The Scoop On Kairi's Kidneys

I was so horrified by the test for Kairi's kidneys/bladder in September that it sorta sent me into hiding. I don't know how to explain the reaction that Kairi and I had to it, but let me try to explain it the best I can, and the next 24 hours, as well as the results of the test.

First they did an ultrasound on her kidneys. It was only different in that they did the u/s from both her stomach and back. She had no problems with it and chatted the tech's ear off. From there we were taken to the xray room. The xray is actually called an VCUG as it's different from a normal xray. The put a catheter inside of her, injected dye, and took xrays while the dye went filled her bladder, and then while she voided. Let me just say, this was not a pleasant experience ... and that is the understatement of my lifetime. I won't share the horrors, but if your child has to have one, let me know and I'll try to calmly prepare you no exactly what to expect. And then I'll tell you to ask/beg/plead for sedation. Right before leaving we were told that we'd hear from our pediatrician in 2-3 days.

That night and the next day Kairi was in a lot of pain. She stopped urinating and was scared to even try. She ran a fever and cried for hours. I finally took her back to the er, where she eventually voided her bladder for the first time since her procedure. Thankfully, the hospital I took her to was the same one that she had had her tests run at (and is a children's hospital) so they were able to pull up her records. Because of this we did get some news. The er doctor told us that the VCUG showed that she had grade 3 reflux so it was relatively minor and that I could call our pediatrician the next day for more details. Of course, that information made little sense to me, so I had to do some research. Let me share with you the most helpful link I've found.

http://www.pedisurg.com/PtEduc/Vesicoureteral_Reflux.htm

That basically explains that while she urinates her urine goes backwards up her urinary tract, into her kidneys, and then back down. It gathers fecal matter in the kidneys and once that reaches the bladder it can cause severe irritation and infections. The severity ranges from grades 1-5. Kairi is a grade three which is right in the middle. It doesn't require surgery, if it can spontaneously correct itself. Grades 4 and 5 generally require surgery. There's a 50% chance that the condition will correct itself.

Our doctor referred her to a urologist. Dr. Mercer is great. After meeting with her, the following decisions were made. One, we're not doing surgery for at least a year -- not unless she develops an extremely severe infection between now and September. She's on antibiotics anytime she starts to show symptoms. She'll go on them full time if she starts having fevers on a regular basis. She's on a schedule to control how often she pees to help train her bladder how to urinate. She's drinking cranberry juice almost exclusively. And we're retesting her next September. However, next time the test will happen under sedation, with her Daddy present. I will not be the one to hold her down during it again. She'll still fight it, I'm told. But this time she won't remember it, which will be a blessing as she's still telling her friends at school about how the doctor put tape inside her vagina. :-\ If there is no improvements by next September, then she'll most likely have surgery. It's a full bikini incision, though, which is not something I necessarily want for her. If there is some improvement, we'll continue to watch it. And of course there's the chance that it's completely well, which would be my favorite option. :) If in a few years it's almost completely resolved itself but still seems to be lingering, there's an injection she can have, but it has a smaller rate of success so it's not something we want to try unless her condition isn't very severe.

Since her visit with the urologist, she's not had a full blown infection. The few times she's shown symptoms I've had her on her meds for a few days and it's resolved itself without needing a dr's visit.


We also learned that Alex is unfortunately at risk of having the same condition. It's genetic and therefore siblings run a high risk. Also, Kairi has a large bladder which contributes to her issue. It also helps explain why she had such a hard time potty training. Fortunately,she doesn't want to test Alex for this issue unless he has an infection (although, one infection and he's immediately tested ... but I've been promised sedation for that test).

A Quick Conversation

Mommy, Why are you so sad?
I'm not sad, baby. I'm sick.
Oh. Then you need to be in bed!
But if I'm in bed who will take care of you?
That doesn't matter Mommy. You need to go to bed.
I can't baby. I have to take care of you two.
Oh, well, I know who will take care of you!?!
Who baby?
GOD! He takes care of you and ME! So you go to bed and God take care of us both. Bye Mommy!

A Kairi Funny

Story for now. Updates later.


The Blend Chant

Kairi is learning phonics. It's one of the reasons I picked out her specific school. They learn phonics early and will be reading on a first grade level by the end of the year. The first sounds they learned were the vowels. Now they're learning consonants. One of the first letters they learned was the letter t. They then attach the vowel sound to each consonant as a blend. So when they learned the letter t the blends were ta, te, ti, to, tu.

Last week I was waiting to pick Kairi up in the hall outside her classroom. They were walking through the classroom across the hall to enter their classroom when I heard it. Kairi's voice came strong and loud as she chanted out with a clear beat the t blend sounds. Every now and then the boy behind her would join in, but with or without help Kairi was chanting her blends.

Her lead teacher, Ms. Jennifer, entered the hall first to lead the way into their classroom. She stood in the hall watching her children go into the room. Kairi was at the back of the line. Her co-teacher, Ms. Christie, was at the end of the line. As Ms. Christie walked into the hall she didn't see me. Instead she looked directly at Ms. Jennifer and said "She's been doing this alllllllllllllllllllllllll day."

At that moment Ms. Jennifer looked at me and smiled and simply said "I know." I shook my head and said "Sorry about that. Sounds like my daughter. At least you know that she knows her blends!" Ms. Christie looked thoroughly embarrassed to be caught semi-complaining about my daughter. What she doesn't realize is that I fully sympathize. I understand how annoying that could be. And deep down inside, in a place I'd never admit to her face, I'm just thankful that I don't have to be the one that hears it all day. ;)

Moving

Have I ever told ya'll how MUCH I hate moving? Because I do. With a passion. It's one of the most horrible things you could ever do. Especially when you have bronchitis and a stomach bug that is immediately followed by the most terrible, horrible, excruciatingly painful cramps ever experienced by mankind.


In good news, I love my new house. And Chris is thinking that he likes this house so much that we may not move to the other side of town next year when he'll be working over there. And that is good.



So I'll be back to a normal routine once our move is finished and Chris is working again. (On leave till the 10th...). In the meantime, just be glad I'm not on here every night telling you all how much moving sucks. ;)




Oh, and btw, Chris is helping this time. It's a nice change. :)

Driving Me CRAY-ZAY!

I had to wake Alex up from his nap today. I hate doing that because he is always super grumpy afterwards, and really, who can blame him? I'm grumpy too when I have to wake up before I'm ready.

Because I woke him up he was crying. And crying. And crying. 30 minutes of crying later and he finally let me hold him in my lap. I was sitting with my legs crossed while he laid in my lap and tried to stop his sobbing. Kairi was on her knees facing me while trying to cheer her brother up. Here is the conversation that followed:

Me to Alex: So what is this Dude? Do are we going to have to sit here all night like this and send Kairi to church without us?
Alex (with much whining and a nod): Uh-huh
Kairi: But Mommy! I don't know how to drive!!!
Me: Really?
Kairi: Really!
Me: Really?
Kairi: Yes!
Me: Really?
Kairi: Yes!
Me: Really?
Kairi! MOMMY! You're driving me CRAY-ZAY!

Warning Signs You Don't Want to Miss

I've heard it over and over again, if you have a uti then you will KNOW that you have a uti. But what if you don't? More to the point, what if you don't know that your CHILD has a uti?

In May Kairi's ravenous appetite took a nosedive. Suddenly she was picking at her food and constantly telling me that her tummy hurt. Being the drama queen that she is, I generally believed her to be exaggerating and just started sending her to go potty more often. Then she had a few random fevers. Next she started wetting the bed -- something she hadn't done since February. I noticed after a while that her lips were always chapped and let her use my lip gloss occasionally while pushing more liquids.

Then the bombshell. During our trip to Texas, she suddenly started running high fevers and crying when she needed to tee-tee. I knew immediately what that signaled and took her straight to the er. A couple of hours later we had our diagnosis -- a uti. But I didn't combine the fevers and painful urnination with the other symptoms. To me they seemed to be completely separate issues. In fact, it wasn't until this last round of problems that I realized that it was all combined.

At this point Baby Girl has now had 6 suspected uti's. I say suspected because every time the culture done in the office comes back borderline. And most of the time she's treated just in case. And let me tell you, my baby girl can pee in a cup like a pro and on demand. She's GOOD.

When we finally got to see our regular pediatrician about the past few months and the suspected uti problem, he was immediately concerned. Worried that this was a recurrent problem, that may go back all the way into infant-hood (and explain the occasional low-grade fevers without any other symptoms), he scheduled an x-ray and ultrasound of her kidneys to be held this Friday. When we get more information I'll share that with you, but for now I know that we're looking to make sure that her anatomy is correct, nothing is enlarged, and that there's no scaring from past uti's.


But if your child had a uti, would you really know it? See, I always thought I would, but now I'm pretty sure I'd be wrong. Uti's left untreated can cause scaring which causes even more problems. And in infants and young children, it's not always the "omg I'm dying" pain that we experience as adults. So here's a list, taken from www.kidshealth.org, that can help you recognize uti's hopefully earlier than I did.


Symptoms of a UTI can include:

pain when urinating
changes in frequency, appearance, or smell of urine
fever
chills
loss of appetite
nausea
vomiting
lower abdominal pain
lower back pain or discomfort
UTIs can also cause bedwetting in kids who were previously dry at night. Infants and young children may only show nonspecific signs such as fever, vomiting, or decreased appetite or activity.

Some kids experience UTIs again and again — these are called recurrent UTIs. If left untreated, recurrent UTIs can cause kidney damage, especially in kids younger than 6. So it's important to know how to recognize the signs of these infections and get help for your child.

A Mean Old Lady

I'm a mean old lady.

At least, that's what I tell my kids every time that they start to whine. Really, my theory is start out mean and strict and tough, and eventually you'll be able to loosen up and have fun. But the meaner you are on a regular basis, the more fun the fun times are. I mean, I don't run a boot camp here, but I do expect and demand good behavior from my children and I'm a pretty firm disciplinarian when disrespect, direct disobedience, or violence (towards me, each other, or an animal) comes into play. Other things can be dealt with through natural consequences, but those things warrant immediate action. I also am not afraid to tell my kids no. I know many moms that will go out of their way to find a way of nicely saying no, and there are things that I don't outright say no about (like buying something the kids want ... my answer is always "maybe later"), BUT I also try to be realistic and sometimes the answer is simply no.

All that being said, there can be some whining and crying whenever discipline occurs or the word no is uttered in my house. My response is usually "I know, I know. I'm a mean old lady. And I don't care. The answer is still no." To which a sobbing child usually mutters something about me not being mean (although you can tell that they don't mean it) (and I notice that they never contradict the old part). I chuckle, say it's ok, I know I'm mean, and then find something else to do while they calm down. They also adamantly deny that I'm mean when I'm relating a story of their adventures and when I said that I was a mean mommy and made them stop. I have suspected for a while that this is simply a way of buttering me up.... Perhaps it's a little psychology with the idea that if they tell me I'm not mean often enough maybe I'll start to act like I'm not mean.

Two days ago I was putting Kairi in bed. I don't remember what all our nighttime conversation entailed but I do know that by the end of it she was very happy. She jumped up and gave me a huge hug and a kiss and then while squeezing me tight a second time she exclaimed:

"You're so nice Mommy! I love you! And I thought you were MEAN!"

Picture this

Boxes piled behind the couch that separates my living room from my dining room.

Camping gear piled next to the door to take to the storage unit.

Laundry couch full of clean clothes.

Bedroom floor full of dirty ones.

A floor coated with toys.

Last night's dishes stacker precariously high in the sink.

A daughter in nothing but panties.

A son in nothing but a diaper.

Both kids are curled up on the couch watching Mulan way too loud.

A dog whining on the floor that she's not allowed to chase the cat that is perched on the back of the chair I type from.

Bathrooms that need to be scrubbed.

Bedrooms that need to be straightened. And my bedroom needs an overhaul.

Trash that needs to be carried out is sacked but still piled by the trashcan.

And finally, a kitchen floor needs to be scrubbed -- spot mopping won't do it this time.



Now that you have that picture firmly planted in your head, can you explain to me why I'm not doing anything about it? I really have no good excuse.... lol


But it is the reason I'm not blogging today. Hopefully by this evening I'll have at least a picture or two to share and will be triumphant in my quest to rid my house of the mess. :D




Oh, before I go I will share pictures. I finally have a camera again and while these aren't top notch they do make me happy. :)

She wrote her name all by herself! I had to help her remember how to spell it, but she did all the pencil (er, crayon) work herself!


A face I've missed very very much.


And finally, Alex has become a major cheeser recently. :) Just look at those eyebrows!

School Blues

Kairi has been ready for school much longer than I have been ready for her to be ready for school. She astonishes both me and my family on a nearly regular basis with the things she has taught herself. Do you remember my grand plans for homeschooling this spring? Well, they fell through thanks to a certain young lady NEVER believing a word I said. Every single lesson or thought or game became a challenge of did I really know what I was talking about? Even just reading books for the last few months has been interesting. I read a sentence ... "Mommy, does it really say that? Are you sure? Maybe you need to read it again to make sure." (Sure being pronounced shore.) And if you accidentally stumble over a word ... may heaven have mercy on your soul because Kairi will NOT. To say that this deployment was trying would be a drastic understatement.

But despite my not spending as much time "teaching", Kairi still has managed to teach herself a thing or two. She can almost write her own name. She knows most of her letters and their sounds. She can draw very well. Her reasoning powers are amazing. And she believes that every story should have the following parts: 1) Once upon a time, 2) And then there was a PROBLEM! What are we going to do?!?, 3) The end. And she can quote facts about the ocean, dinosaurs, bugs, Texas, and other random tidbits she's picked up, at the drop of a hat.

I hadn't realized how far she had come until our second day at my il's house in Texas. It was our stop on the way to Midland. Becky (my mil) had brought the kids some highlighters and paper from her office. Kairi had been drawing and "writing" stories for a while when she jumped up and ran over to me with blank paper and highlighter in hand. "Mommy! Pretend this is red!" Ok baby, it's red. "Now, take de color and draw an octagon." An octagon? Ok... "Good job Mommy! Now put in the middle s." An s ... alrighty, there you go. "Perfect Mommy. Just perfect." Then she walks over to the coffee table and starts working intently on the same paper. Finally, she stands up and walks over to me and goes "Member we're pretending it's red! Now look! It's a stop sign! See?!? S-T-O-P! That spells stop!" And right next to the s I had written for her, she had followed it with a t, o, and p ... formed almost perfectly. Since that day she has told every one that she thinks might be interested how to spell stop and that a stop sign is an octagon and is red. She also tries to spell her name, but frequently forgets the last r and i.




This spring I also knew that starting in August Kairi would be able to start pre-school for half days for free. It's a nice program that Florida has for our children. I worked hard to pick out a school for her that used curriculum that I wanted her to use and had the same philosophies and ideals I used when teaching myself. I did find what I wanted in a school. They use a fun curriculum that is also much more advanced than the traditional pre-school stuff. It's also Christian based which is pleasing to me. My aunt uses the home-school version of it for her son and through them I have come to really appreciate it and what it teaches. It should push Kairi to learn (which she needs) but will give her a teacher besides Mommy so that maybe she'll believe her. They do require uniforms at the cost of the parents, and I had to pay a curriculum fee since it's not the state-provided curriculum, but beyond that I couldn't ask for a better situation for Kairi. I'm really excited about the coming school year.

So why the title you ask? If I'm not sad that Kairi's going to school, and Kairi's definitely not sad that she's going, who is blue? His name would be Alexander James. Alex frequently cries because he doesn't want his sister to leave him. He cries that he doesn't get to go to school. He cries and claims that no one needs to go to school. But mostly, it's just that Kairi is leaving him. The poor kid has never had to spend more than a few short periods without his sister. His life pretty much revolves around her and what she wants to do. This fall will be interesting for both of us as we get to experience what life without Kairi is like. I'm thankful it's only for a few hours each morning for this first year, but I also am hoping that just as it's good for Kairi to go to school, that it will be good for Alex to be home with me. And maybe he'll let me teach him if she's not there throwing things off with her constant questioning. :)

How in the world did so much time pass?

Here we are almost a week after my last post and I have no idea how I haven't blogged yet. lol I promise I have lots to talk about.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


I think I mentioned in the last post that Chris reenlisted for another 5 years. His reenlistment ceremony was July 26th, and while I missed it because it was on the ship the day before he was home, his parents did get to see it. I'll try to include a few pictures from that. Even if it's not my most favorite thing ever, it's good for our family and I'm extremely proud. :)

Part of the goodness of reenlisting when you're an ET in the Navy is the nice reenlistment bonus that comes along with it. I'm not going to say exactly how much, but let me describe to you what this means to us: we're paying off the car, we've bought new kitchen stuff, Chris built a new computer, a couple of new gun/gun supplies, new furniture, NEW CAMERA STUFF!, spending money, etc. Needless to say, it's been nice to be able to put money in savings and still treat each other with things things we've been wanting for a while. My favorite things at this moment are tied between the dining room chair covers and my new camera lens. The chair covers makes everything just look RIGHT again. They're now black and eliminate the harsh contrast of patterns and colors. And actually, I bought two lenses. One has come in so far and I'm really excited. :) It's a 70-300mm lens and it should be very nice for what I need it for. The bonus also helped to pay for our trip to the mountains. Another nice part of the bonus is that we'll get some money from it every October for the next 5 years, starting this October. And with that bonus check .... Chris is buying me a new wedding ring!!! I'm currently wearing his mom's ring (who is wearing an anniversary ring). It's pretty, but tiny and not something that I would ever pick for myself. This time we're picking out my new ring together and I'm so very excited about it. :D



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Two days ago I did something I've been wanting to do for a while. I re-pierced my (left) ear cartilage, and I pierced my nose! I have a little stud on the right nostril now and I love it. Of course, I'd love it all more if they were all through hurting, but that might be a little while. In the meantime, I'd settle for the kids just not bumping them anymore.

Once they aren't bright red, I'll post pictures. :)



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


After all we've dealt with food issues with the kids, I've now got a new food issue to deal with. But not with any PERSON in my house. Instead, it's with Zoe -- my DOG!!! She's always been an itchy dog, and recently has been sneezing non-stop, so I finally took her to the vet for it. They think she has food allergies! So we're trying her on a prescription food diet for a while and seeing if that fixes it. Part of me hopes it's that simple because it would be an easy fix -- in a way. But part of me is praying it's not the issue because convincing the kids to not feed her, and keeping her out of the cat's food is becoming a problem. Very very very hard.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


I'm sure there's more to share, but at the moment I'm having a hard time thinking of them so I think I'm just going to go to bed with a book. Have a good night! ♥




ETA: Pictures aren't cooperating. I'll try again for those tomorrow. G'night!

Let's Restart

It's been a while since I've truly blogged. I had every intention of keeping the private-ish blog updated on what has been going on, but it just felt weird blogging there. No real reason why, but it just didn't mesh. And I may still eventually make my blog more anonymous in order to talk about those things, but right now, it just doesn't feel quite right.


So let's do some quick updates, and then hopefully we'll get restarted on this whole blogging thing. :)

~The kids and I spent a month in Texas with my family. Zoe came along with us while I had a friend staying in my house and taking care of Aslan. We spent time with family, played in sprinklers, went to the Sandhills, and just in general had a good time. Zoe had fun too playing with all the different dogs we saw. Now that she's home she's super lonely and restless. I'm thinking that when we move next (into a house WITH a fenced yard) a new playmate is in order for the poor baby. :)

~I did really well with Weight Watchers for a while, lost a lot of weight. In the last month and a half I have gained back a little of it, but am now getting serious again. I don't want this weight on my body any longer.

~CHRIS IS HOME! His ship pulled into port on the 27th and we are all happy to have him back home. Alex is suddenly more happy to see him than he ever was before. And of course Kairi adores her daddy and is always seeking his attention.
The 27th was a Tuesday, we spent Wednesday with his parents who came into town to see him, and then Thursday morning before the kids got up we packed up and headed out of town. Chris' parents kept the kids Thursday and Friday, and then took them to a friend's house where they stayed until we came home. Chris and I went to the Smokey Mountains to camp for a week. If I remember to, I'll blog about that later this week. :)

~Now we're preparing for the next phase in our life -- shore duty! Chris officially leaves the ship in September and begins working at the other base in Jax in October. He has a few short trips out to sea between now and then, but thankfully he'll be home from there on out for the next 3 (or so) years. I'm hoping that that will good for all of us.


Ok, so onto trying to read a few blogs and catch up with people that I've missed. Here's to a more consistent future for this blog! :)

To Do:

I haven't been around in a while because my days generally are so full that I don't have time to type, or I'm totally exhausted and can't think to type. But to help with the blogging, and to demonstrate exactly why I haven't been around, let me show you today's to do list. Btw, I hurt my back Tuesday, so this will all have to be done with a bad back. Joy....


1. Clean Alex's room. Scrub poop off his wall.
2. Steam clean both kids' rooms and the hall.
3. Put up groceries in the kitchen. Spot mop.
4. Laundry, laundry, more laundry. And then some laundry.
5. Take Zoe to the groomer's. Run across town to the NEX to get the bag I left there yesterday w/ batteries, razor blades, and a movie for the kids.
6. Pick up Zoe.
7. Vacuum and then steam clean a few spots down stairs.
8. Cook dinner.
9. Put kids to bed in time for friend to come over. Yay for girl time!

Oh, and I need to throw a shower some where in there. Not sure exactly when that's going to happen.

So, Nessa, if the bathroom isn't scrubbed, and there's still laundry on my bed this is my apology way in advance. lol I'm going to work as fast as I can. And Joyce, no comments about the laundry. It's still better than it was before. :P

I have ...

A messed up crazy life right now. But I'm starting to love it again.

A dog that needs a backyard.

Two kids who need an attitude adjustment.

A husband who is far away but can't wait to be home again.

4 drafts of posts I've started but not completed for this blog, along w/ multiple other drafts for other blogs.

A knee that needs to be soaked because it decided to swell again tonight.

A couch full of laundry to put away.

A house that's almost all put back together. Almost.

And a jam packed summer that I'm really looking forward to.

Super Kairi

Did you know that there is a movie called Super Kairi?


I was just told so by Kairi. It's her favorite movie.

But when I asked her if I could watch it, she goes "Well, I left it at my work."

So I asked if she could bring it home, and she told me that she would, but Zoe broke it so she had to throw it away at her work.

I said that I'd try to find it at a store and she goes "I think maybe I can find it here. Just let me look later." And then added as she walked off "But if you got to see it, you really like it Mommy. It's all about me, Super Kairi."

Another Difference In Kairi and Alex

This morning I got to observe another difference in my two amazing children that made me smile and remember how much I enjoy getting to know their individual personalities.

When Kairi gathers her animals together, they all have relationships that represent the people in her life. They speak to each other in English and thir conversations usually reflects whatever is on her mind. If she's thinking about her daddy, her animals talk about their daddy. If she's been thinking about princesses and the color pink, her animals do so as well. If she's missing our family in Texas, her animals miss their family in Texas. It's a precious insight into her mind, especially when she's not able or willing to tell me what she's thinking about. And it's always been this way. Anytime she plays with animals, she puts her own thoughts and feelings into them.

This morning, though, I saw Alex gathering his favorite animals. He had the elephant, a puppy, an otter, and a bear. They were on the step to the sliding back door and they started talking. But when they started talking, it was a whole new world. They spot in their "animal voices". The puppy barked, the bear roared, the elephant trumpetted, and the otter, well I'm not sure what noise Alex was having him make, but it was interesting to say the least. To Alex, his animals are real animals that exsist in their specific worlds. They aren't his personal therapy -- they are just playmates. Maybe it's that things don't affect him as deeply as they do Kairi -- he does have a happy go lucky spirit that rarely dwells on things he doesn't like.

Whatever the reason for the difference, though, I'm just thankful tat I have the opportunity to get a glimpse into each of their minds, a chance to see how different they are, and to see one more piece of such precious personalities. :)