Thursday, March 25, 2010

Worried Sick

I thought once we survived Spring break that everything would fall back into place and everything would be hunky-dory again. Instead, something worse is threatening to destroy us. Ahren is sick. With what? I wish I knew. Here is the background.

A few weeks ago I noticed that Ahren was drinking a lot. And with drinking a lot comes peeing a lot. At first i didn't think anything of it. Then we began struggling to contain his night-time pee. He sleeps hard, ten to twelve hours a night. He has never been consistently dry at night, so he has always slept in a pullup. Well, a pullup was nothing compared to the tide of pee. We stopped all liquids at dinner time, had him pee before bed, etc. We had to resort to a size 6 diaper with a super-maxi night-time feminine pad inside it, and a pullup over it. Only then did the sheets stay dry. That is a LOT of pee. As in abnormal amounts of pee!

So I called the doctor and they decided to do some blood work. (Remember the whole sausage stealing incident? That was the day they did his bloodwork) I got a call on Wednesday that the doctor needed to talk to me. I hadn't heard anything and I had assumed all was normal and not thought a bit about it. Now I was worried. Before the doc called me I went to their office and got a copy of the results. Not good. His kidneys are all out of whack, his glucose way too low, and a protein that should have been made by his muscles was really low. His urine also showed protein and ketones, signs his kidneys were damaged and his muscles starving.

Chris and I took him back yesterday. His urine was worse. He is spilling a large amount of protein (30 mg/dl, normal is zero, above 10 is serious) and ketones. It looked milky and smelled awful. We have 4 days of testing scheduled. He had ultrasounds of all the organs in his abdomen this morning. We will be doing lots more blood work and a 24-hour urine, rushing all the results back. Then we will be loading up all the results and heading to Texas Childrens for a consult with the nephrology department, the neurology department and possibly the endocrinology department.

Today he is lethargic. Spent 2 hours lying on the couch with a blanket before his ultrasound appointment. Had to carry him through the parking lot and then he just laid in the hospital bed while they did the extensive ultrasound tests. Now it's lunchtime and he is lying on a blanket on the floor. This is NOT like him. He is an active 4 year old boy! I have a call into the doctor.

Anyone out there have knowledge about kidneys and kidney failure in kids?????

17 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh, Wendy! How scary. The dr.s will get to the bottom of this and it sounds like quickly too. Then I will pray for all of you that it is also quickly fixable. Here is a hug for you from afar ((()))!

Lisen (oops posted from dh's account)

Marlene said...

Oh Wendy! I can imagine what you are going through. I am praying for you guys to get some answers and that Ahren gets better soon!

Angie said...

I wish I could help. Prayers are with you guys, especially sweet Ahren.

Reba said...

Wendy, are you still on any of the adoption boards? I am pretty sure this has come up for Guatemala adoption before. I will check the boards I am on and see...

Anonymous said...

Wendy, Sorry to hear your little boy Ahren has been ill. I hope you will soon find out what it is, but just wanted to let you know you are in our prayers!!! Delilah

Mamita J said...

Wendy,

I am praying for Ahren and your family. Please keep us posted.

Love and hugs,
Julie

Anonymous said...

Wendy, I will keep you and your family in my prayers. I hope they can diagnose what's going on soon! Give Ahren a hug. I hope he is much better soon!!!! Love Gayle, LRH

Deb said...

Oh Wendy- I am so sorry. My prayers are with you.

My PA friend says he needs a huge work up - he needs a diagnosis immediately.

Deb said...

PA says streph could cause this- but you need to get him diagnosised

Michelle said...

Wendy - I am not sure if I have ever commented before...but I am a long time follower. I feel compelled to comment today.

I had nephritis as an 11 year old. No comparison to a 4 yr old activity level.

I didn't tell my mom that my throat was sore because I 'knew' I would have to go to the dr and get a penicillin shot. The horror! Anyway, I was diagnosed and had to have major antibiotics, blood work every other day, and a VERY strict diet. IT was a hellacious summer. BUT I was perfectly fine and have never had another problem since...during this time they were discussing kidney transplant, dialyis. IT was scary for me and I can't even imagine about my parents.

If there is anything I can do, please let me know...I am not a doctor nor do I pretend to play one on TV!

Prayers and hugs

FosteringDreams said...

Yikes! That sounds terrifying; I hope they figure everything out quickly.

Susan said...

oh, gosh, Wendy, I hope you have answers very soon. That sounds really scary.

Andrea said...

Keeping your family in my prayers!

Hawk said...

My brother had very similar symptoms to Ahren. He was spilling urine and all sorts of things. Mind you he isn't a child, he was 27 at the onset, but he spent his childhood sickly and mom thinks this was lurking since he was a baby. That said, he did 100 tests, was on, at one point, 24 medications a day (several were blood pressure meds and even an oral chemo) and they did a kidney biopsy... oddly enough as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared.

He is now 30 and has had little to no lasting effects. The little are merely trying to regain a healthy weight from the steriods he was on and simpe things like that.

I hope Ahren turns out okay. I am glad you are so intune with your children to know when there is a problem and are willing to take him to any specialist needed.

Good luck to you and your family.

Vanessa said...

Praying the doctor can get to the bottom of this and have him on the medn in no time! Praying for you guys!! HUGS!

Carrie, Rich and the Kids said...

Oh Wendy. How scary and I am praying for you that they get to the bottom of this fast and get him the proper care so he feels better and your anxiety can be relieved.

Rich says that there isn't much you can do until the tests come back. If he seems to be in pain don't give Motrin or Advil and keep him well hydrated. He also said what the doctors are doing is totally appropriate and that those tests should come back fast.

If you want to e-mail or call me, feel free. carrie.brody@sbcglobal.net and Candy has my phone number.

Mark and Shawna said...

Wendy,
How scary...We do hope and pray they find out soon what is wrong and treat it. Keeping you in our prayers....Hugs to you.