Christmas Morning

Daddy and Henry set up the new GeoTrax train.

Mitch loves his new spinning top toy.

Brothers!

Can this baby be any cuter?!

The Stockings Were Hung By the Chimney with Care...

We had a great time decorating our house this year. We spent Christmas in Texas, away from Pennsylvania, for the first time.

Road to Recovery

It is truly amazing how quickly babies/kids heal and bounce back to normal. Mitch is doing so well. You would never know he had an organ removed less than a week ago! He is no longer on pain meds, and he is back to his normal, happy, smiley self (save the two incisions that are still healing). He is still not able to take a full-on soak in the tub, but he'll be able to do that in a couple of days.

We go for our post-op follow-up on 12/22. He'll have labs drawn that day, so we're hoping everything checks out as normal. Then, in a couple of months he'll have his first of many renal ultrasounds. The hope is that the left kidney remains normal looking and does not develop any issues.

Henry is over his bout with Pneumonia. What a week we had last week! He is gearing up for Christmas, and has asked Santa for a new train. He is busy with his Advent calendar and is really getting into the season. It's a lot of fun to have a 3 year old at Christmas!

In other news, I have been offered a full-time faculty position with Argosy University. I began teaching for them as an adjunct last term, and the Dean contacted me about going full-time after the first of the year. I interviewed and was offered the position. I am really excited about the opportunity. I'll still be teaching online, but I will also be doing some curriculum work and mentoring of other staff. It is a perfect fit for me!

Some Hospital Pictures

Here is Mitch one day post surgery at TCH. He is still in a Morphine coma here. Here we are in the holding area before Mitch's surgery. He was happy even though he was starving and tired!

Monday morning Update

Mitch had a much better night last night. He began nursing well (YAY!), and he slept in longer chunks. He is totally off the Morphine and is on oral pain meds. We saw some urology folks this morning, and Mitch will go home today. He still needs to have labs done before we go, so we know it'll be another day of being at TCH because it'll take awhile to get out of here. At least we'll be home tonight!

Thursday Night Update

We think Mitch is starting to turn the corner a bit. He has nursed a little bit, and has been able to have oral pain meds. His sodium is low, but that is likely because he is on IV fluids and he has not eaten much. We're hoping that he eats more as the night wears on. He'll have more labs drawn tomorrow.

We were able to see Dr. G today. He said that Mitch will be released tomorrow. In terms of follow-up, there will be a lot. Mitch will see both his Urologist and Nephrologist on Dec.22. He'll have labs done that day to assess his chemistry and his creatinine level. He'll begin having ultrasounds of his left kidney in about two months. Our hope is that the left kidney will continue to be healthy and will not develop any type of reflux. The usual issue with kids who have had PUV (Posterior Urethral Valves) is related to bladder pressure and function. As we've known all along, Mitch will be closely followed and will likely have some bladder issues. Our hope is that they are minor and, most importantly, that his kidney remains healthy.

Thursday Afternoon Update

Mitch is starting to be a bit more responsive. He is still not eating much at all, but the nurses say that is normal. I have been pumping for him at the NICU, and it's nice to have those kinds of resources here. Last night was pretty rough, mostly because our nurse was not great. I don't think she gave us good direction on how to manage his pain, and she was pretty condescending. I finally gave her a piece of my mind at about 4 am when I couldn't take it anymore. Luckily, our nurse today is fabulous. Mitch's catheter was removed and he is peeing well, which is important. he is still on I.V. fluids, but he's now getting his pain meds by mouth. He is also being given a medication to help with the bladder spasms he has from the surgery, which are quite painful. We're hoping those spasms don't last as long for him since there was not much directly involving his bladder with the surgery. We're hoping to see Dr. G this afternoon; although, the Fellow and a Resident have stopped by. We will definitely be in the hospital tonight, and we'll likely go home tomorrow.

Wednesday Night Update

We are finally in our room in the West Tower at TCH. Mitch's surgery went well--no surprises. He has two incisions, one on his back and one on his lower belly. The doctor said that the right kidney was very blown out, and that his urethra looked clear, which means the first surgeries worked. Mitch has mostly been sleeping, but he does wake up to eat a little. He's had some Pedialyte and some breastmilk, so that is good. His urine output is also good, which is very important when one has kidney surgery. The hardest part of this is seeing him in pain. He's on Morphine, so that works for a short while. We're hoping the night is mainly uneventful. Thanks for all your prayers and well-wishes.

Pre-Op

We had our pre-op appointment today with Dr. G. We learned that Mitch's surgery is at 11:30 CST tomorrow (Wednesday, 12/9) morning, and it should take about 1.5 hours. He'll have two incisions--one on the back and a low one on the front. We thought we'd only be hospitalized overnight, but Dr. G changed his mind and we'll be in for two nights, and we should be discharged after rounds early Friday morning. We are anxious to get this surgery behind us. The troubling part of this whole issue is that we do not know the state of Mitch's bladder function. We are hoping that his bladder will empty normally and not start refluxing up into his healthy left kidney. Mitch will be followed very closely, with ultrasounds every 4 months or so to assess his kidney size and to note if there is any dilitation.

We'll update tomorrow after the surgery.

Big Week Ahead

It's been a busy month, and this week is a big week in our house. Mitch will have his right kidney removed on Wednesday, December 9th. While we are anxious, we are ready to just have the surgery behind us. My parents fly in tomorrow, and they'll be on hand to be with Henry. We have our pre-op appointment on Tuesday, so we'll learn more then, but we do know we'll be in the hospital on Wednesday night for sure, and, hopefully, if Mitch is doing well, we can go home on Thursday.

Mitch had an appointment with his Nephrologist last week, and it went well. Like she says, he'll be followed closely, but we're hoping for lots of boring Renal visits. His labs came back normal, and his Bicarbonate level was good. On the high side of normal, but still normal, which means the medicine is working. He's on a relatively low dose of Bicitra. We don't know if his doctor will decrease the dose, but it's not likely because he'll need more as he grows.

Please keep Mitch and his doctors in your prayers. We appreciate it!