Our Crazy 48 Hours!!!

I never want to repeat our last 48 hours. Sam came home Wed. morning from having his stone removed. By 1:00 pm, he was screaming with pain. Pain meds were NOT helping. I knew this was not expected because doctors said he may not even need prescription pain med. Around 8:00 pm, we were on the phone with the on call doctor which said the pain may be bladder spasms. He called in medicine for that, but at 12:30 pm, Sam still had no relief from pain. So we loaded him up, my mom stayed with Jack and Hamilton, and we headed to children's hospital. In the car, for whatever reason, sitting up seemed to help. So he feel asleep. Trying to avoid an emergency room visit, we turned around and came home. Wrong Decision.

Around 3:30 am we were loading him back up. We saw the on call urologist very quickly. He happened to be in with Sam's regular urologist during the surgery, so he knew Sam and his case. We removed the stint (Praise God). Then they did an ultrasound of his bladder and found that he was not emptying his bladder when voiding. He was not voiding because it hurt too bad, but in return his bladder was so full this was causing a whole new set of problems. So they catheterized him (which took 4 people to hold him down) to completely empty his bladder. Between getting the bladder empty and the stint being out, he was already feeling better. The doctor sent us home with a prescription with a medicine that numbs the bladder. This keeps him from being in so much pain when voiding.

We got home from the emergency room yesterday morning, and Sam has slowly shown progress. Today is a much better day than yesterday, and I would imagine tomorrow will be even better. He is still passing a ton of stone. And I mean stone you can pick up out of his diaper along with smaller sand or gravel looking stuff. Doctors removed the larger pieces but said he would have to pass the rest. CRAZY!

Thanks again for your prayer, phone calls, e-mails, and offers to do anything in the world for us. Going through this whole ordeal gives me a new perspective on parenting and life in general. Keeping the house perfect and laundry totally kept up doesn't seem so important anymore. The love I have for my boys is immeasurable. I have been constantly reminded of Proverbs 31 over the past few weeks. My biblical job is my husband, home, and children. I am so grateful that those 3 things are truly the desire of my heart.

Please continue to pray for Sam's recovery. As for now, the stone has been sent off for testing, and we are to meet back in 1 months for those results and for a 24 hours urine catch. Still a long road ahead, but we want to gain enough information over the next few weeks to avoid another episode. We will keep you updated!!!!

Samuel

This morning Sam had the laser procedure to breakup and remove his kidney stone. It was successful and we are home. Sam has a stint that will be removed on Monday. The doctor found what they call a "mega ureter". The ureter on the right is 5 times the size of the ureter on the left. At this point, we don't know if we have one problem or 2. He could have stone disease and a congenital defect"mega ureter" or the stones could be secondary to having a mega ureter. In a month, we will have a catheter for 24 hours: this urine collection should give the doctors more information. Of course this is all contingent on being pain free. A pain episode could change this plain.
This is unexpected and alot of information to digest. I was hoping to return home today with closure. Now I am back to researching. Pray Sam will be comfortable and pain free as he is recovering from this surgury. Pray for wisdom and knowledge for Kris and me. We want to make the best decisions for Samuel.

Update on Sam!!!

Kris and I have received tons of e-mails and phone calls from family and friends checking on Sam. We appreciate your encouragement through thoughts and prayers. We were suppose to have surgury on the 29th to remove the stone. As you all know, Kris and I were not happy about the two week wait. With the help of our pediatricain, we were able to have it moved to last night. It is a good thing we did. When our urologist went in last night, he found a very large stone (9mm) basicly completely blocking urine flow from the right kidney. Because the urine had nowhere to go, it sat in the kidney and infection set in. The urologist completely drained the kidney, but because of its condition and the fact that the stone was so large, he was unable to attempt the procedure to remove the stone. He did put a stent in to dilate the uteter and allow urine to flow more freely.

At first we were really upset the stone was still in, but after we realize how bad things looked in his right kidney, we know it was the best approach.

Quick Update from Stacey's Mom: Stacey has finally agreed to rest if I agree to finish her blog. The next attempt to laser the stone is Wed., Nov 28. Children's Hospital will call with a time. Meanwhile, Sam is home! He is taking a broad spectrum antibiotic and pain meds. Hopefully, he will be comfortable during the wait. Please continue your prayers and encouragement. I rest in knowing we have God's full presence and provision. Blessings to each of you as we enter this season of Thanksgiving.

Pray for Sam!!

Many of you know the heath problems Sam has been dealing with. We have been back and forth to children's hospital trying to pin point the specific problem. He as had, and for almost 2 years now, episodes of severe abdominal (we are realizing recently back pain too) to the point of vomiting for hours. It usually happens around once every two months. Usually after the episode passes his pain is relieved, though he does complain numerous times during the month that he doesn't feel well. An let's remember Sam just turned 3 the end of Sept.
In August we had numerous test run at Children's to rule out a UPJ obstruction (which is an obstruction where the kidney's meet the ureter), renal reflux, and tons of blood work to rule out other problems. All negative, which was great, but we still did not have a diagnosis. An ultrasound did show hydronephrosis (enlargement of the kidney) but at this point no one knew why. Which was the cause of all the above test.
Anyway, nothing was found, and we were sent home to come back in Feb for a repeat ultrasound to check on the right kidney and sooner if need be. So......Wed. night, after complaining for about a week with back pain, he woke up at 11:00 screaming with back pain and by 12:00 was vomiting from it. This time was different. Kris and I had never seen him in this much pain. He was screaming, rolling on the floor, rocking on the floor on all fours, vomiting, and at one point passed out. This continued ALL night. It was heartbreaking to see my child, my baby in this much pain. My heart ached for him. He was vomiting pain meds and the only thing that give him much comfort was a hot bath. Which he would get in and and out of numerous times throughout the night..... by 3 o'clock that morning he was having to be held up in the tube because he was so weak. Anyway we made it till morning and was at my pediatrician's at 7:45. He checked his urine, which he said looked really bad and was full of blood, and sent us to a radiology clinic for an ultrasound and possible cat scan depending on what the ultrasound showed. Well the Ultrasuede showed hydronephrosis (enlargement of the kidney). So that sent us for a cat scan which showed a kidney stone 9mm wide. So was Sam in pain? More pain than most men have ever felt in their lifetime and only a few women who chose natural child birth. (Which most of us don't because we are wimps and have no desire to experience that intense amount pain.) So they wanted to admit us to out local hospital and I declined. I felt I could make him more comfortable at home while doctors talked to give us a game plan. At this time, the episode had mainly ended though he was very weak, pale, and tired. So we go home and shortly receive a phone call from our local doctor that he had been in contact with Sam's urologist at Children's. He said the stone is way to large for Samuel to pass on his own and he wanted to see us shortly. Anyway the plan is, Sameul will have surgery on the 29th to break up and remove the stone. If he gets into trouble before then, he will go have surgery to have a stint put in to enlarge the ureter so urine can pass though until the removal of the stone can be done. ( the obstruction of the kidney stone causes urine unable to flow freely from the kidney to the bladder. Which is why his right kidney is enlarged. And this also caused extreme pain.) Until then we are to manage his pain. Whatever that means. I would love for every doctor that has seen Samuel to pass a 9 to 10 mm kidney stone and try to manage their pain. I am upset they will not be able to remove it for another 2 weeks. That seems a little harsh for Samuel. But that is not over yet. My bulldog of a husband has a call into our urologist to ask why so long and can it be moved up. Doctors have to hate to see us walk though the door.......an over-protective mother and her attorney husband. Oh well.
So please pray for Samuel. Our prayer is that he remain as pain free as possible until the stone can be removed. We DO NOT want the stint put it. After the stone is removed, the next step is to find out why my 3 year old is passing repeated kidney stones. But for now we want it OUT. Pray for this hysterical mother who is tired, stressed, and trying to make the best possible decisions for Samuel. I love Samuel .....I adore Samuel......I do not want to see Samuel suffer anymore. Yesterday when we were sitting in the hospital all I wanted was to be at home, living my boring life, watching Sam play, laugh, and fight with his brothers. I want take those days for granted again. Nothing in this world matters to me but Kris and my boys. God is good. We are trusting Him, knowing Samuel is his child and he WILL be taken care of my his Heavenly Father.

More Beach Pictures!!!

Fall Beach Trip

We returned yesterday from a wonderful week at Seagrove Beach Flordia. The boys had a blast! The weather was beautiful! We could not have picked a better time of year to go. The beach house we stayed in is owned by a client of Kris's. He told us to pick a week and go and enjoy... that is exactly what we did. My parents and Maggie were able to come for most of the week which made the week even more enjoyable. Kris and I were even able to go on a date one night. I took over 325 pictures so I will probably be posting beach pictures for weeks. I adore my boys and seeing them enjoy swimming, playing, fishing, and boating was such a treat. We made lots of memories!!! Enjoy the pictures.