Praise be.
This morning we (Guillaume, Sarah, Jamie--who just arrived yesterday and arranged an appointment through a relative, a nanny, and I) went to the hospital to pick up Chun Yu. Li Xue met us there. We had no problems checking Chun Yu out. We had lunch and went to Tiantan hospital, which looked more like a train station than a hospital because of how crowded it was and how the windows were shaped like ticket offices. We talked to several doctors who were intrigued by the fact we're all from a foster home for the blind. They at first thought Chun Yu's problem was a cyst, but once they did a CT scan, they found out it was indeed a tumor resting on her optic nerve, 4-5 cm across.
They offered a rather pessimistic diagnosis of the situation. There were two options: 1) perform a high-risk surgery to cut out the tumor, 2) extract the tumor through a needle and give her drugs to kill the harmful cells. Both of them would not get rid of the tumor permanently, there would definitely be recurrence, and there was a slim chance of recovering normal brain development and a 0% chance of recovering vision. The situation looked pretty grim. The doctor said we could go to the Navy hospital to explore the 2nd option, since Tiantan is only specialized with the 1st option.
We went to the Navy hospital, and Guillaume, Sarah, and Li Xue went into a room to speak with a doctor. Turns out this doctor was very optimistic, totally different attitude than the Tiantan doctors.
Chun Yu can stay in the Navy hospital starting tomorrow; Li Xue, a nanny, and I will go to the hospital to check her in and handle the paperwork and deposit.
She will have the needle procedure done starting on Friday, and they will spread out the procedure over four or five days to prevent hemorrhaging. She'll be done in 7-10 days and can come back to Bethel.
The tumor will grow back, but it's inevitable no matter what procedure we choose; we just have to deal with the recurrence when the time comes. The doctor is hopeful that her brain can develop normally and maybe her vision will come back (slim chance though) once the tumor is removed.
Hopefully she will be back at Bethel or the procedure will be done at least by the time my mom and sister come to Beijing.
I'm so thankful that the news from the new hospital is good. I hope everything continues to go well.
This morning we (Guillaume, Sarah, Jamie--who just arrived yesterday and arranged an appointment through a relative, a nanny, and I) went to the hospital to pick up Chun Yu. Li Xue met us there. We had no problems checking Chun Yu out. We had lunch and went to Tiantan hospital, which looked more like a train station than a hospital because of how crowded it was and how the windows were shaped like ticket offices. We talked to several doctors who were intrigued by the fact we're all from a foster home for the blind. They at first thought Chun Yu's problem was a cyst, but once they did a CT scan, they found out it was indeed a tumor resting on her optic nerve, 4-5 cm across.
They offered a rather pessimistic diagnosis of the situation. There were two options: 1) perform a high-risk surgery to cut out the tumor, 2) extract the tumor through a needle and give her drugs to kill the harmful cells. Both of them would not get rid of the tumor permanently, there would definitely be recurrence, and there was a slim chance of recovering normal brain development and a 0% chance of recovering vision. The situation looked pretty grim. The doctor said we could go to the Navy hospital to explore the 2nd option, since Tiantan is only specialized with the 1st option.
We went to the Navy hospital, and Guillaume, Sarah, and Li Xue went into a room to speak with a doctor. Turns out this doctor was very optimistic, totally different attitude than the Tiantan doctors.
Chun Yu can stay in the Navy hospital starting tomorrow; Li Xue, a nanny, and I will go to the hospital to check her in and handle the paperwork and deposit.
She will have the needle procedure done starting on Friday, and they will spread out the procedure over four or five days to prevent hemorrhaging. She'll be done in 7-10 days and can come back to Bethel.
The tumor will grow back, but it's inevitable no matter what procedure we choose; we just have to deal with the recurrence when the time comes. The doctor is hopeful that her brain can develop normally and maybe her vision will come back (slim chance though) once the tumor is removed.
Hopefully she will be back at Bethel or the procedure will be done at least by the time my mom and sister come to Beijing.
I'm so thankful that the news from the new hospital is good. I hope everything continues to go well.
posted by Ann Chao at 6:10 AM
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