Urgent Care and ER

If everything else wasn't enough, Lucy had me running all over this weekend. I wound up with a sick little girl who is thankfully doing better now. But, we spent a nice day yesterday in the local ER having CT Scans, etc. Thankfully she slept through much of it, and is back to her normal crazy self today. I, however, have still to recover.

Neuropsych Eval

Well, we have had the evaluation about 2 weeks ago, and about 10 days ago I got the results of the testing... and have been absorbing it and thinking about it since.

Basically, Gwenn has something that is called static encepalopathy - static (not changing) brain damage. It's something that is there, it won't get better, and probably won't get worse. She has severe frontal lobe issue, which regulates a significant amount in her brain, as well as right hemisphere issues. The doctor believes that her left hemisphere is compensating where it can, but it's been a long week trying to let it sink in that what we thought were just learning issues would now be serious, life long implications. And that my daughter does have significant issues with her brain. The bummer in most of this is dealing with the fact that this most likely came from neglect in the orphanage, or abuse, but most like neglect - which isn't really neglect, it's just a lack of one on one care that can be given to the large number of kiddos in the orphanages. But, it was avoidable.

So now it's trying to find what Gwenn can do well - she is persistent, charming and wants to please everyone. And we'll balance with what really won't ever work well - she will probably never be able to manage complex tasks and lifeskills, learn more than concrete thinking (no philosophy for Gwenn, but that is probably OK), and will have many issues to overcome as she continues to mature.

I guess the good news is that I can go back to the school district - again - and remind them that Gwenn's issues are not behavioral, but rather medical as I've shared before. And I'll have more information to share with them on how Gwenn needs to be taught in school, and we'll work more closely on building an IEP that is more reasonable for her and what she can and cannot accomplish.

Next step is the school meeting - I'm working on that right now.

I think right now I'm still in a bit of denial. I'm still crying, as I should. I am sad for what Gwenn may not grow up to be, and the things that she could have accomplished. She is the same girl she was before we got the diagnosis, but now that it is in black and white and it's so concrete and final, it's been hard. I've learned to say that I have a special needs child, but now I really do have a special needs child. And it's not something that will go away in time and get better, and that has been very hard to absorb. My sense of humor is starting to come back, so that must be a good sign, but it's been a very hard week. I would have written about this sooner, but I just haven't had the energy to deal with it - or to put it in writing. That would make it too real.

Heath Ledger is dead!

OK. So, now you are going to learn something about me. I'm a huge Heath Ledger fan. Not only is he a hottie for a 28 year old, but I have enjoyed his acting in great teen and tween movies, as well as in more serious stuff like Brokeback Mountain. The NYTimes just reported his death, aparently in one of the Olsontwins apartments in NY. I'm going to have to dig into oldies such as Brokeback, 10 Things, and Knights Tale....

Ni Hao, Kai-lan

Coming soon to our local TV is "Ni Hao, Kai-lan" from our friends at Nick! With over 100,000 American students now studying Mandarin (BSD, please add to your foriegn language list!) there are many who are interested. As the producer notes, it also doesn't hurt that Americans have adopted over 60,000 children from China.... Should appear by August, 2008.

Newsweek Article: Baby corruption in China

Well, I've heard about this in the past, but Newsweek has just published an article outlining some of the issues surrounding wealth, priviledge and the one child policy in China. It's interesting that China is now considering adding additional, illegal kids to the corruption rules when dealing with party members. However, what to do with all of their new, wealthy and yuppie urbanites who have the money to defy the rules? Can China continue to police this law, and hundreds of others, when the system that they have allows for the wealthy and party members to circumvent the laws. Instead of being a party for the people, it seems that the only ones to come to the party are the political establishment and wealthy.

While I'm no fan of China's political system, it is apparent to me that this cannot last. The people will not tolerate exceptions based on the size of the bank account or political strings that can be pulled. As this issue, and any issue dealing with the wealthy v. the masses, continue to gain press and notariety, it seems that another revolution may come. It may not be bloody, but I'm curious to see how China reacts and what they will decide to do with their country in the future. They may soon be both one of the wealthiest countries, and one of the poorest countries in the world. And, I believe, they will get nowhere without a moral ground that they can stand on.

Outsourced Wombs

There is an interesting article in the NYT today about women, mostly from America, heading to India to hire surrogates to bear their children.

Am I supposed to be upset at wealthy westerners, getting the surrogacy deal of a lifetime? Do I think that they are crazy pursuing this perfected dream of reproductive motherhood? You know - those types.. they have conquered the business world so they will conquer their wombs? Excpet they are definately not conquering their wombs, they are renting space in another. But is it just for reproductive issues? What happens when a busy, wealthy woman (or couple) want a baby, but are too busy to go through the hassle of pregnancy? Is this type of surrogacy another option?

And for the women who are surrogates - are they being taken advantage of? Are their lives now controlled by these western women for whom they bear a child? What rights do they have? What if they decide they want to parent the child they bear - especially if they donate an egg? But are they just mindless wombs for rent? Or is this a fantatsic ticket out of abject poverty for them? I have to admit, if someone offered me a million or so (10-15 years salary) to bear a child for them, I'd be all over it. Why not? It could open new financial doors that weren't open before.

What really has me concerned is if these women are protected who are providing surrogacy options, what the international laws are regarding children born through surrogacy, and what happens when wombs are now rental options, like a storage unit or a cabin in upstate NY. I think I need more time to ponder this one. This is one aspect of outsourcing I did not expect.

Bill's last day?

What happens when computer nerds have too much time.




We've been enjoying these for years - some get public, like DaDaDa below, even in low quality it's still fun...