Thalassemia

Last week we went to the International Adoption Clinic at Rainbow's Babies and Children Hospital. Macy had nine vials of blood drawn and the usual panels were ordered. Today we received a call from the clinic letting us know that Macy has tested positive for Thalassemia. We are concerned but not panicked as we still need to better understand the severity of her case. Macy is showing signs of anemia so we are fairly certain she has more than the "trait" or "silent carrier" form of the disease but beyond that we need to complete more specific tests including dna/genetic testing. We are not entirely surprised. Although we were never provided an official thalassemia diagnosis as part of her Chinese medical report there were lab tests ordered suggesting someone in China at least suspected it. Perhaps that information was purposely withheld or perhaps the conclusion was she had a very minor form of the disease that didn't require treatment (nor mention), we will never know and frankly it didn't/doesn't matter.  (We were always open to the special need of thalassemia-even before CL/CP.) We will be scheduling follow up tests and visits soon and we're asking that you keep us in your thoughts and prayers.