June Kidney Report Card

Carter's kidney is doing wonderfully! Today we went to see Ms Mary Jane, and let me tell you... it was a long afternoon. Our appointment was at 1, and the clinic was super busy (along with the lab). We didn't leave the hospital until almost 4. Carter cried for the stick. Enjoyed a wagon ride (because now he has a small episode when he sees a wagon... he HAS to get in it!). Screamed because it was nap time. For nearly 2 hours. Screamed. They didn't even try to get a blood pressure on him because he was so irritated. He managed to flirt with our favorite renal nurse, Nikki, and of course batted eyes at Mary Jane. They couldn't get a completely accurate weight on him because of the casts, but he came in at 21.8#. She said according to his recorded weight the day of his surgery back in May, though, he had gained at a good rate for that month. We talked about how his appetite has definitely increased, and that he is doing really well with table foods now, as well as the added oil in his bottles. His potassium was smack-dab in the middle of normal - woot! Maybe next time it will be on the low end and we can start trying whole milk instead of this uber-expensive formula! Speaking of next time - they've released us for a 3 month stretch this time, as opposed to our normal 2 month check up. She wants us to get a weight on their scale when we come next month (cast-less) for our urology appointment, and then we'll see her in September! We're also switching back to the macrodantin for his prophylactic since he always ends up with e. coli, which is resistant to bactrim. It's a little bit of a pain since he has to take half of a capsule... therefore we have to guess what half of the powder inside is... mix it in a small amount of formula that we know he will actually eat.... pray fervently that he eats that whole amount.... etc, etc, etc. Maybe it will cut down our UTI's further, though! His iron/hematocrit still needs improvement.... today instead of G-tube threats, we talked about IV iron. We shall start being more faithful with iron, lest we end up starting an IV every month - BLAH. Dr Feig stopped by to say "hi", and then we made our way back down 65. Overall, the kid is doing well. We couldn't be more blessed that what we originally thought would be our biggest struggle medically is actually the least of our worries. When Mary Jane and Dr Herndon did our initial consult and viewed our ultrasound, they went over possible scenarios of dialysis, transplant, hospitalization. 2 weeks or 2 years. They had no clue what the extent of damage (or lack thereof) may be to his lone kidney. For whatever reason, God allowed that tiny bean shaped organ to be healthy. thankyoujesus!