Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Pack A Bag

Last month we went to Children's for a full day of appointments: renal ultrasound, urology, iron infusion, and nephrology. 

C's renal ultrasound looked better than the month before. Dr Joseph also talked to us about some options for preventing UTIs if he kept getting them so frequently. The first option is to revise his vesicostomy, or we can look at switching to a urostomy (from the ureter, before the bladder). He said eventually he may do some bladder reconstruction. 

Infusion went as usual, but our nurse practitioner from nephrology popped in and asked about any symptoms because his labs were alarming. His creatinine had doubled, his bicarb was out of whack, and his iron had dropped even lower since his previous infusion. He had run fever over the weekend and his urine started showing symptoms that Monday morning. They ultimately decided to admit him until they knew there was an oral drug he could go home on. 


As always, Children's was a humbling experience. I shot a message to our small group that we were missing and they covered us in prayer. It was so different being in the new hospital with a mobile toddler. We took advantage of the many Child Life offerings and he ate all of his favorite foods every day. We had nurses from his infancy that cared for him and loved on him. We spent Wednesday night with our church family virtually from our room and were blessed immensely with a message on spiritual warfare. 4 days of abnormalcy to remind us of how far we've come. 


Fast forward a month and we're back in Birmingham for another iron infusion and a follow up with Nephrology. 

C's had some symptoms of UTI (bladder pain and cloudy urine), so I've been a little leery about this visit. The nurses at Children's swear by packing a bag to "ward off evil spirits." Last night we packed a spiritual bag by praying proactively. Our small group covered us in powerful prayer, and we prayed with C that his appointments would go well and his labs would be stable. This morning I packed a ceremonial bag with changes of clothes and toothbrushes, and we headed north. 

We're currently pumping iron and Mary Jane just popped in. His labs look good and we're going home! She's going to get a urinalysis started to try to catch anything that may be growing, but otherwise his kidney looks awesome compared to our last visit. 


Carter is the toughest kid and I couldn't be more thankful for his presence in my life. He teaches Josh and I so much about life, faith, and love. God is GOOD! Thank you for your prayers!

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