When we excepted Rachel's referral we knew without a doubt, she was ours. We knew no matter what a doctor told us she would be coming home to our family. I did take her medical in to our doctor to look over, but it was during an appointment for one of our other kids and I just had her glance at it, offhand.
It wouldn't have made a difference what she said. Rachel was our daughter.
Then our paper chase took forever and the LOA and so on. So she waited and we waited. We were blessed to be able to get updates on our sweet girl through traveling parents.
We knew through pictures and first hand stories that there was more going on than just a limb difference. And we were prepared....I had specialists lined up and everything. But being in DC area the wait to see them is horrendous.
I mean seriously, we came home in July and I have yet to see the geneticist. That won't be until March 2011!!
We have seen two orthopedics doctors and have gotten two very distinct opinions. So, we are waiting to see a third, in you guessed it February 2011...sigh
So I took it upon myself to beg and plead with the ped doc to order the blood work. Which after having begged and pleaded for the giardia meds and getting them she agreed.
I am either a good talker or she took pity on this very tired mama of six whose husband is always traveling.
The test results came back negative for dwarfism and for downs syndrome. But some were inconclusive, meaning I have to wait until we see the geneticist.
So back to my story, once home I noticed Rachel's eyes were a little crossed and she didn't use her right one much. I called one more specialist and they saw us yesterday.
The results were a bit unexpected.
They are hoping she has a muscle weakness that will be fixed with patching. She is near sighted in both eyes and when she only uses her left eye, well this is the hard part. She is completely blind in her right eye. If, I hadn't taken her to the specialist and we had let this go or she had waited longer in the orphanage, it wouldn't be fixable, she would have gone blind...completely.
How scary is that??
So, we are patching her eye for a month and then go back to the doctor. She will reevaluate at that time but most likely, surgery will be scheduled.
The other thing, this particular need is associated with other special needs, mostly limb differences and downs....so I am thinking we really need to see the specialist in March.
Maybe our test results weren't conclusive...
I feel so conflicted, I am very thankful we were able to see the eye doctor but I also feel sad for Rachel. Not only will she have a very noticeable limb difference that won't be addressed until she is older but she will also have glasses, probably strong ones. In addition to what ever else we find out at the appointment in March. This will be a tough road for her when she starts school.
The only thing I am sure of, is I am her mama and will fight for whatever she needs.
She had a party with friends back in November 2009 while waiting for us.
My style girl, always with a smile.
Listening to the music with big brother.
My sweet girly girl. She got her face painted for the second time this week.
