Kidney Update

On Friday, September 26 Caleb had his first kidney check up. Poor little guy had a catheter and a sonogram for this test. To provide some brief history, early on in the pregnancy both of his kidneys were dilated more than they should have been, so we started doing Level 2 sonograms to track them. About half way into the pregnancy the left kidney shrank to normal size, but the right kidney stayed dilated. We’ve been tracking it through the pregnancy and after doing some tests after birth, we know more of the situation.

Caleb has a condition called Hydronephrosis (More information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydronephrosis). Basically, in lay terms this is a dilated (or swollen) kidney resulting from there being a blockage between the kidney and the bladder. Left untreated, the kidney would continue to swell over time and Caleb would have some tough times with his kidney as he gets older. After looking at Caleb’s sonogram, the doctor believes that he’ll probably require surgery at around 6-8 months to remove the obstruction to get things flowing well again. We’ll have another sonogram November 10 and based on how the kidney has changed since birth, we’ll know if this has healed on its own or if he’ll require surgery.

We trust God completely with this, but it certainly is hard to hear the word surgery and Caleb together – that makes it feel real. Our prayer is for the right kidney to miraculously heal on its own or for the Lord to give us peace, trust, patience, and contentment if God’s plan is for Caleb to have surgery or continued kidney problems. Likely, the surgery would take care of the problem for good but we don’t know the story God is writing for Caleb. Just wanted to pass on these updates as we would love you to join us in praying for our little guy.