We found out last week that Tatum will be having surgery on Tuesday, February 3rd...
A little background on why...
*When she was 10 months old she had a high fever with no other symptoms for 10 days. Her fantastic primary care physician decided to check her for a UTI. That came back positive which was VERY good news to all of us....that it was "just" a UTI. Apparently, urinary tract infections in babies are pretty rare so when one is diagnosed, many many more tests follow. Just after her 1st birthday we took Tatum to Mary Bridge Children's Hospital for a kidney ultrasound and a
VCUG. It was really hard to watch our baby get strapped to a board for a pretty invasive test involving a catheter, dye and many x-rays. We were able to stand there with her and watch as they look a series of x-rays of her urinary tract as the dye went into her bladder. I have enough medical experience to know that what I was seeing on those x-rays was NOT good. The dye went into her bladder, up her ureters, and into her kidneys.
She was subsequently diagnosed with Grade 4
Renal Reflux. Grade 5 is as high as it goes. Her now urologist was shocked that this was not diagnosed in utero. Her care plan at that time was a conservative one...repeat ultrasounds of her kidney's every six months, repeat VCUG every year, and a daily regimen of low-dose antibiotics. He would give her until she was 5 to outgrow it and at that time, gave her a 50% chance to do so.
At her 2nd VCUG, things had improved and her reflux was now Grade 3! Treatment plan remains the same.
She had her 3rd VCUG on December 9th, 2008 and we were able to see that the reflux on her left side was completely gone...Praise God! The right side was still there so we patiently waited for her urologist appointment last week to hear the treatment plan. We assumed it would remain the same...
The reflux on her right side remains unchanged from last year...still a Grade 3. The concern now is that her right kidney is not growing at the same rate as her left kidney. There are other factors involved (like the fact that she has two ureters on her right side) which is causing her urologist to now give her only a 20% chance of outgrowing the reflux. So, he's going to fix it!
We have prayed every single day for 2+ years for healing for Tatum. We are so grateful for the complete healing of her left side and we are also thankful for the soon to come healing of her right side! While it does involve surgery and a 2 day hospital stay, she will be healed! I am most thankful for the fact that in approximately 8 weeks, she will no longer have to take medicine every day! We will be having a little party in our house on that day:)
God is so, so good and we are rejoicing.
We do covet your prayers still.....*for the surgery to go perfectly*for steady hands for her doctor*for a quick recovery*for minimal pain for Tatum*for peace for Keven and I (and Asher, and extended family!) as we send our precious Tatum into surgeryI will keep you posted on the details of the day as I know more...time and all. Thank you in advance for your prayers!
As always we remain, "joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer"
(Romans 12:12)
