We had an appointment with the pediatric urology department to check to see where Jordan falls in the bladder department. He has not had to be cathed thus far and has been able to urinate on his own.
Even with the encouraging words from our doctors so far, it was a little unnerving to go to the appointment in fear of what they may see. I’m not sure that uneasiness will ever go away after getting the unexpected news in February. That’s when we found out about his spine during an ultrasound.
Randy was able to come with us to the appointment. We had two nurses and a nurse practitioner assist in trying to get our little man tested.
The test is called urodynamic test, where a catheter is placed in both the urethra and rectum to assess how much pressure is in the bladder. Leads to a computer test the pressure to see if the kidney may be damaged due to the urine not exiting completely.
The first attempt was unsuccessful because it was a defective catheter. By this point the poor boy was so hungry. It didn’t matter if he was lying on a beach in Hawaii or having tubes coming out of him, he was HUNGRY!
So we came to the conclusion that he should eat before we try any more.
The next attempt was a success. The nurse practitioner was able to perform two studies to get an accurate read on the pressure in his bladder. She explained that 0 is normal, 40 is when you start having damage to the kidneys. Jordan is currently between 15-20. Dr. McMahon came in later to tell us we currently do not need to cath, but that does not mean he won’t need it later.
One step at a time. Our next step will be to have a renal ultrasound to check the urinary tract. That’s planned for our Myelo Clinic day in August.
We will take the news right now and pray for God’s will to be done. Jordan is on the move in his own little way. He constantly kicks his legs.
His feet look less swollen than they did in the NICU, but still don’t show a lot of movement. We continue to stretch his feet to keep them from getting too stiff.
I can’t tell you what a blessing our little Peanut has been to us. He is such a trooper and brings us amazing joy as we watch him grow day by day. He’s 1 month old already … next step, college.
Read more about Megs and Randy’s journey through her blog, Labor of Love.
