Thursday, April 25th:
Audra saw the International Adoption doctor and her team at CHOP. The doctor was quite impressed by Audra's small size...even though she had already seen all of Audra's medical records with measurements from China. I was a little shocked at what I saw on the scale as well. She was 9.9kg, which is 21 pounds. When we took her to the medical exam in China they said she was 11kg, or 24 pounds. (now, I know she has NOT lost any weight since being with us...not with the way she was eating everything in China! Must have been those 4 layers of clothing plus shoes that she was wearing when they weighed her in China.) She would like Audra to see an Endocrinologist, in case she has vitamin or hormonal deficiencies that are causing her to be so small. She also wants her to see a nutritionist to help us determine to the most efficient (and safest) way to improve her nutritional status. After the appointment Audra had to have some blood drawn....ALOT of blood drawn! 8 large vials from my tiny little girl. She was such a trooper, really! She only cried a little bit when the needle went in, then she just sat still for about 5 minutes while they filled all the tubes. They are checking many things:
blood counts (because her records indicate that she is anemic),
electrolytes, vitamin levels, liver and kidney function (due to her malnutrition),
vaccine titers to see if the vaccines she received in China are actually protecting her (or maybe she needs boosters)
Lead level
Celiac panel (in case that is the cause of her poor growth)
And then the standard: TB, HIV, and Hepatitis
Exhausted after a long day at CHOP...
Friday, April 26th:
Audra went to the pediatrician today. Maura wanted to come with to "help Audra be brave". She weighed exactly the same today, 9.9kg. She had a PPD skin test placed to check for tuberculosis...again. One more PPD six months from now, then they will officially declare her TB free. It was a pretty uneventful appointment...all the eventfulness will happen at home this weekend....we need to collect 3 stool samples to check for parasites and treat her skin for scabies, just to be safe.
Monday, April 29th:
Audra woke up Saturday morning with a high fever (104). Tylenol would bring it down some (100-101) but it would shoot back up as soon as the medicine wore off. We spent most of the weekend with a hot girl asleep on our laps. Once I walked into the family room to find her like this:
Poor baby, she really felt terrible! It broke my heart to think about what happened when she was this sick in the orphanage...were the nannies able to sit and hold her and comfort her? Is she used to being comforted and cared for? She has been open to our comfort while she feels so terrible and we are happy to give her that...and hold her all day long!
Today I took her back to the pediatrician...she has strep throat. She probably picked it up at one of her appointments the end of last week. After a couple days of antibiotics she should be back to her "tornado" little self! Love snuggling with her, but hate to see her so uncomfortable and actually do miss her crazy little personality.
Shannon and Sean--Audra is such a little sweetie. So sad to see her sick and to hear your worries about how she coped when she was in the orphanage. How is she getting along with the boys and with Maura? Fun to hear that Maura wants to take care of her new sister. See you in July!
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