Making God's Heart Visible: Medical Exam Day

Day 12

What a lovely start to our day! First, it was dark in our room. The air conditioning works, so we actually slept last night.   Sleep helps a lot. And...we didn't waken to the prayer call from the mosque like we did in Taiyuan.

Breakfast here was a huge buffet that had Chinese foods, and western foods.   While I have loved steamed buns with meat and stir fried cabbbage, zucchini, carrots, and noodles for breakfast, this morning I enjoyed scrambled eggs, watermelon, and a cinnamon roll. Not only was the food really good, the hotel has a special room in the dining area for adoptive families.   We got to be in there with lots of other families in the same situation. It was so nice not to be stared at the entire meal...and to talk to people!

One family did stare just a little. But, they stopped and asked if we had adopted from New Day. They recognized Claire. They had prayed and prayed for her while she was so sick. It was an emotional moment for that mom to see our little girl enjoying her breakfast and looking so happy.

Claire has been quite confused by the families with Chinese children who were adopted a few years ago. She doesn't know what to make of these kids who look so much like her, but who speak and act so differently. She tried hanging out with a couple of the girls in our group today, but they soon asked me to get her because she was bugging them. Her developmental delays make her behave like a child much younger than she is and these girls weren't up to tolerating that difference.

After being on our own for the last week or so, it is weird to have to go in groups. Simon, our coordinator here, had a bus ready to take our group for the medical exam. This isn't a fun event.   The waiting area is packed with adoptive families from lots of agencies. You move like cattle from one exam area to another as the Chinese doctors mark off their part of the paperwork. Claire passed the ear, nose and throat exam with flying colors.   Then we had to do an eye exam.   She totally refused to do the distance chart. On the colorblind chart, they asked her to trace the shapes with her finger. She can't make her finger do that. She has tried all week to trace letters, but she always goes backward. They wrote down that she is colorblind even though she clearly said, in English, that she saw the circle and the triangle shapes.

Things got worse in the last exam room. Claire would not answer any of the doctors questions. Then, the doctor looked at all her scars. Our coordinator had gone to help someone else and the doctor was trying to find out what was there, but we couldn't communicate well.   She tried to get Claire to count to 5 in Chinese. She wouldn't. She counted to 20 in English when we were going up steps today, but that doesn't count.

When Simon got there, I explained the scars from her surgery. I also said the mental delays were because she had limited education because of spending so much time in the hospital. The doctor was still concerned about this. Finally we got Claire to talk about brushing her teeth, brushing her hair and putting her shoes on in English. She named the colors of several items in the room and named the numbers on the measuring tape. The doctor was finally convinced that she was smart enough to be adopted.
Then came the worse challenge. The medical records say she has a heart problem, but that problem is gone. God healed her, but the records don't indicate that. The doctor didn't like the discrepancy.

Finally, we were able to show her the list of meds that Claire is taking and explain that all her medical issues were "resolved" so she could be free to sign the okay for immigration.

For a few moments there, I thought I was not going to be allowed to leave with my little girl. Get back, tears. Such emotions aren't appropriate in very crowded waiting rooms.

Finally, Simon told us that the doctor agreed to sign a favorable report. Such relief. Getting the TB stick didn't seem like a big deal at all.

After everyone was finished we took a brief tour of the area of Guangzhou that China created for the Asian Olympics. It is incredibly beautiful, but today there was a heat index of around 105 so it wasn't comfortable. Claire kept wondering off and fighting with us if we tried to hold her hands. Once she sat down next to a baby in a stroller and took his shoes off!

Once back at our hotel, she settled back into being friendly with us. We went out for noodles, but the noodles here are disgusting com paired to the excellent ones in Taiyuan.

Kelly had to go to a paperwork meeting this afternoon, so Claire and I hung out and played til he got back. Then we went to Trust Mart (Chinese Walmart) and picked out some snacks, some puzzles and some sticker books. It takes lots of stuff to keep a little girl happy in a hotel room for a couple of weeks.

For supper, we went to a Mexican restaurant. Claire didn't care for spicy things, but ate the rice and beans.

She wet herself again on the way back to the hotel. So thankful for pull ups. When you are away from home, it is so hard to find a toilet when you need one in 5 minutes or less.

Today we met people from Australia, Israel, Great Britain, Japan, and Kenya. It is fun to be in an international hotel.

We had planned to take Claire swimming this evening, but they said we can't go in the pool until after her TB test is read on Tuesday. So, I turned on the rain shower in our bathroom and let her play in there with an umbrella. She thinks I'm a bit crazy, but her giggles make me think she is having fun.

So tired again tonight. I love China, but I'm ready to be home where I can fix my own food and control my own schedule. Only a few more days as we wait for Claire's immigration paperwork to process.

Thank you to all the friends praying for us. Only God's grace will carry us through these last few days when we are starting to feel so worn out. Kelly has a bad cold which doesn't help.

Here are a few pics from today: