Saturday, June 5, 2010

One Month Home! (and a little drama)


Can you believe it? We have been home for one month! And, honestly, we can't remember life before Zadie Hayat made us a family.

She has brought many smiles to our hearts. And in the past couple of days, a couple of tears to our eyes! No, no, no - not her exactly. And she is fine and healthy, but we've been at the doctor a few times this week.

One thing that I wish I knew before it happened was the TB drama. The embassy immunization papers don't list bcg vaccine on the chart, therefore it is not listed on her immunizations. And, once a person has been vaccinated against TB, they will always test positive for exposure to the disease - which we knew. But, when Zadie tested positive with no record of her immunization, our pediatrician's office went into a frenzy. Our doctor was out of the office on Friday when her test was read, so we had another doctor. He was not so familiar with our situation. He wanted to call the health department right away, and have me report Zadie and let "the health department make decision on the next step". Next step?? I kept thinking - Like quarantine? I even asked the nurse if he meant quarantine. She laughed, but then she said, "Not right away, I mean not just yet."

The very kind and sensible nurse talked the doctor down, and sent me to the hospital with orders for a chest x-ray. Ok, now I was back on familiar ground. This is what we were told would happen next. Once we were in the lab, and poor Zadie was placed in some sort of tube with a bicycle seat that scared the mess out of her (and this is supposed to be bonding time, right?), the radiologist ran into the room to tell us that there was a spot on her lung and that there would need to be another x-ray. This is when I panicked - a spot??!!??

So, the very gentle x-ray tech and I put the doll-baby back into the tube thingy - with more screaming and kicking and looks of broken heart, "Mommy, how could you?" They took another x-ray, and then sent me on my way. I tried and tried to get information from the x-ray tech, but she kept saying that she wasn't allowed to give any information. But she did take me behind a glass and whisper that the radiologist looked very relieved with the second x-ray.

Later that evening the nurse called to say that everything was fine, that the spot on the first x-ray was not on the second one so we were in the clear. But I still have to go to the health department this week to report my child, but at least I have a clear chest x-ray to take with me!

I say all this to say, come on! We need to have proof of the vaccination! Charlie spent quite a long time on the phone with our case worker discussing how to fix this. I mean... Really.

I suppose that we could have refused the TB test, but she is going to school with me in a few weeks, and the doctor would not have released her to go without it. I am not sure if this a universal experience, or it is just a NC thing, but Zadie and I were both exhausted after the drama of the day.

Having said all of that, she is a doll. A gem. Perfect for our family. She laughs generously. She smiles often. She is easy going, and she loves her mommy and daddy. She sleeps. I mean, how would we even ask for more? We couldn't. And we won't.

9 comments:

  1. Finally catching up with my blog-reading. Poor Zadie! I'm so happy to hear all is fine, but how scary. Thank you for sharing, as this will certainly help others.

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  2. UGH. I am not looking forward to this drama. Gladney did tell us that info, but I haven't even looked at the paperwork they gave us to see if TB showed up on the list.

    so sorry for the drama....Zadie is pure preciousness!!

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  3. She is a gem indeed...She's a precious little lady...

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  4. She is a doll!

    Hugs for that sweet little lady! Her hair is awesome!

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  5. Wow- what drama! Poor thing! She is SO stinkin cute.

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  6. Hi! sorry to hear about the TB incidents! I am sure a lot of us will have to deal with this same issue at some point. We do not have a record of our little guy's vaccine either!

    After reading your story, I did a bit of research, and found that there is a blood test that may help. The special blood tests (interferon-gamma release assays [IGRAs]), unlike the TST, are not affected by prior BCG vaccination and are less likely to give a false-positive result. Found this info on the CDC website. Maybe valuable info for Zadie? Who knows... but here is the website:

    http://www.cdc.gov/tb/topic/testing/default.htm#bcg

    Sorry to hear about Zadie's troubles :-(
    Doctors are never fun for the little ones (or the big ones for that matter)

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  7. Congrats on your trip, home for a month, all of it. It's such a journey and it will just get more and more amazing. Zadie is beautiful. I hope we can meet her someday. We're still planning on the relo...will keep you posted. Oh, and "b" said what I was going to add...there is a new blood test. I don't know that it's actually approved by the FDA yet but the doctor's here are starting to use it with my adoption friends. I had a friend with a similar situation as yours. So, do the blood test and you'll know for sure whether treatment is needed. Also, there is something about the time in between the vaccination and the test, I believe. 6 months???to be sure? Anyway check it out. Take care!!!

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  8. Good grief! Glad it all turned out OK-Zadie is so beautiful!

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  9. Oh yes, the FUN of TB. Mez had the same issues. It's not fun. You can request them to do a quadtiferon test (blood test) or a T-spot test. These will clarify if it's a false positive or a real positive. Also, our research shows it is ALMOST impossible for a child her age to spread the disease. So she is not a health risk to anyone else. Keep us posted. We are at the beginning of this battle. Lori, from your first night (our last night) at BeJoe.
    Lori

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