First, Addison. She is now 9 months old and thanks to two visiting families, we are excited to report that she is the healthiest that we have seen her (Thank you Teresa and Karla!!!). Thank God! I don't know what has changed or what they are feeding her but she has skyrocketed from the 3% or below to the 50% for her weight. She still has serious developmental delays but I know that those will be overcome once we get her home. You will see in the picture that she is now bald, and not just her but the rest of the babies in her room too. This is not uncommon due to problems with lice, hygiene, ect... She is also apparently quiet social with lots of smiles, "talking" and even laughing which we were so happy to hear about. We have some videos coming our way and I can't wait to see it for myself. What a relief to see her looking so good!
Next the Kyrgyz side of things. The holidays came and went without any good news from Kyrgyzstan. That was not surprising because we had been warned that all would be quiet due to the holidays, but that by mid January we should see progress. The Kyrygz Ambassador met with the Kyrygz President in December and we were assured that adoptions would continue and that the pending cases would be processed on return from the Holidays. Of course, true to form, those letters still have yet to be signed. The good news, we think, is that as of January 23, the MOE and the Deputy MOE were relieved of their duties. Our hope is that with new leadership, and hopefully compassionate leadership, that we will see the pending adoptions finally be processed. Before the 23rd, I had resigned myself to the fact that there was a very, very good chance that we would never see Addison come home. Although I fear that the roller coaster ride is far from over at least now, there is some hope.
As for my last six weeks, I have been very busy trying to advocate for the medical needs of the orphans who's health conditions are continuing to deteriorate. To date, I have written over 30 letters to the powers that be including our Senators, Congressman, Department of State, the US Consulate in Bishkek, the Kyrygz Ambassador to the US, UNICEF, JCICS, CCAI and several congressional staffers for the Foreign Affairs committee and Human Rights committee. The responses have been few and far between however, I feel like I am slowly making an impact. I have gotten a lot more attention now that I am writing the letters as a pediatrician, on behalf of all of the waiting children, than I did when I was writing as a worried parent. The orphans, both those with parents waiting and those that are not eligible for adoption, are suffering due to overcrowding and the lack of personnel and resources to care for them. This is absolutely heart breaking so even if nothing comes of my efforts, at least I will feel like I did what I could for Addison and the rest of these precious children. Many of these orphans have truly become my patients and I can only imagine the relief I will feel as I see them come home and thrive in the loving arms of their new families. Now, I just have to keep praying and have faith that this journey will not be for naught and that we will be rewarded with children that will forever enrich our lives.
