We had the opportunity to taking care of baby Claire for the month of July while the Curtis' (her foster family) were in the states. She is such a sweet baby and it was a joy to take care of her!!
She had some health challenges. When she first came to our home, she had a little cough. Her cough had increased and she rattled in her chest when she coughed. Connie and I took her to the doctor and we were glad that we did. The doctor told us that she had the start of Bronchitis and that we should take her to the hospital that night and if not take her first thing Thursday morning. We coordinated with the orphanage and we took her to the hospital the next morning.
She had some health challenges. When she first came to our home, she had a little cough. Her cough had increased and she rattled in her chest when she coughed. Connie and I took her to the doctor and we were glad that we did. The doctor told us that she had the start of Bronchitis and that we should take her to the hospital that night and if not take her first thing Thursday morning. We coordinated with the orphanage and we took her to the hospital the next morning.
Mom took Claire to the hospital the next morning. We were able
to get in for Claire to see a very, very good doctor. This doctor is the head pediatrician of
Shanghai Children’s Hospital, had been a head pediatrician for an international
hospital and is just very, very good.
She was worried about Claire and said that she did have at least
Bronchitis and perhaps Aspirated Pneumonia.
They admitted Claire and put her in the NICU area for close watch and
care. The doctor was concerned about her
low weight and how that is all compounded with her deformity. They are gave her a feeding tube
to try to help get her weight up.
At this point, her weight is so, so low that she doesn’t qualify for surgery to fix the cleft palate AND without the surgery she is at such risk for becoming ill again with the same problem. Her physical disability causes her to cough while eating AND to aspirate milk which then turns into pneumonia. She really, really, needs to get her weight up.
In China, when you go to the hospital, you are there at least a week. One week later we were able to go to the hospital and pick her up. This was my first experience with a Chinese hospital. Lots of fun!!
At this point, her weight is so, so low that she doesn’t qualify for surgery to fix the cleft palate AND without the surgery she is at such risk for becoming ill again with the same problem. Her physical disability causes her to cough while eating AND to aspirate milk which then turns into pneumonia. She really, really, needs to get her weight up.
In China, when you go to the hospital, you are there at least a week. One week later we were able to go to the hospital and pick her up. This was my first experience with a Chinese hospital. Lots of fun!!
.JPG) |
| Meghan's girls with Claire |
.JPG) |
| Ready to come home |
.JPG)
It was a joy to have her in our home. We watched her grow! She was holding her head up stronger, her legs got stronger, and her excema disappeared.
Pictures taken by the Curtis' family.
 |
| So little! |
No comments:
Post a Comment