outpatients

In the month-and-a-half that we've been home (only that long, really?), we've introduced the kids to many of the wonders of life in America. The one that has remained unappreciated in their minds - maybe because of all the shots they had to get - but that continues to amaze me, is healthcare.

If you put all of your fights with your insurance provider out of your mind...
If you forget about the cost and the nagging feeling that somewhere, somehow you're being overcharged...
If you refuse to dwell on the most recent medical malpractice lawsuit that you've read in the news...

Get all of that out of your head because it just muddies the waters. If you take a minute to think about how fortunate we are, especially when you realize that all of these things are beyond most of the world's imagination, it will make your head explode. We have some of the most highly trained medical teams on the planet within driving distance (DRIVING distance, people!), and if you go to their office for your ache or pain, they will treat you. And 99.9% of the time, you will get better. Their instruments are clean, their treatment rooms are clean, their hands are clean. And they probably even have a few toys and magazines in the waiting room...just in case you have to wait for more than 15 minutes to be called in.

Can you wrap your head around that? I never thought about it before, but now I can hardly believe it. It's incredible.




....so that's not really what I am here to write about, but it completely overwhelmed me as I took the kids to their appointments these past few weeks. This simple setting, and just how different medical care would look for them in another part of the world (if they were able to get any), so blew me away that I had to mention it.

So our city has an international adoption clinic where you can bring your children for check-ups once they come home. The doctor tests them on everything from where they are in their learning/development to what immunizations they need to whether they have certain blood diseases/parasites (ew). It is so cool.

During our visit, here are a few things that we learned:

Ibra
- He is 25% in height and weight (which, if you have seen him next to the other little boys in Sunday school, is hardly a surprise)


Sumaya
- She is 25% in weight and 80% in height (tall and skinny)
- Her gross motor skills are that of a 4.5 year old (I had no idea that hopping on one foot is such a big deal), and her fine motor skills are that of a 3.5 year old (drawing circles is also a big deal)

Both of them have advanced language skills, and the doctor was impressed with how well they tested. It's really a testament to the love and care that they received in their children's homes because often, when children have spent a significant amount of time living in an institution, they initially test lower than their peers.

The other thing that we learned is that since we have no immunization records, our sweet babies got to start out with a clean slate...meaning that in addition to the blood work that they would have later in the visit, they needed 12 immunizations (mercifully given to them through 5 injections). As heart-wrenching as it was to physically hold one down so that a nurse can give him shots in his arm and to see our other baby limp for the rest of the day because her legs hurt from the shots, it was much remedied by a visit to Chick-fil-A and getting to watch "Cars" for the rest of the afternoon.

Since then, we have also taken Ibra to get his eyes checked by twice. The general consensus is that it's nothing more than, for lack of a better term, an eye freckle. Yay!

All we need to do now is get in a trip to the dentist, and we'll be set!