Current Events Update

 We feel it is time to update you all on our current situation and it's effects on our adoption. On
April 18th, 2016 Tait was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. We were immediately admitted to Primary Children's Hospital where we would spend the next four weeks as Tait would go through Induction, the first phase of chemotherapy treatment. While we were in the hospital I contacted our adoption agency to let them know about the situation. They suggested that I write a letter to the Ministry of the country where our daughter was to explain our situation and the possible length of Tait's treatment and how it might affect our ability to meet deadlines. I also expressed our desire to continue with the adoption as we feel so strongly that we are connected with this little girl and that we would do what we could to continue with the progress of the adoption should they deem it admissible. We waited two weeks for a response. When we finally heard from them it was not what we were hoping to hear. They felt very strongly that we should focus on our child and the matter at hand and that they would be relisting her. However, if we were to find ourselves in a position to complete our adoption (completed paperwork, funds paid and able to travel) and she were still available, we would still be allowed to continue with the adoption. To say we were heartsick would be an understatement. Our adoption agency offered their support and will either hold our funds submitted until we are ready to adopt but would also support our decision to continue the process at whatever pace we were able and hope that our daughter would still be waiting for us.

 Tait completed his induction and achieved the objective of "remission" at the end of the first 28 days. For this we are grateful. This does not mean that he is out of the woods yet, only that he is where he needs to be to continue treatment at a lower risk than had he not achieved remission. Tait is currently in the Consolidation Phase of treatment. He still gets chemo daily and lumbar punctures and has to be seen weekly at Primary's in Salt Lake. He has been anemic and has had blood transfusions. He has side effects to the chemo but so far they have been relatively mild. This phase takes a couple of months. When he completes this phase he will go into Maintenance Phase which is less intensive but lasts a couple of years.

 So where does this leave us and our journey of A Sister For Tait? We are continuing to work as diligently as we can on our paperwork. We will continue to hold out hope that Tait's sister will be waiting for us. We will continue to be positive about Tait's diagnosis and hope for no complications in his treatment.

 We hope you will continue to follow and support us in this journey. We would love your prayers, positive energy and continued support both emotionally and (if you are in a position) financially. We appreciate your concern as we have noticed countless visits to our site. We will try to keep you updated of our progress from this point on.