
Well...Dr. Liu finally got back to me this morning and proceeded to tell me that this child's cardiac defects were very rare and very complex. In fact, he had "Tetralogy of Fallot" which is actually 4 different maladies in one inside the heart (he has two holes in his heart, his aorta is in the wrong place, etc.). He said that it is possible to fix the problem (which would probably require multiple surgeries), but that keeping it fixed is an even bigger problem! We would always have to worry about this child being too active and he would need constant check ups from a cardiologist for the rest of his life.
In addition to that, in spite of what one report stated (no Hep B), one lab test confirmed that he tested positive on TWO different Hep B tests! One test wasn't as much of a concern (surface antigen), but the other was more serious and indicates that he did, in fact, have exposure to Hep B. Our Doctor is very cautious about this because there are so many unknowns.
And thirdly - - this child's test results on the DDST (Denver Development Screening Test) came back abnormal which is a big red flag regarding his mental and physical development and could have been caused by his heart problem (possibly from the cyanosis he suffered from insufficient oxygen in the blood).
So...it was with a heavy heart that I had to call Melissa this morning with the news that we would be passing on this child. Every time this happens, a little piece of my heart breaks. Every child deserves a good home, but we need to do what's right for our family. I'm afraid that this child's condition is too heavy of a burden for us.
I long for the day when we will find "our" child! I hope that day will come soon. I hope that when that day comes, we will open the file and just know that we have met our little munchkin!! You see? In spite of the constant pitfalls, I am still full of hope! (Some days I just believe it more than others.)
1 comment:
Poor Little Guy - I will pray for him.
A touching story of this baby boy and also a heartbreaker.
You hang in there, your "call" will come.
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