Who, I ask you, wakes up in the morning and thinks, "Hmmmm...how can I turn a profit today? I know, I'll throw some carcinogens into some baby formula and, voila!, I'll be able to afford that BMW in no time!"
Flippin' greedy weirdos in China, that's who! Not that weirdos (greedy or otherwise) aren't fully represented in all walks of life in every country in the world but those other weirdos aren't in my crosshairs at this particular moment. They did not purposely scoop bucketfulls of melamine into my baby's formula. Purposely. People, why???
After the story about the melamine contamination detected in Sanlu (among others) infant formula in China broke, I re-read Mimi's referral papers and notes from her social welfare institute director. Sure enough, that is the brand she was fed. No one really knows how long babies were chugging down toxic bottles, but since Mimi was born in 2004, it isn't a stretch to think she may be one of the children affected.
We see this amazing pediatrician who specializes in adoption medicine. I went straight to her website and read through the symptoms of melamine exposure. My hands started to sweat as I realized Mimi displays many of the tell-tale signs. I called the doctor's office, hoping I would be told I was over reacting. Instead my girl is now scheduled for a full work-up next week.
A part of me is okay with all this since it sounds like any detected problems can be corrected. Bladder and kidney stones are one of the biggest issues and laser zapping will take care of that. As for long term risk, that is the million dollar question.
Bizarrely enough, Mark and I also ingested significant amounts of carcinogens through milk when we were children. Back in Michigan in the 1970s a fire-retardant called PBB was mixed with cattle feed and widely distributed through the southeastern part of the state. No one seemed to know what to do about it and, from what I recall, we were all told to "wait and see what happens." Not especially re-assuring, though so far so good (as near as we can tell:))
Regardless, though, I'm praying we get a different response for Mimi.
1 comment:
Oh my, Kristine. I will keep Mimi in my prayers. I know of one baby boy currently in China who is suffering from sever right kidney failure from this. Honestly! What were they thinking? Whose brilliant idea was it to put melamine in a food product??
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