Our Guangdong Girls!: December 2010

I've been debating for a while whether or not to write this post. In the end I feel it is just too important not to. For those who have followed the blog for a while it is no secret that we have adopted our girls using the "Children of Promise" program through our agency. This does mean that our daughters both have what are considered medical conditions in China. Many of the needs the children have are considered minor and / or correctable in the U.S. We accepted Isabella's referral knowing that she was positive for hepatitis B. Unfortunately there can be a stigma attached to her condition which can lead to some being wary of any contact with her. We also just wanted her to be thought of as Isabella - not the girl with hepatitis B. Therefore few know of her diagnosis. Yes, it is contagious, but there is a vaccine that has been given to children since the early 90's so most are protected. Plus common sense should tell you to always be cautious around any blood spills. I was pretty hesitant at first until I did research and educated myself. Isabella was brought into our family to love and we felt that even though there is a small chance of liver problems in the future we would have her regularly monitored and would be able to deal with anything that might arise. Most of the statistics that are available do not include the scenario of a child who has hepatitis B because her birth mother passed in to her unknowingly. With monitoring and possible treatment in the future the vast majority will live long, healthy lives. This leads me to the miracle part of this post. When we brought our Isabella home we waited about a month before taking her in for blood work. We needed to find out how her liver was doing and see if her body was recognizing the virus or not. The majority of children have no damage to their livers until later in life because their immature immune systems do not recognize that there is a virus in their little bodies so they live in harmony with it. When they do start to fight the virus it is usually early teens to twenties and medication is given to them to help them overcome it and hopefully protect the liver from damage. I received a phone call from the doctor's office on our 25th anniversary that they had some unexpected results. My heart immediately felt this was going to be positive. The nurse told me that she was testing positive for antibodies to the virus but wanted her tested again in three months. After receiving all the results I slowly realized that this not only meant that she had antibodies - she is actually testing negative for the virus. If the results were the same in three months this would mean what is considered "the holy grail" and means that she is considered "cured" of the virus. This is a very rare occurrence. Well we had her tested again the day after Thanksgiving and on our way to Walt Disney World for vacation we received the news that her little body has indeed miraculously cleared the virus! We are thanking God this holiday season! Merry Christmas!