Categories: uncategorized
Date: 19 May 2006 18:50:26
don't know why i've been putting off updating about this. partly as there has been nothing to tell, i suppose. i have had something for the last two weeks, but until today, there was no firm decision as to whether mrdots and i could go any further. so i guess there's always the feeling of not wanting to vocalise (texturalise) about things too soon, until something is definate.
two weeks ago my neuro (nice dr.) Cc-ed to us the letter he wrote about me to the Independent Medical Advisor (IMA henceforth). he didn't have to do that, but i'm sure he wanted to allay some of the anxiety we were feeling about being kept on hold and in the dark so long while someone we had never met got on with making major decisions about our future. I like my neuro. he's a fair man.
"...Unfortunately, I can confirm here that there is a secure diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. I shall answer the questions that you have set out in turn...Prognosis for multiple sclerosis is notoriously difficult to predict for an individual. It is believed that even fifteen years after the diagnosis or clinically definite multiple sclerosis that at least 50% of patients will be independently mobile and self-caring....
"...She has no significant disability i.e. when I last saw her there were no
significant neurological deficits and she was thus "neurologically intact" [editors note: what a great line, i love it! i could use it on my CV or something "motivated and neurologically intact 30 yr old woman seeks employment" and wouldn't it make a great chat up line? "hey wanna go back to my place? don't worry, i'm neurologically intact." LOL!!].
"...As is not uncommon in more benign variants of multiple sclerosis, patients maybe predominantly troubled by symptoms such as fatigue and sensory disturbance. Patients with such symptoms often learn to function quite well day-to-day..."
[editor's note:this is probably the most important part of his whole letter]
"...I do not think that there would be anything specifically related to her multiple sclerosis that would preclude her from looking after a baby or child...I am not aware of any other aspect of [her] healthcare that would adversely affect her suitability for adoption."
"...In short, although this patient unfortunately does have a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, she has no significant neurological deficit and At the inevitable caveats about the difficulty of predicting a prognosis for an individual, I would see no clear reason from the point of view of her neurological condition that she should not be considered for adoption."
well it somehow took the IMA over two weeks after receiving that letter to finally tell our adoption agency that yes, we are allowed to carry on with the social work assessment now. (YAY!) personally, i can't see what was so difficult with that decision and that letter. i mean even if i didn't know me and my suitability before reading that letter, there's no way that any official could read dr. neuro's letter and come up with any reason why i would be an unsuitable parent for an adopted child!
at least not without getting referred to the disability rights commission.