The other day, when I had to bring Khalil to the doctor's office to have a chest x-ray taken, a man approached me as I was checking Khalil in.
"Is your son Ethiopian?" The man asked with excitement.
I told him that my son was in fact Ethiopian, and the man went on to tell me that he is Ethiopian too. We weren't at an international clinic or anything, so it was quite exciting to find another Ethiopian. Ever since falling in love with adoption, I also fell in love with all things Ethiopia. It turns out this man is from the VERY same region that Nur is from. Amazing!
The man then started speaking Amharic, Nur's first language to him. Nur's eyes got really large. It was the cutest thing ever. The man said something in Amharic to Nur, and then Nur started giving the man high-five.
The man looked at me and with pure joy said, "I just told him to give me high-five!"
It was a wonderful encounter, and as we get more settled, I look forward to other opportunities to aquaint ourselves with more of Ethiopia right here in our city.
And speaking of the chest x-ray, I think I mentioned it was all clear. And what that tells us, is that Nurdoes NOT have TB. Wonderful news. However, his doctor called me a couple days later, and although Nur doesn't have TB, his doctor is still concerned that his blood test was positive for exposure, and wants to treat him anyway.
Of course I agree. Treating him means that he will hopefully never get TB, which is a very serious disease. But the treatment. Antibiotics for 9 MONTHS. Yes, you read that correctly, 9 MONTHS. And because of his extended stay on antibiotics, he will need to get his liver checked monthly.
I would do anything for that son of mine, and hopefully he tolerates the meds very well.
9 comments:
Aw, that is such a neat story about meeting the Ethiopian man!! Love it :)
I'm sorry Khalil has to be on antibiotics for so long - praying that there are no side effects or difficulties with that!
That is a super cool story and makes me smile, especially that Khalil gave him high five!
Hate that you have to give him those antibiotics for so long, but hey, if he ends up going into the medical field, then he won't have to do it when he's older :)
Super cool running into someone who could communicate so nicely with Khalil. I bet that really excited little Khalil to be in a somewhat new environment and then hear something so familiar. Very sweet.
What an amazing experience!
Such a cool encounter!
:( Sorry to hear about 9 months of antibiotics. Yuck for both of you! Hope he does well. Sending up a prayer.
That's great about meeting the man about Ethiopia. How cool!
Sorry to hear that he has bee on antibiotics for so long, but I'm glad he's doing well otherwise!
That is really neat about the Ethiopian man...wow! God definitely had a part in that. :)
Can't imagine the poor boy being on antibiotics for 9 months. :( The poor thing
What a touching story Leah! I find it truly amazing how relationships are formed with people we have things in common with and they seem to come into our lives at just the right moment and make us smile. :) A neat memory you have of that kind gentleman to share with Khalil forever!
Nine months of antibiotics? Wow! Better to err on the side of caution though just to be safe.
One of our boys is on the same antibiotic. He hates the taste so we hide it in chocolate milk or yogurt. I will also warn you, it gives him really bad diarrhea so we limit our afternoon activities to those close to home. No fun but absolutely worth preventing TB.
Love that you ran into someone who could speak Amharic to him! High fives all around!
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