Will's visit to Arkansas Children's

We have known since before Will was born that his kidneys are enlarged. He has had 4 ultrasounds done, and when we met with the doctor at The Centers for Children in Lowell, he recommended we do some further testing to figure out WHY Will's kidneys are enlarged...possibilities included an obstruction or reflux (where the urine goes back up to the kidneys from the bladder rather than out his wee wee). 

The first test today checked the kidney function.  He layed on a table that had an imaging machine beneath him. They put in a catheter to keep the bladder emptied and an IV to inject an isotope.  This part was horrible because Will was awake, and as you can imagine both were pretty painful, not to mention he was strapped down so that he couldn't move.  For a guy that just discovered he can roll over and loves to grab toys, this was not Will's favorite, but after getting everything in, we gave him a bottle which is his perfect cure for everything. :-)

After the bottle, he fell asleep for a good 15-25 minutes. Sweet victory. This test lasted for an hour. In the picture below you can see his catheter emptying into the little bowl to the right, and you can also see the IV in his left foot. Sweet baby boy was tired from crying so hard. 

Playing with daddy to pass the time.

Next he did the test to check for reflux. They injected a contrast into Will's bladder through the catheter, and they watched as he emptied it (as soon as he starts peeing they take out the catheter...let's just say the pee went everywhere, which is a great sign). For this test he was strapped to a small board which he didn't like, but at least he didn't need the IV!  I think he looks really long in the picture below. Oh yeah, and he's 20 pounds now. No big deal...he's ginormous.

Then, we only waited a few minutes to meet with the doctor to get the results...Will loved watching the big kids in the waiting room. You can't tell from this picture. Lol.

His doctor is great. So thorough. So kind.  He said he would like normal kidneys to share the workload...each doing 50% of the work. Will's right kidney is doing 62% of the work, and his left is only doing 38%.  His kidneys are emptying correctly, but much slower than normal. Since both kidneys are functioning well at this point, we will just monitor with ultrasounds for a while. If the left kidney especially gets any worse, he will do some tests that are internal (such as going in to check for an obstruction and correcting it through a small surgical procedure).  That is only IF they get worse. 

So we'll do an ultrasound in a few months, and we'd love it if you'd pray for his kidneys to have improved (or at the very least stayed the same). We just don't want them to get worse!!!

Overall we are so grateful. There are far worse outcomes, and there are families there dealing with far scarier diagnoses. I felt like hugging each momma there, and as you walk around you can't help but wonder about all the rough times these families have been through. We were so blessed by the care we received today at ACH. Wow! They are phenomenal. 

We were also spoiled and loved on by the Stegers, who let us stay with them, fed us, listened and encouraged us, and were sweet enough to go to his appointments with us too. Staying with them is like a mini retreat, and it was Will's first overnight away. Such a treat for us all. Thank you, Barry, Jeannie, and Elizabeth for your sweet friendship!!! We love y'all!!