About Lai Fu Tao

Our precious little girl is from Laibin City, Guangxi Province,China. She was found at a bridge when she was about a month old.She was found with only the clothes on her back - no note, no name, nothing!! Her birth date was estimated to be August 18, 2006. She was initially placed at the orphanage in her town, but was placed in foster care within a few months. She has been in foster care ever since.When Fu Tao (Fu means 'lucky or blessed' and Tao means 'peach' - very appropriate for a GA girl!) was found, she had a lump on the side of her neck. The doctors diagnosed it as a lymph cystic hygroma. Basically, this means that a portion of her lymphatic system didn't close properly in utero, and created a balloon of lymph fluid above her shoulder. From what doctor's have told me and what I have researched about it, this in itself is not a life-threatening condition. In fact, it is quite correctable. At the time we received her medical records (May 1), no surgery had been performed. Since the lump itself was not painful, they weren't going to repairi t - unless it got bigger...which it did. From what I have learned, the only way that Fu Tao's condition could be dangerous would be if it enlarged to the point where it constricted her airway. We did find out that her lump had grown to the point where they needed to perform the surgery. Fu Tao, by all acounts, did very well during the surgery. We even received photos of her before and after her surgery and she was in great spirits!! She sounds like a real trooper! In the pictures pre and post surgery, she was 8 months old and she was already standing! From what information we have received, it seems that she is meeting all of her developmental milestones dead on!! Needless to say, we can't wait to finally meet her and bring her home!!! We will be giving her the name Danielle LaiAnne (Lai is her surname - probably given to her because of the city she was found in: Laibin City).