New Hardware

Judah's ultrasound showed no change. That's good and bad. Good, because there is no abscess or other negative change to his kidneys, ureter, and bladder. Bad, because there's no positive change either. After several weeks of antibiotics - over 7 days of super strong ones - there should be improvement. Urology has decided that his kidneys need help flushing out the infection. Tomorrow at 1:00 the Interventional Radiologist will insert a percutaneous nephrostomy tube from his back into his kidney. That will then drain the puss and infected urine from his kidney. [Sorry to those of you with weak stomachs.] Once he's without fever & Urology sees that the tube is draining well, we can go home. It's going to be a few days...but hopefully not as long as the last stay. I don't know for sure, since I haven't asked his urologist directly. He'll keep the tube until surgery - something I'll learn how to care for - and continue IV drugs at home. Surgery is still set for the 12th, and they're hopeful that won't change. They're also optimistic that once the obstruction is removed he won't keep getting sick. No guarantees.

I'm sad about all this. It's a lot to process right now, especially while I'm tired. I'm disappointed that I'm going to miss Ralston's National Night Out tomorrow night with my family. It's something we look forward to every year. I had thought about asking a friend to come sit with Judah so I could go, but because of the procedure tomorrow - which includes intubation and anesthesia again - and the new tube, I just don't feel comfortable doing that. Ugh. Pursuing praise is becoming a little more challenging as the day wears on.

Right now I'm thankful for:
All the meals friends are providing for us...
Grandma calling on the hospital phone this morning when my cell was almost dead...
Jared...
Judah's ability to sleep well during the day here...
Nurses that I have a relationship with now, and can joke around with...
Orders to be able to take Judah off the floor so we can go outside and explore a little bit...
Sunshine...
The privilege to stay here and care for Judah as much as I'm able...
A computer that I can write on...
Confetti cookies...

OK, so not necessarily in order of importance, but those are the first 10 things that came to mind.