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The GOOD news is that we are now married.  We were planning on marrying next month (nearer our 90 days that I promised I would use)but circumstances have dictated that we needed to marry last Friday.  Sometimes extreme circumstances do call for extreme measures.  We married in my sisters home with about 15 family members attending.  My sister and female cousins helped pull it all together and it really was very nice.  I would like to post some photos but with things the way they are right now, it might take a while.  Not exactly what I had planned, but life has a way of just kind of happening ya know?
Went to Vegas for a long weekend, stayed in Mandalay Bay, one of my favorite hotels.  23rd floor, complete view of the entire strip, it was truly an amazing view.  She couldn't believe Vegas!  We had a very nice and much needed time away to prepare for the coming storm..

The BAD news is that when they got here, I thought it would be a good idea for both of them to get full physicals, even though they had them in Kiev for the interview.  I bought them their own health ins policies (something I highly recommend).  
Everything was fine until about a week and a half ago when the clinics' radiologist said he thought that there might possibly be a very small spot on the boys lung but he wasn't sure.  Thought it might have been some active Tuberculosis or something.  We ended up getting a full chest cat scan and again checked his original blood test.  Talked to the infectious diseases folks and they didn't think TB, given his blood work etc..  But the cat scan pretty clearly showed that he appears to have a small lung tumor.  They say it has not "metastasized" (spelling) and that whatever it is it seems to be "encapsulated" i.e. well contained.  But rather than do a biopsy, they said benign or not, it has to come out.  The consult with the surgeon is tomorrow and surgery is scheduled for Thursday.  I don't know at this point if this means cracking his ribs to go in or going in between some back ribs.  I'll find out tomorrow.  Swell way for a really good little seven year old Ukrainian boy to be introduced to America..  The surgeon and the facility "Primary Childrens Hospital" are probably the best in about a five State area for Children.

So got married last friday to make sure that they were both covered under my insurance through my work which is better than the private policies I set them up with when they got here.  No waiting period, no pre-existing conditions etc..  So whatever his own little policy doesn't cover or they deny, my insurance will pay at 100 percent, which certainly is helpful.  Talked with both insurance companies for about 3 hours today.. talk about fun.. I had a root canal that I enjoyed more.

Some might ask if she had any hint of this before coming here and I can say with all certainty, no.  Her doctor there never picked anything up, the docs in Kiev never picked it up, nor did our own pediatrician.  It was at a team consult that their radiologist who happened to see the x-ray that thought there might possibly be something, but wasn't sure.  
She hasn't told her family in Dnepro yet because she is terrified they will be totally upset but unable to do a thing about it other than worry and lose sleep, so she has elected to tell them about it after the surgery.
How is she holding up?  She is very calm and holding it together on the outside and has never "lost it" or been angry or anything, but I know she is churning inside.  I find her crying in a different room sometimes.  She has a strong spirituality and real faith and this certainly helps.  It has certainly brought us closer together.
I have to remember, I have been with this kid for a couple of months total.  He's a fantastic kid, but I can't possibly have anywhere near the investment of time and love that she has with him.  I'm afraid if things don't go well for him, she will be destroyed.

Wish I had better news..

Will try to update as I can as events unfold.

Later
Oscar  

I'll pray for your son. It's certainly fortuitous, in the fact, he will have the finest health-care available.

Regards, Vaughn

Again, thanx to all of you.  I will let you all know how things come out..

Oscar

Life can be a real roller coaster sometimes . Keep your chin up , you're in our thoughts and prayers . Hope things turn out OK for you and your family , Oscar .

I am both sad and elated about the news of your son's illness. It will be a scarey thing to go through for all of you but it is very gratifing that they found it at an early stage.

My neighbor just passed away from lung cancer. Even though he had been examined by several "specialists and experts", they failed to diagnose his disease properly until in was far too late.

This is truely providence that your son came here in time to find this before it got out of hand. I doubt that it would have been discovered and properly treated had they remained in Ukraine.

Your family will definitely be in my thoughts until this thing is past. If your wife would like to talk to V regarding medical practices here in the US, feel free to call.

Please keep us posted.     Ed

My prayers are with you and your family at this time.

Greg

Peace,

-Deckard

Congradulations! And I am so sorry! I am sure that things must be as a blurr for you right now and I have said a prayer for you and your family.

Looking at this from the outside I can see a day when you all will realize that given this unfortunate circumstance, that you will be able to be thankful because perhaps this would have gone unnoticed for years and years. And maybe life is just a series of circumstance and coincidence, but in this case what if this had gone unnoticed for years and then spread? And isnt it lucky that this boy can now have the finest care possible!

But you are right, I have had a sick child and you can never feel what your wife is feeling. And though you cant remove her fear and pain...you can stand by her side and be calm and strong. Your main job I think is to make sure you understand the facts of what is going to happen here and then to get that correct information translated to her so that she can understand it. And she needs you to hold her and to cry with her.

So no matter what has to happen to this boy well...it couldnt of happened at a better time (as if there is ever a better time) and it couldnt have happened in a better place.

I will keep your family in my thoughts and prayers. Keep us posted please ...when you get time.

Randy

Perhaps, many of us are going to have to deal with above average rates for cancer regarding our FSU spouses. I have read in the NYTimes and in scientific papers about the radiation they are exposed to, primarily from food. Seemingly pristine berries and mushrooms collected in remote Ukrainian forests hundreds of miles from Chernobyl are still laced yearly with Cs137 (Cesium 137). Thyroid cancer in young kids is far above average. This is a terrible problem that we might all have to deal with moreso than if we married someone from another region. I wish you and everyone good luck.

Scaught

Sorry to hear about the problems.

Do keep us posted...

Our prayers are with you...