What U looking At~

Meet Ye Fu...

Well we have progressed in language enough around here to have conversations (verbal combined with body language.) I was holding Faith's baby doll, and I asked her what her baby's name was. She told me Ye Fu... that was a quick reminder that she is from China....you know sometimes we do forget :)

~Wordless Wednesday~

Loving this little girl in {PurpLe}

Wordless Wednesday!

{MRI results for Faith}

I have contemplated how and when I wanted to make this information public. The news was not ideal, but what we expected, so no surprises. She does have Agenesis of the Corpus Callossum. Basically she is completely missing the connective tissue between her left and right hemispheres. This tissue consists of several nerves that allow the left and right hemispheres to communicate to each other. The movie Rain Man was based on a true story of a man who was completely missing this part of his brain. (He also had another issue that Faith does not.) We believe she will be a high functioning person with this disability, but it is so rare there is not much information out there. We are meeting with a neurologist and an eye specialist. Most children need cataract surgery to keep their eyesight.

On a positive note, our pediatrician was completely surprised by this diagnosis. She seems very normal. I think he expected the results to come back as her being completely fine. This is a very positive sign. Some people go into adulthood not even knowing they have this disability until they have an accident, or need an MRI for other reasons, only then to discover this. So the spectrum is very wide with her outcome.

It is interesting how I have processed this information. Going into her adoption we were told she would need brain surgery. Within a few weeks we had updated information that let us know she didn't need surgery and seemed completely normal. We also knew she had a CT scan in China that diagnosed her with Agenesis of the Corpus Callossum. Since we met her, every single person that also met her confirmed their belief that she seemed normal, and wondered why she was considered special needs.

I guess in the back of my mind I quietly hoped that the CT scan in China was a mistake, that somehow miraculously this perfect little girl slipped through the cracks of the special needs program to make it to us.

Now that we know the diagnosis is valid, I feel such a strong need to protect her. I don't want her labeled. I have even found myself looking at her actions differently, thinking " Is that normal? What is normal? If I am doing it, is anyone else? Will she be under a microscope, others being extra sensitive to her actions, or reactions because they know?" This has been my only real fear of her diagnosis.

Of course we are sad, no one wants their child to struggle or suffer. It would have been nice to hear that she is completely health. Diagnosis or not we just adore her and she is perfect to us. We are excited that she is here with us, and that we can give her the best chance for a normal life that treatment can offer. We are prepared and happy and blessed that she is a part of our lives.



Thanks for your continued support, we love our support system and are grateful for you all.

Love,
Dawn

The Corpus Callosum is a bundle of nerves in the brain that connects and sends messages between the two sides of the brain. "Corpus" means a body or structure while "callosum" means a bridge. "Agenesis" means without development.

The above picture shows the Corpus Callossum. In the picture on the upper left the Corpus Callossum is completely missing, ( this is Faith's diagnosis) The upper right has a partial. The lower left is a normal MRI, and the lower right is a thin Corpus Callossum.

What a WaY to SpenD the DaY...2 Month Gotcha! MRI?

Cute little PeanUT! She had to starve all day long to get her MRI at Children's in Seattle today. Here are a few pictures of how she spent our Gotcha 2 month anniversary...she should get a new outfit for this one! She did so very well, we continue to just be amazed by her sweet spirit, and trust in us. She even held the mask over her own face to put herself under, without any restraints. It was THAT easy... we should know the result of the MRI in a week.

Wordless Wednesday!

Please pray for Garrett!

Garrett is my oldest daughter Kylee's best friend. He is smart, funny, sweet, and most of all puts God first in his life. He just got news that he will be fighting cancer. He is a tough kid, but this challenge is extra difficult because Garrett lost his father to cancer. He knows what he is in for, and I am so proud of his attitude. He knows that cancer is not for wimps and told me that he has already felt God giving him the strength to fight this. We love you G! You can follow his journey at
Garrett's Wild Adventure