Prior blog on this subject is located here. I saw an article last week, which flashed me back to November 2004 when my daughter was diagnosed with Dyslexia.

I was enraged that my daughter had to endure some really sucky life experiences... because of her language based learning disability (dyslexia). It wasn't something that she could make better by trying harder.

I was angry with myself and... more

Picture: Natasha (my darling daughter) June 2006. Her eyes are grey. You may be thinking they are blue, but trust me. They really are grey.

I recently traveled back in time with an article titled Discovering Language Disorder in our daughter. It discuss the signs of a language based learning disorder. The author, Carolyn, mentions one of my favorite books; Overcoming... more

Picture: My darling Natasha showing off her teeth in 2001.

I realized that I left something out in Dental Health with PI Kids blog. The article below reminded me.

I told a story about a Ukrainian adopted child who was terrified of the dentist. She was scared because she was forced (while living in her Ukrainian orphanage) to watch a tooth being pulled out of another child's mouth. This was a "lesson". "See what happens to children who don't brush their... more

I have heard some gruesome stories about dental issues with children coming from Eastern European orphanages. I am not claiming these are common experiences. At one orphanage children were forced to watch another child have a tooth removed. This was to teach them to brush their teeth. At least one child found the experience traumatic to watch because of the blood and crying.

When this child was adopted she was out-of-her-mind terrified of dentists. And the child had cavities.

Can you image a worst combination? A child just adopted and needs medical care. She is petrified... more

Part 1 is here.

Here is the rest of my 2002 email on why I was open to adopting a child with Hepatitis.

Here is quote about Hepatitis treatment. [I checked and this link doesn't exist anymore.]

Early diagnosis and treatment are crucially important. While there is no guaranteed cure for chronic hepatitis B or C, a significant percentage of people who are treated improve.

From: http://www.hepatitisinnovations.com/treat/index.html

Personally I thought it was worth... more

I adopted my darling daughter Natasha in 2000. Prior to adopting I researched the many medical, emotional issues that are commonly found in orphanage children.

(If you have decided to adopt from Ukraine, I would suggest your next step is to investigate the various medical issues.)

I decided to be open to Hepatitis along with items like crossed eyes, developmental delay (everyone has to be open to this one), cleft palette. I had a longer list that I will have to hunt up.

Anyway, this blog is about why I was willing to be open to a Hepatitis diagnosis. Here is a 2002 email that I exchanged.

Here are my thoughts. I am not a doctor.

Yes I... more

I found an old journal entry about my darling Natasha. She had been home for 1.5 years when I wrote the following. I was looking back at the first 4 months home.

The picture is Natasha standing front of some Azaleas. She had been home 4 months when this was taken.

Notice the position of her hands. When she is nervous she holds her hands. When she is stressed she chews on her fingertips/nails.

=========================

The first 4 months were the worst emotionally for my darling daughter and me. She was 3.5 years old but developmentally... more

I couldn't afford to pay for my darling daughter's occupational therapy for sensory integration disorder (SID). It wasn't covered by insurance, so I had to pay 100% out of my pocket.

Before I made an appointment for my daughter to be screened for SID, I asked to speak to the occupational therapist (OT). I explain my financial situation. I couldn’t pay the 100+ per hour for months. So we came up with a plan together. If... more

The women who wrote this article lives in Washington DC and is getting ready to move to Poland.

However many times I had to say it, the words never sounded natural. "What does your husband do?" the nice woman in the carpool line or the pleasant man at the cocktail party would ask, and I'd try to toss it off lightly: "Well, actually, he's the defense minister of Poland."

Then the nice woman or the pleasant man would look at me slightly cross-eyed, trying to guess whether I was serious. After they had worked out that I was indeed completely... more

I recently served ant pancakes to my daughter and her friend. I really wish that I had taken a photo, but I was too busy cleaning up. In other words I wasn’t in the moment enjoying the strangeness of ant pancakes.

I was living in the future of

My daughter had GW her BFFFFFFF* sleep over. And the following morning I was serving a full breakfast with pancakes, eggs, bacon and toast. I served the food and forgot the syrup. So I went to the pantry and got the syrup bottle. I handed it... more