The dreaded TB test

This morning after breakfast was the dreaded reading of the TB skin test. As you can see in the picture, I knew that Max had reacted some to his skin test. But, I didn't have anything to measure his reaction with so we were a bit unsure if he would measure as positive. He did. I had suspected this would happen since he had the BCG vaccine, but even so when it did I got a huge knot of nerves in my stomach.

For those not in the adoption community you may not understand why, so here is a brief explanation. Just this summer new rules have been put in place that all children over two years of age must have a TB skin test prior to entering the USA. If it is positive, it is followed by a chest x-ray. If this is negative, no problem. If there is any sign of active TB the child must remain in China for the entirety of the six months of treatment. At this point, Max has been adopted by us which means that one of us would need to stay here with him for six months. Clearly, this would be difficult to swing with a job and a mortgage and another child. Also, there is some uncertainty about who would pay for his treatment while he was here, but probably it would be us paying for six months of living expenses plus TB treatment out of our pockets.

Thankfully, they were able to do Max's chest x-ray right away and it was NEGATIVE!!!!! NO TB!!!!! You can bet I was in the other room scrutinizing it for any signs, but all was well. This should be the last big hurdle in this adoption. We have the rest of our paperwork and money ready to go to the American Consulate on Wednesday, but our guide doesn't expect any problems with that. We'll know for sure by 11:30am China time on Wednesday. Until then, it's more waiting. After that, it's more waiting. This is really kind of a slow week for us. That's okay, we can use some down time, but at this point we're all getting the itch to head home.