One thing I haven't written about is what is going on with Solomon and Tinsaye medically. We knew they were in general good health but were diagnosed with a genetic condition called Axenfeld-Riegers Syndrome in Ethiopia. Due to this diagnosis, they were classified a "special needs" adoption. The unknowns about their health history and current condition were pretty scary to Brian and I all along, but we decided that we would just deal with things as they came.
We've spent a LOT of time in doctor's offices in the last seven weeks since they've been home and here's what we've learned:
-both kids are healthy, good height and weight and growth patterns appear normal.
-both kids tested negative for all the scary stuff here in America (HIV, Hepatitis, etc), confirming their negative status from the orphanage
-both kids tested negative for all parasites! Yeah! None of us were looking forward to de-worming treatments!
-both kids had some immunizations in Ethiopia, both had chicken pox at the orphanage, and they only needed a couple immunizations here. They both had a couple immunizations last month, Tinsaye needs one more and Solomon needs a booster and then they are caught up with all immunizations as per American standards.
-their genetic condition caused their teeth to be malformed in utero. Solomon's teeth are pretty good now, he hasn't lost any baby teeth yet, but he is missing several adult teeth that never formed. Tinsaye's teeth are more seriously affected, she is missing many adult teeth and the ones she has are in strange places. Both kids will need major dental stuff done... bridges or implants or something. $$$$$! But in the big scheme of things, teeth are pretty fixable and no big deal.
-The Axenfeld-Riegers syndrome also caused their eyes to be malformed in utero. Although they appeared to have normal vision, they are predisposed to glaucoma and we were really worried about existing damage to the optic nerve. We saw a pediatric ophthalmologist last week and learned that although both kids have higher than normal eye pressures, there is NO optic nerve damage present and the pressures are treatable with daily beta-blocker eye drops. We started them on drops immediately and they go back for a recheck in a month, hopefully the pressures will be reduced then.
-Solomon's vision is 20/50 in his right eye and 20/80 in his left eye, but that is as good as it will get. No glasses or lenses can fix it, it is due to malformation and not correctable. He will be just fine, but he's not going to be able to pursue a career as a sharpshooter for the FBI! Additionally, Solomon has strabismus, or "wandering eye" mostly in his left eye, somewhat in his right. This is correctable with surgery after his pressures are reduced, and mostly cosmetic. We haven't told him he has to have eye surgery yet, not sure how that one's going to go over.
-Tinsaye's vision is about 20/30 in her right eye, but she is legally blind in her left eye. With an extremely powerful lens, it will be 20/400. Again, this is due to malformation and nothing could have changed this. She needs to wear glasses all the time with a clear polycarbonate lens on the right eye to protect it from injury since it is all she has. When she's old enough for contacts, we'll get her a lens for the left to wear with the clear glasses, but until then, she just doesn't really use that eye. She was NOT happy about having to have glasses, until we told her she could get pink frames, and now she is completely jazzed about her new fashion accessory!
We are really happy with most all this news. We are super grateful that we have good insurance and we feel blessed to be able to give them what they need.
That is great news! S and B have giardia, we've done one round of antibiotics and are testing again to see if it's gone. Yuck. I'm glad you didn't have to go through that! :0) Other than that, they are healthy as well!
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