9/2/2008 - Tuesday

• 9/2/2008 10:00:00 PMTonsils Will Finally Come OutMichael came down with yet another sore throat today.  We scheduled an appointment for him at the local clinic.  When we got there, we didn't get to see the doctor but we did get to see the nurse practitioner.  He does not have strep throat but he definitely has something.  He says it hurts to swallow and there is something growing on his tongue again.  We asked for a referral to the ENT clinic at the hospital which she gladly gave.  
  
  I don't know how many times Michael has had throat related issues since we got him.  There are too many to count.  As I have mentioned in previous posts, Michael was treated for strep while he was in Russia.  We believe that they never knocked it all out and that it lingered in his throat for months - perhaps longer.  We are also suspecting that this may have a great deal to do with the pain he experiences in his joints.
  
  We brought him to the hospital on the appointed day and saw the doctor.  We explained some of the past issues Michael had with his throat and when he looked in Michael's mouth, he said that it appeared that Michael's tonsils had been through a war.  I'm guessing they lost the war.  There was no doubt that they needed to come out.  Regardless of whether or not they were contributing to his joint pain, this had gone on long enough and they were preventing Michael from growing and putting on weight.
  
  Michael said that while in Russia, the doctors at the hospital had him rub silver things on his neck, knees, and ankles.  "What?", I asked.  It appeared that the doctors attempted to treat him with either Magnetic therapy or some form of light radiation therapy.  The doctor was aware of such treatment and informed us that this form of radiation therapy was previously performed in the United States until it was discovered that all of the patients had later died of some form of cancer.  
  
  The goal was to basically burn the tonsils out by x-raying them to death.  We are hoping that this was not the case and that they only simply wasted their time with magnets.  We will never know.  The bottom line is that Russian medicine is about 50 years behind what we have.
  
  Yesterday (Wednesday) we brought Michael and the rest of the kids to Church for their weekday evening activities.  Michael received a sticker/tattoo that read, "Jesus is my friend".  He quickly put it on the top of his hand.  While examining Michael, the doctor noticed it and asked him, "Is Jesus your friend?".  The room got a little quiet.  Peggy and I watched the interaction between Michael and the doctor.  "Yes", he replied.  "He is my friend to.", said the doctor.
  
  Up until this time, life at our house was stressful and had been approaching critical mass.  We prayed for relief, a sign, anything.  When in Russia, we had suspected that the tonsil issue was a key piece to this puzzle.  When we first came home, a different doctor "seemed" to agree and sent us to a pediatric rheumatologist.  But when we visited the rheumatologist, he did not think this was plausible at all and quickly dismissed it as an unrelated coincidence.  
  
  Until now, we had thought this was a dead issue and that we would be left to struggle with very expensive medication for Michael's joint pain and nothing for his behavioral issues.  Hearing the doctor's words was like hearing God's voice saying, "I am here, I know what is going on, trust Me, stay the course".
  
  We scheduled the tonsil surgery for September 18.  In the mean time, Michael must stop taking his two prescriptions: Naprosyn for inflammation, and Methotrexate for arthritis.  I don't mind him taking the first one, but the Methotrexate (which was prescribed in Russia) has some very serious side effects - both immediate and long term.  In a nutshell, it stops cellular division which in theory will stop the spread of arthritis.  Incidentally, it is also used as an anti-cancer drug as well as to cause abortions when a tubal pregnancy has occured.
  
  He cannot take it because it will prevent his throat from healing after the surgery.  So we will take him off both, supplement with Tylenol and wait for the 18th.

9/1/2008 - Monday

• 9/1/2008 10:00:00 PMWe're StupidMichael came down stairs this morning with poopy underwear again.  Not sure if I mentioned this before but this is an on-going struggle with him.  It's not necessarily that he doesn't do a good job cleaning himself.  Often times he chooses to not clean himself at all.
  
  The dirty underwear, combined with his continuing to walk hunched over like an elderly man trying to milk a moving cow led to a very lengthy discussion of his behavior.  During the discussion, something interesting came out.
  
  One of the things that puzzles me the most is Michael's continued attempts to pull the wool over our eyes.  He is always attempting to deceive about something.  Often times it is the same things repeatedly.  Hair, teeth, hunger, whether he is too warm or cold or comfortable, if is room is clean, if he did his chores, what he or someone else said during a conversation, lurking, staring, eavesdropping...  We continue to confront him on these things and I asked him, "You keep trying to trick and deceive me and I keep catching you.  Do you think I am, stupid?"
  
  "Yes", he responded.
  
  Now keep in mind that there was no misunderstanding here.  Michael fully understood what I was saying to him and what I asked him.  I followed with, "Why do you think that?"
  
  "Because you don't know what I'm doing when you can't see me", he answered.  That made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
  
  Peggy continued, "Do you think all American's are stupid?"
  
  "Some of them", he said.
  
  "Why?" Peggy asked.
  
  Michael really couldn't answer that.  He mostly just stood there blurting out half sentences and ideas that had nothing to do with what we were taking about.  Perhaps in his twisted mind, his answers made sense.
  
  We reminded him of his current condition and compared that to what he was when he went and got him.  We reminded him of how his own people took care of him.  We retold the story of how people within the Russian Lighthouse helped to get him out of Russia and save him from a life of hell.
  
  Then we asked him again, "who is stupid?"
  
  He says, "Russia" but it is not with a very convincing voice.  Michael has been indoctrinated to believe that Russia, Russian people, and anything that has to do with it or them is always the first, best, biggest, and greatest.  When faced with undeniable truth, when there is no other obvious answer but the one presented, when there is no other conclusion but the one staring you directly in the face, Michael typically gives one of the following responses:
  - change the subject or ask a question regarding an unrelated topic
  - stare at you like a deer in the headlights
  - repeat exactly what you say back to you
  
  It is times like these when banging your head on a brick wall seems like it could be a good idea.