My favorite lady (her name is Dani) in the pre-natal program got to see a Nurse-Midwife and is getting close to delivery. I cannot explain why I like this particular lady so much; I just do. It was fun to be with her watching her get checked out by an expert. Something about her just makes me feel protective.
There is a mom in the program that is HIV positive. Today the team brought a "lab in a suitcase". Sheila told the mom to bring her whole family. They were able to test the Dad and the three kids. The results were heartbreaking and none of us wanted to believe it so before talking to them we decided to do one more test. Toward the end of the day I ran them over to a nearby lab to have the tests done again.Sitting in the waiting area with them tears rolled down my face. The gravity of it all was huge. They are such a cute family. The mom clearly loves her children. She had them all dressed up and looking good for today's appointments. I talked to the dad during our wait. He appears to be very proud of his family. He speaks of them with love in his voice. During the blood draw, the three year old girl put up the greatest fight -- it was impressive! Later when her Daddy went in for his turn she told her mom she would go sit with her dad to make sure he did not cry. :)
A few hours later we got the same results again from the second test and because it confused the Doctor - he is going to do a THIRD test. It is odd that one does not have it. Mom - positive Dad- positive Ten year old boy -- positive three year old girl -- negative new baby -- positive. Babies sometimes go negative after a number of months but it was a heavy day with very life-changing results for this family. We're hoping tomorrow that based on the third result John can talk with them and the Heartline Women's Program can attempt to walk them through the next many months and get them involved in a program that will allow them the meds they all need.
Heavy.
