Hello Followers:
The months of July and August have been crazy busy around here!
As you all know we celebrated Max's first kidneyversary on July 8! It was neat to look back on where we were exactly a year ago that day. All of those emotions that I had the morning of the surgery came rushing back as I thought about that moment when I walked out of his hospital room not knowing what the outcome of the upcoming surgery was going to be. I had the feeling of power because I was about to save my son's life, but I also felt powerless because I was about to give up all of the control with Max's care. That is hard for a mama to do. What a day though! I barely remember anything about that day, but it is a day that we will hold close to our hearts for the rest of our lives because it was the day that Max got his second chance at life. A chance at a "normal" life.
The middle of July had us celebrating Tim's 30th Birthday! We celebrated by going to dinner and then heading back to the house to eat his favorite dessert- Country Cousin's Banana Cream Pie. The day after his birthday, I gave him the gift of going out of town for a long weekend. I joined my dad, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends at Dale Hollow Lake for a little camping trip. We typically go down there every year, but it was my first time in 4 years since we were a little preoccupied with Max and his needs. I had a great time, but I was ready to come home to my own bed by the time I came home on day 4. Being 6 months pregnant and sleeping on a cot are not a good combo, but it was a great little get away :o)
We ended July by closing on our new home. We decided not to go down the building route and found something that we love in a great neighborhood that suited our needs. We are getting settled, but it's definitely a slow process. My third trimester exhaustion hit hard right before closing so it's getting hard for me to want to unpack and organize. We're getting there- slow but sure.
August has been full of emptying boxes, painting and putting rooms together. We finally got to Miss Cora's room this past weekend, so I am starting to feel a little more prepared for her arrival- only 5 more weeks!!!
Max spent 14 days of this month feeling pretty under the weather. He had a fever for those two weeks which was not fun. He had his labs drawn 3 times and a urine test to check for UTIs. All came back looking great. So he was diagnosed with a sinus infection and put on an antibiotic. He is finally fever free and starting to feel better despite a lingering stuffy nose and cough. Now mama has one heck of a nasty cough and can't seem to get rid of it (even with an antibiotic). I really hope it leaves soon because it's making it very hard to get any sleep.
We had some not so good news come out of this month so far. Max had his bladder testing today and we unfortunately got the news that he has reflux into his transplanted kidney. What that means is that when Max's bladder is full of urine, the urine flows up into the kidney instead of coming out through the urethra. This unfortunately means that Max will not be able to have his vesicostomy closed until the reflux is resolved because it would damage the kidney and we'd be back at square one. At this point, we don't know the severity of the reflux. We will be meeting with the urologist on Monday (8/29) to discuss the results and the plan for how we fix it. The good news that we did get today was that the pressures in his bladder have decreased significantly and that his bladder is holding more than double what it was at his last test. I will keep you all posted on what the plan is once we meet with the doctor. Please pray that the reflux isn't severe and that it's easily fixable. Remember, we are hoping to avoid the bladder reconstruction, so prayers that he has made enough improvement to do so, are also greatly appreciated.
On a much happier note. We are ending this month with the start of preschool for one very excited 3 year old little boy. Max will be started his first day of preschool tomorrow afternoon. I can't believe that my little boy is old enough for school already. As hard as it's going to be for me to drop him off and leave him with people that we barely know, I know that this is something that he and I both need. He is going to have a blast and hopefully learn a lot while he is there. Sigh. What am I going to do with my free 3 hours a day for 4 days a week- at least for the next 5 week until Miss Cora makes her arrival!
Hope everyone has had a great summer!
