Medical Trip: Beijing

I am way behind and about to be more so, but I will try to do some quick updates.

A week ago, Marissa and I traveled to Beijing with my little blind/deaf baby, WT. We took the "fast train" to Beijing, just 5 hours from Zhengzhou (1 1/2 hour bus ride to Zhengzhou). Not a short trip but really very pleasant. WT is an easy baby, and I enjoyed the time to hold and play with him.

Our trip was facilitated by Bethel Training Center for the Blind, on the outskirts of Beijing. (www.bethelchina.org) They were just great, picking us up at the train station, allowing us to stay in their guesthouse for 2 nights, feeding us and taking us to the hospital to meet with an eye specialist that they work with.

The doctor was kind and thorough and really wonderful, even trying to pull some strings to get Wei Tao's ears checked as well. (Were not completely successful, but did get a preliminary exam.) Sadly, the doctor was very sure that WT's blindness is complete and there is no surgery that can correct it. This was not what I was hoping or expecting to hear, so it was very sad for me. The director of Bethel, however, is willing to take WT into Bethel's care when he is a little older, which I think would be wonderful for him.

A real highlight of the trip (aside from spending great one on one time with Marissa!) was touring the Bethel facility. I am always interested in seeing what others are doing in the foster care field and learning what I can. There is lots to learn! Bethel is moving from a dormitory to a small home model of care. I think there will be many challenges doing this, but am interested to hear how it goes.

Saturday morning, Marissa, WT and I returned to the train station and took the slow train back to Jiaozuo, arriving at 1:30am. I was a little concerned about getting a taxi so late at night, but hoped that since the train was arriving, some drivers would hang around for a late night fare. When we arrived at the station, I saw people running for the exit and I thought they might be running to get one of the few taxis so late at night. HA! I should not have worried. There were about 100 taxi drivers waiting at the station exit to grab people for their taxi -- it sounded like a brawl was going to start any minute. So we easily got a taxi and were home just a short bit later.