Kidney Surgery Update #6 - Home at Last

Carson was cleared to come home at 3:00 this afternoon.  After they gave him his last dosage of medicines and we signed all the appropriate paperwork we were free to come home.  Carson was sound asleep in the backseat by the time we made it to McKinney, but seemed happy to be back in familiar surroundings once he woke back up.

Thank you again to everyone for the continued thoughts and prayers and for our parents for being so helpful.

Kidney Surgery Update #5

Carson had a pretty good night.  The morphine helped with the pain, but would drop his oxygen levels. He was not a fan of the nasal cannula and kept pulling it out.  We finally had the nurse remove it and put the oxygen mask by him if needed.  He was a lot more comfortable without it.  

Ha, Charles and I had a big surprise when we went to pull out the love seat and it was not our usual two person bed, but a single one.  This made our sleeping arrangements interesting.  Needless to say we are both pretty tired this morning.

The urologist came by this morning and said Carson looks good.  They switched up his meds some and as long as he is comfortable and is cleared by the respiratory doctor there is a chance we could go home later on today.

We are so thankful for Charles' parents who are up here and continue to make sure we are fed and for my parents for keeping Kaylee entertained in Houston.  We are so blessed to have great friends and family and we thank all of you for your continued prayers they are working.

Kidney Surgery Update #4

Carson has not been a very happy camper for the past hour or so.  There are three things that we are paying special attention to:

1. Low oxygen levels, most likely due to morphine being used for pain management.  A cannula was placed under his nose, and Carson is most definitely not a fan of the new addition to his face.
2. Some strider breathing, most likely due to agitation in the airways while being put under anesthesia.  This is being treated with a little steroid to help open up the airwaves (will hopefully help with oxygen levels as well)
3. Pain management, Carson has woken up a couple of times in obvious pain.  We are needing to stay on top of his pain meds and when he gets them so that we can minimize the pain he experiences.

After quite the battle getting Carson to take his meds and not pull out his cannula, he has calmed back down and is resting peacefully.

Kidney Update Surgery #3

Carson has now been transitioned into a step-down room.  When we first saw him in recovery, he seemed to still be in a lot of pain, but (after some pain meds) seems to be resting more comfortably now.

We are grateful to have this surgery behind us and there is additional comfort in knowing that some of the nursing staff helped care for him during his last stay (so we know we're in good hands).

Kidney Surgery Update #2

The surgeon just came out to tell us that the surgery went great and was completed with no issues.  Carson is in recovery and we are waiting to be called back to see him.  A continued thank you for the prayers and well wishes.

Kidney Surgery Update #1

They took Carson back around 8 am.  He was given some goofy juice so he was in pretty good spirits. The surgery should last around 2 hours. They will remove the non functioning left kidney, scope his bladder, and close his tube.  Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers.

Tis the Season

Since I last wrote we have been going like crazy.  It is just that time of year with Halloween, Thanksgiving, and soon Christmas.  We are 4 months post surgery.  Carson is doing great.  His scar is starting to fade and it is so great to go in to a doctors appointment and see is oxygen at 100%.  Carson is defiantly recovering quicker than mom.  I have really been struggling with anxiety after almost losing my baby.  Each day truly is a blessing you have with your children.  Treasure every moment. 
 
At Carson's 15 month "well" visit we learned he is a little over 18lbs (18% T21 curve, and not even on the typical curve), 29 inches (47% T21, 2% typical). Basically he is just a little guy, but he is right where the doctor would like him to be. Developmentally he is at a 11-15 month level!!! Yay, we hope we can keep doing so well. He is starting to mimic words, cruising, pulling up on everything, and just started climbing on top of things. He also has 6 teeth now!

We have had a crazy past two months with sick kiddos.  My kids are usually pretty healthy so I shouldn't complain, let's just hope we are all on the mend. It started with Kaylee getting croup around Halloween and us having to make an ER trip with her.  Then, two days later, Carson came down with it.  The next week Carson had his kidney scan.  The next week we went in for Carson's 15 month "well visit" and were unable to do shots due to petechire (little red dots) on his stomach.  They ran up a full CBC to see what was going on.  Needless to say mom was freaking out, but the blood work came back fine.  Two days later he got the croup again.  He was finally doing better than he started getting really sick and had a really high fever....back to the doctor.  They think it is a stomach bug. We waited a day to leave for Thanksgiving to make sure no one else caught it.  Thank God the rest of us stayed well. After a week of a low grade fever and a cranky baby, he got the croup again, and then an earache.  After a round of antibiotics we finally got well shots, then that night Carson got the croup for the 4th time.  Needless to say we made a ENT visit and the scoped him.  His anatomy all looked great so we aren't sure what is going on.  Prayers we can stay healthy. 
 
Last week we got results from the kidney scan.  The kidney is only functioning at 11% and they are recommending removal.  This is really hard to hear because we did the surgery last year to try to save it.  We will meet with the doctor tomorrow to get more details.  Needless to say we will be having a surgery to remove his left kidney on December 28th.  I can't even begin to describe the overwhelming anxiety that is all coming back at the thought of going through another surgery.  Please pray for my whole family as this is really hard on all of us.  I am thankful the other kidney seems to be healthy and will take over for the one that never formed properly.
 
We already celebrated one Christmas with the Koch Family at Thanksgiving and look forward to celebrating Christmas with the rest of the family in the next week.  It is our family and friends that keep us going and I am so grateful for all of you.