Medical update

Today I talked with the hematology nurse to go over Lauran's recent hemoglobin results. As expected she has continued to drop each week. She drops almost one point a week. One week after the transfusion she was 11.8. Normal is 12-14 for her age. Last Fridays result was 10.5. This Friday she will most likely be in the 9's. Next week she is scheduled for her transfusion and she will most likely be in The 8's by then. The question on my mind was what is the number they are looking for? What is the lowest they want to see it go? The nurse said the hematologist does not want it to go below 9. Then the body absorbs iron quicker(which is not good in Lauran's case) and also the bone marrow begins to work too hard. The next question was if she is in the 9's by week 3 will they possibly move her to a 3 week schedule of transfusions rather than wait 4 weeks. The answer was yes. I will find out more next week if that will happen, but I am preparing myself for that possibility. Sad news for Lauran!

Please be praying for her transfusion next week ...that they find a vein quickly and it is not tramatic for her!

Thanks so much!

Figuring it all out!

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I can't believe we have had Lauran over a month. Last week began some struggles with Lauran. I am having a hard time figuring out what she is wanting. She seems fussy a lot and I am desperately trying to figure out what the fussing means. I know...with little kids you can never figure it all out. I also know once you think you have them figured out, they go and change what you thought you already had figured out. Go figure!!??? Yes...pun intended :)

Anyways, the past couple weeks have been a challenge. Her sleeping and eating have both been very difficult. Eating in particular has been completely confusing. I have to keep reminding myself that all of it is new to her. But there are foods she seemed to love that she ate a few times and now completely refuses. She was eating better the week following her transfusion and even though she may not be at the point of needing one, I wonder if the eating is tied to her anemia. One of my many questions I have regarding her blood disorder. She seems to be back on her meat kick again. It is really all she wants. Meat and eggs. She will eat a little bit of some other things here and there but not much. There have been several occasions were she broke out in tears when she saw the meal I put in front of her.

There are some days where she just seems very whiny all the time. A lot of it seems like it is when she is hungry but then she doesn't want to eat anything I offer her. I know there are communication gaps happening still. She is understanding more of what I say and does repeat English but rarely will use an English word to ask for something or to communicate with us. She is also sharing more of her 2 yr old behavior...having very loud tantrums when she doesn't get what she wants.

Aside from the challenges though she is still very lovable, cuddly and funny! She loves to be a helper and put things away. I have seen many more cute moments with her and Megan where they genuinely interact and play together. We feel blessed, but it is a hard transition right now. Things have definitely been challenging at our house. There are days when I do not feel equipped to handle all of it. I know eventually it will get better as I figure out her medical issues and as she learns English and communication improves...but it is hard. God keeps reminding me when I feel like I am going off the deep end and sometimes after I go off the deep end, that He will be the strength to get me through it. His power will work through me to get through the struggle. This verse came to mind:

1Corinthians 12: 9-10
My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

So today, I boast(rather than be frustrated) in the fact that I am going through a difficult time and that I am not equipped to handle it all. I am definitely feeling weak!! But thankfully Christ, whom I serve and love promises to be my strength! I am so glad that God allows me to be honest about my difficulties. That I do not have to pretend I have it all together. He gave me a heart for orphans and has called our family to adopt. He knew we were not perfect parents and as we go through the process I want to keep pointing to the ONE who provides for us daily and works through our family daily. It is because of Christ and the grace he has shed on us and the work he does through us that we are able to do any of this!

Please continue to pray we lean on HIM and continue to pray for Lauran's health as we process all the details and medical care!

appointments, appointments appointments!

Yesterdays cardio appts. went really well. They were pretty short and the only time Lauran fussed was when they did the EKG and were attaching all the cords to the little "stickers". I know there is probably an official name for the stickers...but I can only retain so much medical info at a time :) Hey, I am just glad I can pronounce the word Thalassemia now! Anyways...once the cords were hooked up it did sort of look like attack of the octopus...so I don't blame her for fussing. But she held still enough for the test to go quickly.

Today was another story! She had a lab appt. to do her weekly blood draw and guess what ? They couldn't find a vein. Then they tried the other arm and by this time she is screaming and fighting us. Then they just get the needle in her arm and Lauran's foot broke loose and it hit the nurses hand and the needle came out :( So....try again they say! Then the nurse had an idea, she decided to call (not sure who) and see if it was OK to get the blood via a finger prick....and it was, as long as they could keep the blood flowing to get enough blood. So she did that and it worked! She had to prick the finger twice to get enough blood but Lauran didn't cry either time. The nurse said we will try it this way first from now on rather than the needle. What a relief! This is a weekly event for us and I can't imagine her going through this all the time. Who knows how many pokes this girl has had in the past and how many times they had trouble finding a vein! UUHHG! Hopefully now she will just have to endure the needle only for the transfusion!

Things at home are going better sleep wise. Things around here are still completely disorganized. The girls though, are starting to get along better and even play together. Sometimes they are so sweet together! Lauran still loves playing with the boys too and has gotten into the daily routine of watching for them to come home on the bus! It is crazy around here when everyone is home. Crazy and loud! A lot of times it is just a fun, playing loud! And sometimes it is ....everyone is needy and melting down....loud!! That's a house with 4 kids! Noises of blessing:) At least that is what I going to start reminding myself when I am ready to go pull my hair out....which usually happens daily between 4:30 - 6:00. I am on the search for some ideas to make this time of day go better...ideas anyone?

I thought I would leave you with a couple cute pictures of Lauran from last week. I found her sitting at the computer desk. We have learned since adopting her that she is a genius and has been working on some important medical research on how to poke all the nurses back after she gets poked. No offense to any nurses out there .... Lauran wants you to know you will definately get a sticker afterwards!! You can see by her big smile that this research is exciting and VERY rewarding!

EKG and Echo on Wed.

Tomorrow(Wed) afternoon Lauran goes in for her cardiology appts. Please pray she will be calm and not scared. They told me she is old enough that she doesn't need to be sedated...I am hoping they are right. These appt. are to make sure she doesn't have any problems due to too much iron. Also, as I mentioned before, she will be going in for weekly blood draws. I am praying these pokes become a little less traumatic over time. She will have that on Thursday. Also, pray that her blood tests do not show that she needs a transfusion any sooner than the 4 week schedule we are on already!

Thanks for your continues prayers and support!

Taking time to lick the spoon!

So I took a break last week from working on my atrocious house...which looks like a tornado went through it ...but just happened to leave everything in categorized piles. Piles of laundry, piles of dishes, piles pf paperwork, piles of shoes, toys, ..... Anyways, somehow I ended up with 3 bags of marshmallows in my pantry AND since food has been falling out of the pantry every time I open the doors, due to un-named little people throwing food back into the pantry in a very disorderly fashion, as if there is a tiny elf in there ready to organize it. So I decided to use up some marshmallows and make some Rice Krispie treats! Plus, I find it interesting to watch Lauran try new foods. She LIKES to eat(when she is not anemic)! She joins Nathan in that club. She does have her preferences though ...but she is at least willing to put almost anything in her mouth! If she doesn't like something she spits it out after a couple chews. Really gross...especially for Nathan who gags at the sight of anything mushy(he still won't put milk on his cereal). The Rice Krispie treats were a hit. Megan helped me make them and was very proud! I thought it was funny when I handed the big spoons to the girls to lick...Lauran knew just what to do with it! No instructions needed. So I went a little picture crazy!

I promise I did let the marshmallow cool...It only looks like I forced her to lick a sweltering hot spoon!

"not...quite...sure...if...I...can...get...my...whole...mouth ...around...this...spoon!"

Best sisters...sharing food, sharing toys.....Ok the toys thing ain't happenin quite yet! And Megan is only being permitted to touch Lauran while she is eating because Megan has her own spoon...Just for the record!

Lauran's 1st transfusion

Lauran had her 1st visit at Children's hospital on Thursday and her 1st transfusion her in the U.S. It was a long day! I was there by 8:00 am and home at 3:30. Getting her IV inserted proved again to be stressful. They had trouble getting it in the the vein on the 1st arm they tried. I have never witnessed a nurse poking around to find the vein :( Then they saw a spot on her hand that looked like she had been poked before so they tried that...and thankfully it worked because she was screeching!!

The appt consisted of blood draws first, then waiting for blood tests to return, then the transfusion. Lauran also had an exam with the nurse practitioner from the hematology clinic and at the end of all that we saw the hematologist. The main conclusion right now is that she will need monthly transfusions for now. She will have to have weekly blood draws to monitor her hemoglobin. As they monitor that, and as she has her transfusions, they will hopefully be able to see a pattern and have a better idea of how often she needs the transfusion...most likely every 3-6 weeks. She is also having her iron monitored closely. Having too much iron is a side effect of having frequent transfusions. She will need a medication to reduce her iron at some point in the near future. She has basically been classified though, as having Thalassemia major. The more severe form of Thalassemia. Basically her body doesn't make one of the chains of hemoglobin efficiently. We still do not know which chain..alpha or beta... What ever the exact chain is the result is the same..... with out transfusions she becomes anemic. She will need transfusions for the the rest of her life with close monitoring of her iron....unless we pursue the cure which is a bonemarrow tranplant. That is a whole other subject and I will go into that later. Right now we will concentrate on transfusions and try to avoid complications. Most of the complications of this disorder result from over load of iron which build up in the liver and then the heart and cause damage. To help monitor this, she needs to have an EKG and Echo Cardiogram so we can get a baseline. I am assuming then these will need to be repeated every so often to make sure she is not having any problems due to iron.

The one other complication of her disorder is an enlarged spleen. Hers is already enlarged and they said they will have to watch that closely. Some patients have to have it removed. They try and wait as long as possible though because the spleen protects against infection. It is not good for a young child to have it removed.

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With ALL that said, we know this will not be easy. It will take some adjusting. We know that God chose us to care for Lauran. We feel blessed to have her in our family and she has already blessed us beyond words! We feel confidant that He orchestrated all of it and will work out the details. Most of all, we rest in His strength not our own! We are so thankful!

P.S. I posted pictures from the last few days or our trip (ran out of time in china) below in another post...so check those out too!

Pictures from Guangzhou

The following pictures are from our stay in Guangzhou. This was the last part of out trip. This is the city where the American Consulte is...everyone who adopts from China will stay here to finalize the adoption with the U.S.

This is a common site in China...laundry out to dry. This ia a dinner boat ride down the pearl river. I missed it :( I had some horrible stomach issues..that lasted through the next day when we flew home. I feel bad Merry missed because of me too. Long story! Todd and the three below went!

We had a day at the zoo too...look in the background, in the cage, and you will see a panda

One day ws good for swimming...the girls were napping at the time. It was a nice pool...too bad we didn't have nicer weather to swim.




Starbucks in China...nothin' is finer !!!!!!!

These are pictures inside the White Swan Hotel where we stayed for the last leg of our trip. It has an indoor waterfall and a little bridge that is over a pond filled with goldfish.

She did this all on her own!! No posing from me at all!! Too cute!

Megan..posing. Her words before every picture is "strike a pose"

looking at goldfish

Todd thought this was funny...The old bike carring a big screen TV

A park near the hotel

This is a giant ship carved from Jade...this is inside the White Swan hotel

another jade carving

This is Laurans medical exam...a very basic medical exam! Basically..height, weight and make sure they do not have a fever!

This is an area outside a mall we went shopping at. Megan is walking with our guide!

In side the mall..It is 6 or 7 levels high

Bath time and a smile!!

Lauran started out giving Todd rasberries on his cheek...and it turned into kisses and cuddles!! SOOOO cute!

oh...and laughs too!

At least someone in our family has learned to stop and smell the roses along the way!

A new normal

Today I had a glimpse of my new normal. My first medical appt. with Lauran. It was just with the pediatrician.....still waiting to see a hematologist. I wasn't sure what to expect. If you read my last post, I wrote about Lauran going through the steps with her baby doll of getting a needle inserted. (I guess I didn't need the orphanage director to tell me that she was getting blood transfusions on a regular basis.) I knew she would be getting blood drawn today and probably some vaccinations. I wasn't sure if she would handle this with complete complacency...done this so many times it's no big deal attitude, or completely freak out once she got wind of a needle. Well, she did the second! Actually, after the examination portion of the visit when I was waiting for the nurse to come a give the shots to her, she quickly found her shoes, put them on, and booked for the door. When I went to grab her to bring her into the room she started to cry and then proceeded to do the whole dead weight thing that toddlers do so well. When she finally got the shots she screamed and cried...actually screeched. This was nothing compared to what she did when we went to the lab to then have blood drawn. A nurse and I had to hold her down while another nurse drew the blood. Her screeching reached a new level in that room! I lost it too and started to cry. I felt so bad for her! She was probably hoping all those pokes were left behind in China!



The doctor confirmed what I already was thinking...that she is starting to look anemic. Her skin color is more gray and pale then when we first met Lauran. She has also been a little more fussy and low energy. They called me later today to confirm that the blood test showed that she was slightly amemic. They passed on the tests to the Hematologist to see when they thought she should be seen. They called and decided they wanted her in on Thursday to do a full work up of her condition and a transfusion. I just talked to the nurse, but she said it may be the case that she needs the transfusions sooner than every 45 days. I am anxious to get more info on her condition and relieved the appt. is sooner rather than later. I am sad for Lauran though, that she will have to go through this every month!


Our families life will have a new normal .....learning how to help a little girl through her chronic illness and to incorporate that into our family. I don't know what that means exactly yet. This month I know will include a lot of doctor visits and re-prioritizing my time. I feel secure in knowing that God has placed Lauran in our family and will guide us in figuring this all out!

Thanks you for continued prayer and support! Oh ..and I promise some pictures are coming soon!