7/10/09

Good news!

I have the best possible news to report: we got a call from the hospital today - Q's Hep C test came back negative. Needless to say, the relief is bigger than any words. After a week of dark days, I can't tell you how it feels to be able to look at that happy little face and not feel like crying inside.

I would be jumping and crowing with joy were it not for the fact that there are others out there who have not had good news. No report yet as to how many tests have come back positive since the screening began here in Denver, but I know that if I were one of those people (or their loved ones) consigned to a lifetime with this disease thanks to the thoughtless actions of an addict, I would want those who were luckier to show respect. So while my joy for the sake of our daughter is bigger than the universe right now, I still feel the shock of those lives that have been affected by this nightmare.

I feel really at a loss for words to express how grateful I am for the health of our happy, joyful, vigorous, loving child. Instead I'm posting this picture from our adoption week in Guangzhou. Some will recognize this as the infamous "red couch" at the White Swan hotel, where adoptive parents have their first family photo taken with their new child. Of course, we were all a little shell-shocked at this point, not least of all (I can only imagine) little Q. As new parents, no matter how well-prepared and schooled, it isn't easy to wrap your mind around the fact of having a stranger's child placed in your arms, of becoming, in the matter of an instant, a parent to a child that you did not grow in your own womb. Imagine how much more difficult to be that child, handed to a pair of strangers who look, smell and dress unlike anyone you've ever seen before, snatched from everything that is familiar to you and those people who have cared for you, and carried halfway around the world, to a place where nothing tastes, sounds, smells or looks the same. I can think of it as feeling like some sort of alien abduction.
And yet....the child in this picture, with her then-unrepaired cleft lip and palate, had just been given a second chance. Where her birth parents had been unable or unwilling to keep her, she was given a second set of parents - two people who love her more deeply than life itself, who dote on her, who can't tear their eyes away from her, whose lives revolve around her. Where she was born with a physical condition that would have made life extremely difficult for her in her own country, she was given an opportunity at the best surgereons, the best therapists, the best education. Where she had spent the first 11 months of her life flat on her back in a crib, with limited nutrition and meager resources, she now has the world at her feet - hiking, traveling, swimming, horseback riding, good food and a family who loves her profusely.
Here in this picture is a child on the brink of a second chance at life. I am so glad that, in giving her that chance, we did not inadvertently expose her to a disease that might have affected her for a lifetime.

My heart is with those who were not so lucky, and as one friend said recently, the world will always be a little darker now that we have come so close to something so nightmarish as this. It will be a challenge not to be fearful after what we've seen this past week. That said, the world will also always be a little brighter, thanks to the gift of this one child's healthy life.

17 comments:

kerri said...

So, so happy for you all...
Yes!!!!!

Kathy said...

That is beyond wonderful!!

Best Wishes to your family as you move forward from this time.

Take care and have a great weekend!

sue williams said...

You said it all...so so happy for QQ's good report. The whole thing makes us all pause and be thankful!

sue

Juliette said...

Merveilleuse nouvelle! So happy for you all guys...

Yoli said...

I am so happy for all of you. What a week. Love that photo of the three of you. I am glad your heart is joyful once more and that Q is all right.

My heart breaks for those other families. I hope the hospital and the State of Colorado take steps in dealing with this situation. What has occurred is beyond reprehensible and could have been avoidable, if entities were more accountable.

sarahthefantastic said...

Wonderful news for all of us! As Sue says, it really puts things into perspective. So I will not complain that it is two and a half hours after YY's bedtime and she is still going strong. No, indeed. I will send you lots of hugs and kisses and rejoicing and hug Miss YY a little tighter for many days to come. xoxo

Elaine said...

Oh thank goodness. I have been so worried for QQ. And so angry/sad for the other families affected. Thanks for sharing.

Stacie said...

I am just catching up on all of this. I am so happy that Q was spared. I CANNOT IMAGINE the hell you guys went thru or the hell that others are experiencing from this. I will never understand how someone could selfishly risk the lives of so many innocents. cherish that baby.

tiffany said...

This is wonderful news!

monica said...

I've been checking your blog daily and both my husband and I have been so invested in QQ's well-being and good health. We are so relieved and enraged that this incident took place. I know your sense of relief. Jasmine was scheduled to have a very difficult and risky surgery last month to repair a congenital defect that was only diagnosed after we came home. I have been fighting tears for almost 6 months, not sure if I would lose her. We were in the hospital for a day, planning to stay for 2-3 weeks, when they told us that she wouldn't need her surgery after all because she has adapted to her defect. A miracle. But during that time, we saw some very sick children, one in particular who looked to be going through chemo and we could only leave there with a mixture of bittersweet relief and immense sorrow for the suffering of others. Peace be with you. Monica

Carrie said...

I didn't know what was going on but I have been praying fo you and the Family! Very Happy to hear the good news!

Virginia said...

Wonderful news! I am so happy and relieved for you all.

Jan said...

Oh Maia,
We are so relievd to hear your good news!!!
Sadly, our hearts go out to those families not so lucky.
Sending love and hugs your way!!
Jan, John & Jillian Rose

Mamacita said...

That's wonderful news! Thank God!

Capucha said...

I'm so glad for you all, what a relief this must be !! And what a terrible terrible story for those families who have been affected...

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing...
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Anonymous said...

Wonderful news! I am so happy and relieved for you all.
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Julie
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