Medical Exam

Yesterday was Thomas' medical exam. Pretty much a waste of time in terms of comprehensiveness. We were ushered in with a man who I suppose was a doctor and even looked like what I would expect to be a stereotypical Chinese doctor. He seemed bored and had a newspaper he was reading and looked put out to be wasting his time to do the exam. He briefly listened to Thomas' heart and lungs and then had me lay him down while he looked Thomas over head to toe and had me answer some questions about if he has been ill or had a fever. Then at the next station he was weighed, measured and his temperature was taken. The nurse said, "no fever". This whole time Thomas is scared, screaming and crying. His first real cry. As his new mom it's my job to hold him, comfort him, while everyone else is in the waiting room. Mom's get the tough jobs. We waited a few minutes for the next station, where a woman checked his hearing by ringing a bell behind his head and looked in his ears, she shined a light to see if he would follow it with his eyes, and looked in his mouth. Finally, was the TB skin test. I chose to get the rest of his vaccinations in the US and hopefully get titers so I can limit the shots to what he really needs. Helen shoved some candy into Thomas' hands and then it took me, Helen, and the nurse to hold Thomas to get the subcutaneous shot of tuberculin. The nurse told Helen that a little bleeding was normal and I said, "I know, I'm a nurse". The nurse smiled. Tomorrow, we go back to get it read. So far, no reaction which is good because I have read of children testing positive who have been adopted from China. It's also mom's job to get a picture of the nurses tomorrow because they all wear white jumpers and white hats so I can show everyone at work.

After leaving the clinic we opted to walk around Shamian Island and over to the park. It was super hot, by the time we got to the park I could hardly hold Thomas due to being sweaty and slippery. Thomas was still traumatized and only went down the slide once but was watching the other children. Samian Island was where the French and British lived during the opium wars and until recently was where a lot of foreign consulates were located. It's been the traditional place to stay for people who adopt Chinese children.

Today was our free day. We slept in about and hour before going to breakfast. Then, because John and I didn't sleep well on the hard bed we took turns catching some additional zzz's. While John napped, Mom, Grama, and I found the hotel's playroom. Thomas enjoyed playing with the Hello Kitty kitchenette putting things in and out of the oven. Afterward, I left Thomas with mom and Grama while John and I got out and walked around the block. We found a place where we want to go to dinner. It's called Sabah, Malaysian cuisine. I'll let you know if it's good.

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