Dear Friends .

Here is our New Update on Orlando McDonalds ( Bone Marrow Transplant )

Orlando's Family has received a heart felt directive from an amazing and brave Doctor at  Childrens Hospital in Chongquing China  who has advised  Chris and Rose  to ' Go to Canada' as soon as possible!
 
They  are coming back to Canada in the beginning of March !
Here is how this new reality evolved..

While Chris and Rose were getting Orlando and Olivia's Canadian Passports in Chongqing , Orlando was once again in  Childrens Hospital there.. 
On this particular day there was a group of touring Doctors who study the practices around China and other countries....This  group came into the room were Orlando was ...He was receiving his monthly intravenous of gamma globulins.
....These doctors were studying his charts and talking among themselves, and stayed with Orlando for quite some time.. they then  nodded goodbye and left the room.
Here a remarkable coincidence occurred...these Specialists visiting the hospital , are only there for one day very rarely and maybe only twice a year....This particular day, was Orlando's chance visitation from these Doctors..
 Chris, Rose and Olivia were in the room with Orlando when one of the doctors returned .
He spoke in both  Chinese and English to Rose and Christopher .  He said ' Please get  Orlando out of China and take him to Canada... China is three years behind in Stem Cell Replacement and Bone Marrow Transplants.'
Do not take him to Beijing for this operation, he would most likely not survive.
He said,  ' Orlando's best chance at this moment is to keep giving him monthly or weekly injections of gamma gobbulin for the interm and that in Canada there may be new medical procedures in the future., Please do not risk the operation that you have been advised upon.
This Doctor somehow chose to be completely honest and humble and advise them to leave as soon as possible and get to Cananda for the well being of their child...Wow.!
This was truly the first time that Chris and Rose felt they had been given absolutely  trustworthy advise, not that any doctor had given them untruthful advise but that this doctor was without a doubt, giving them his clearest and best possible outcome advise..
 
This was very incredible news because until now , it seemed as if the best plan was to stay in China and go to Beijing for a year, undergo chemo therapy, a bone marrow transplant, and hopeful recovery in a germ free bubble environment at the hospital.

So dear friends and family....Our little family from Kunming China  are moving permanently back to Canada, and for the time being..here to Creston...

 Last week I went to see our family doctor here in Creston , I was asking for his advice as to how he could advise me how to start the process of getting Orlando into a clinic for assessment so he could have a doctor when he arrived in Canada...we know that it will cost a lot for the first few months to get him sorted and then we know that the monthly bills would not be covered by MSP but how do we go about getting a doctor ...I had given him the 5 minute quick explanation of Orlando's rare disease and a copy of the diagnosis in Chinese and his recent blood work ..he studied the paperwork for a few minutes ...then he looked up at me and said ' Don't worry  Mary,   I will look after your grand child and together with the best specialists we have , we will attend and make sure that this little boy has the best  possible care, It may be in Calgary or Vancouver, but there are many great specialists who will be only to interested and happy to look after him.
I said.....How are you able to just accept all of the responsibility of a new complex illness when your practice is completely full and you aren't taking any more patients 
He said..."I can only  hope that if one of my children were in a similar circumstance and were desperately in need of care, that someone would do the same for a child of mine." there is nothing for you to  worry about..of course I will look after little Orlando..

I felt all of the  fear and anxiety of this horrific situation just released, it was gone, and I knew that Orlando was going to be looked after and that the  best possible  chance at life was going to be available to him..
.We are so so thankful for all of your prayers , love and energy that you have sent to our little child in Kunming, and that from this fearsome place an amazing story has emerged that has brought our family from a hugely worrisome place in far away China,  to a new beginning in Canada where they have another opportunity for home , community ,family love and support. 

Chris and Rose are expecting to leave Kunming China at the very beginning of March..
They will be leaving their Chinese family ,  a wonderful job that Christopher loved and was successful with, their home ,and Rose's truly beautiful and supportive family...It is very brave of them to take this leap of Faith , and to follow that Doctors advise to leave now, and take their child to Canada..
 

 Orlando has been diagnosed with XLA  X-linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA) is a rare genetic disorder  that affects the body's ability to fight infection. As the form of agammaglobulinemia that is X-linked, it is much more common in males. In people with XLA, the white blood cell formation process does not generate mature B cells, which manifests as a complete or near-complete lack of proteins called gamma globulins, including antibodies, in their bloodstream.    


Much love,
Chris’ family (Mary McCuaig, Joe Jakovickas, Mike McDonald,) and all those people we are privileged to call family)

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