Eloise and Hydronephrosis

An update on this cutie's health.

We had our appointment with the pediatric urologist on Monday.  We arrived there on day 2 of antibiotics for another bladder infection - my poor baby girl. We also arrived there with hives covering poor Eloise's entire body.  Turns out she is allergic to Suprax, which happens to be a penicillin derivative.  What a couple of days it has been!  She is back to her happy self again and will remain on a maintenance dose of amoxicillin for the next 3 months.  Here's why:

The urologist confirmed what they had seen on the ultrasound at hospital - moderate hydronephrosis (basically swelling) of her left kidney.  On a scale of 1-5, 5 being severe, she rated E's at a 2-3.  This is definitely the cause of all of her infections, as it's super easy for bacteria to build up when the kidney does not empty properly (it's job is to get rid of waste!)  The best article on hydronephrosis that I've found is here:  http://www.choc.org/urology/index.cfm?id=P00933  It's odd to me that hers wasn't found on one of the many ultrasounds I had while pregnant with her, but didn't mean much to the doctor.

Anyway, since her VCUG (which tested for reflux of urine back up into the kidney) was negative we now know that there is some type of blockage causing the swelling. Unfortunately, the only way to find out exactly where the blockage is and how bad it is, is to do a full renal scan.  It's recommended that children under 5 yrs old only get a level of "2" of radiation a year.  Since her VCUG exposed her to "1.1" (they record these things), the urologist wants to wait a bit to jump the gun on a ful renal scan.  Given that her swelling is moderate and not sever, it is possible that she will outgrow this and won't need any type of surgery.

The plan for now is to wait 3 months and do another ultrasound of her kidneys.  The ultrasound will show if it's gotten worse or better.  If worse, we will move forward with the renal scan.  If better, we will wait another 3 months to see if she really is outgrowing it.

Meh.  It's just a lot to digest.  It's a lot to be told that your baby isn't perfectly healthy.  I don't like her being on antibiotics for so long, but we need to be on them to prevent any scarring or damage to her kidney.  I swear I would rip mine right out of my body and just give her mine if I could….but it seems like that if she does need surgery, it will be an easy and common fix.  Will you please pray for that?  Will you please pray that the antibiotics keep her healthy until we have more answers?  Thank you.

Sometimes I just feel really weak and helpless when I think about all this. My most courageous friend Elisabeth who has battled a deep and dark battle with postpartum depression posted this verse the other day.  I love this verse.  Oh how we need Him in every aspect of our lives, especially where we feel the most weak.

"But [the Lord] said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weakness, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me" 2 Col 12:9