Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Finally some answers about Ava

Ava has Vesicoureteral (Urinary) Reflux
I'm sure you are all sick of hearing about Ava's kidneys by now, but here's the latest for those who've been asking:
She went to the hospital for her tests yesterday. The doctor who did the ultrasound, wouldn't tell me if she has current damage to her kidneys, so I'll have to wait for her doctor to get the results. We did however, get the results of the VCUG test. And as the doctor suspected, she does have reflux in her kidneys. There's a little flap that isn't working, so instead of all the urine emptying out of her kidney, some leaks back up into it. It's a level 2 of 5; five being the worst. She'll have to see a specialist for treatment. Most likely she'll be on antibiotics for a year, and then she'll have the VCUG test again to see if her body has corrected itself. Or, depending on what the specialist says, she'll have surgery. So, at least it's not a five in severity and hopefully there is no damage done to her kidneys already. If that's the case, she should have a really good prognosis!
The VCUG was done around 1:30 yesterday afternoon, and by 9:30 she still hadn't gone pee-pee. All her doctors (yes, I called all three!) said she was probably scared and sore. She would grab herself, double over and fall to the floor and cry. So sad. We tried warm baths, advil, etc but nothing worked so her doc's said to take her immediately to the ER. Yeah, like that's where I wanted to go AGAIN! I called around and they were all slammed, I knew it would be an all nighter. So we were so blessed; Joe's a Urologic Pharm. Sales Specialist, so he knows a lot of urologists. He called one that he's pretty good friends with and he invited us down to his office (at 10pm!), opened it up and did the cath for her right there. Yeah, isn't that AWESOME! Thanks so much Chris Morris - You're my Hero! We would have been at the ER for hours, and he did the whole procedure in 10 minutes! He actually did the cath faster than the pediatric specialist at the hospital! We owe him big time and will be taking him and his wife out for dinner this weekend!
Oh, and a HUGE thank you to my Mom for coming to the hospital today and spending five hours helping me with Ava. She was so good at trying to distract and play with her while the doctor did their tests. And when she couldn't comfort Ava, she'd rub my back and comfort me! She is so giving and loving - I LOVE MY MOM! Secretly, okay maybe not so secretly now, I still want my mom when I'm sick so it was sooooo good to have here there. Thanks again Mom!
So, today I'm just hanging out by the phone, waiting for a call to see about any existing damage. I have a feeling there won't be any, so lets pray I'm right! :-)
Thanks to all my friends for being so concerned about her and me! :-) Love you guys!
To learn more about reflux, click on this link: http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/vesicoureteralreflux/
3/15 UPDATE: Ava's kidneys are NOT DAMAGED!!!! Hooray!!!

10 comments:

foreveryoung said...

Oh man....I was thinking about you yesterday and wondering how everything went. Hopefully she did okay during the catheter part, I know how nervous you were. I'm so glad that your mom was able to be there, what a sad thing to see your baby go through! That's too bad that she does have the reflux, but I'm sure it's nice to finally have a diagnosis and get things taken care of. We'll definately keep our fingers crossed that there is no kidney damage. I'm so glad that worked out so good with your own personal urologist, you definately needed a tender mercy like that!

Shanen said...

Alisa I am so glad you guys have an answer. That is good news that she can take medication first, to see if that fixes everything. Hopefully, that will work and she will be all better. Poor girl, porr mom. How nice that your mom could be there for you. They are the greatest.

Anonymous said...

My hairdresser's little girl was diagnosed with the same thing this year. Same scenario - antibiotics for a year and then recheck to see if she'll need surgery or not. One plus she found is that being on antibiotics she hasn't gotten all the colds and ear infections that most little ones get. Her doctor said in most cases they do get better without surgery. I'll keep my fingers crossed. I loved reading your blogs, thanks for clueing me in on your site.
Take care. Hope to see ya soon,
Pauline

Nichols Family said...

Oh, she'll be in our prayers every day!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so glad Joe had connections and helped take care of her, and that you had your mom there for support! I'm sure there are some other guardian angels around too...

Justin said...

You are such a great mama. Your girls are so cute and they love you so much. Good think Joe has connections, when our family gets sick the only connection we have are reruns of "ER". Ava will be fine.

Danielle said...

Oh, so much for a little one to go through. Keep us updated.

Kendra said...

Wow! What a difficult trial. I think as a mom it so much harder to watch my kids suffer than it is for me to be sick or hurt. We'll keep you in our thought and prayers. I hope you get a break from sick/hurt kids for a nice, long while.

Greg said...

I saw your post about your mom. I am a New York Times bestselling author working on a new book about mother-daughter relationships and thought you might want to contribute. Please visit my page for details about submitting stories for Mom's Little Angel.

Gregory E. Lang
Author, Daddy’s Little Girl

Angie Whitman said...

I hate that you have been through so much lately with a sick little girl. It must feel so great to finally know something. I always feel better when I know what I am dealing with. The unknown is way too scary!
On the bright side, looks like a book deal is coming your way???

Just K said...

Great news that Ava doesn't have any kidney damage! Poor little thing, and poor mama too. Moms have enough stress as it is without being put through the nightmare of "what is wrong with my child?". What a little trooper she is.