Adoption Update- Finding the right doctor

I want to say thanks to all of you who have offered words of support about Belane, whether it was by comment on this blog or by email. We truly appreciate the support of so many of you and it means so much to me. This picture was taken a few months ago by some volunteers from NY who were working at AHOPE. I love the dress! (I think she is quite girlie, as I have yet to get a picture of her in pants or shorts…only dresses!)

I wanted to share a recent great experience we had regarding Belane’s adoption. One of my biggest worries has been finding the right doctor to treat her. When Marcus was struggling as a young baby, finding a good doctor was a nightmare. Now, I don’t mean that the doctors we saw weren’t well-educated or “good” doctors in their own way, but trying to find someone to listen to me as a mom, and “look outside the box” at what might be wrong with my baby, was really tough. I wanted a doctor who was knowledgeable, confident, well-educated, experienced, friendly and devoted, as well as willing to consult with other professionals when they didn’t know something, to be willing to listen to a mother’s input and to really care about my child as an individual, no matter how many other children he or she took care of.

We eventually found the right doctor for Marcus, but like I said, it wasn’t easy. I have been worried about going through that all over for Belane. We know she will need a doctor that is both excellent from a medical standpoint and a personal one, because she has many, many appointments in her future. I worried about finding someone in our area with experience treating children with HIV, and I worried about how a doctor might react to a family purposely adopting an HIV+ child.

I had spoken with some wonderful people at St. Judes and we’ve been contemplating having her treated there, but I also wanted to find out what was available closer to home. I did some research on our closest major children’s hospital and found the list of their “pediatric infectious disease” doctors. After some research, I found that one of the doctors was actually from Africa himself, and also regularly taught seminars on common medical issues with internationally adopted children. I thought it must be too good to be true, but I emailed him with some basic information about Belane, and how we needed a doctor when she came home, and that we also needed a doctor who would be willing to write a letter and sign a form for her immigration paperwork.

Well, within 20 minutes I had an email back from this doctor saying he would be “more than happy” to be Belane’s doctor. He gave me his number and a good time to call him, and when I got off the phone I felt like jumping up and down. We found a doctor that is highly experienced in treating children with HIV (and was extremely optimistic about her future and supportive of our decision to adopt an HIV+ child), is actually from Africa, is an expert of the medical aspects of international adoption, personally understands what a headache the US immigration process can be, and is willing to do the paperwork we need asap for Belane’s visa. He was easy to get into contact with and encouraged me to keep in contact, and was extremely personable even though my child isn’t even technically his patient yet. I’ve already been in contact with one of his other colleagues (who is the Chief of Ped. Infec. Dis. at the hospital), who was also very supportive of us and has a reputation of being a wonderful doctor.

I can’t even tell you what a relief it is to know that we have found doctors ready to care for Belane who are both experienced and compassionate. I get so used to things being a struggle sometimes, that it is a genuine nice surprise when they fall into place so easily.

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