For the past few days now we've been very anxious about the status of Maia's kidneys, and how they're not working like they're supposed to. Especially after our last meeting, where the focus turned to what might happen when they don't work at all, so we've all been praying, and expecting the worst while hoping for the best. On Saturday night, Maia gave us a sign that things may be headed in a positive direction! Everyone's pee pee dance and pee pee songs are finally paying off!
Gordon had to work a full day Saturday, so we went to visit Maia a little later than we usually do. Marcus didn't really feel like going and we didn't want to force him to go. Plus, with the doctor's words of discouragement (is that even a word?), Gordon felt it might be best if Marcus not get too attached to Maia, more than he already is... so my cousin, Melanie aka "Nining," was nice enough to watch Marcus for a few hours. Thank you!.... When we arrived at the hospital, the nurse said Maia was doing good and had been stable most of the day but that they were having some problems draining fluids with her dialysis. So Maia was swollen, but had been slowly shrinking throughout the day... she also mentioned that Maia had a pee pee diaper! I couldn't believe it at first, but she insisted that earlier in her shift she changed a pee pee diaper. I still couldn't believe it until she did another diaper change several minutes later and showed us the actual diaper!... don't worry, I didn't take a pic! It wasn't just a few questionable drops like before, it was yellow all over and the nurse even showed us the outside of the diaper where the little indicator strip had changed colors! So now we were excited and happy... finally she's started to pee again! It's what we've been waiting and praying for! It's a sign that her kidneys have started working again by making urine!
The following day we came into Maia's room to find her bed in the reclined position! It was almost like she had her own Lazy Boy chair! I guess in her case it's more like a Lazy Girl! The nurse said she hadn't peed yet, but had peed during the middle of the night. Although she had shrunk some more overnight, the nurse was still having some trouble with the peritoneal dialysis and has been trying to manipulate the catheter and also Maia's position to drain the fluids. It was taking longer than usual and turning Maia left and right every once in a while seemed to help. It seemed like Maia was liking this reclined position too! Who could blame her? At least she was looking at things from a different angle, even if it was just for 30 minutes.
On Monday, Maia's dialysis catheter was still causing problems with draining the fluids and when we entered her room, Maia was laying down on her tummy! It sounds funny, but we had never seen her back before, so we found it somewhat amusing! She even got a back scratch from Daddy without even asking! Maia wasn't complaining and the nurse even said all her vital signs and blood gas numbers looked better in this position. We asked about her pee (a daily question now) and the nurse said she peed a little bit, but not too much. For us, a little bit is better than nothing! We also got a visit from one of the renal doctors who informed us that since Maia has started to make urine again, it will take another week or so for some consistency. So we shouldn't worry too much if she pees one day and not the next... good to know! The nurse also said that the main reason Maia was on her back was because of the catheter. It wasn't working well at all so she notified the catheter specialist who would take a look at it the following day to see if it needed to be replaced, or if they could just flush it out in case there is something causing some blockage. Doctors and specialists later came in and discussed this with Gordon. Maia will go down to the operating room around 10am Tuesday morning to have her catheter checked out.
After trying not to worry so much, I get a call Tuesday around noon. It's one of the catheter specialists that did the procedure on Maia. They found some blockage in the catheter and were able to flush it out, so they did not need to replace the catheter, which would've been more invasive. They removed part of her omentum, which is tissue on the abdominal lining that is known to cause blockages in these catheters. It's also known to have no significant function, similar to the appendix. So a few hours later, we go to see Maia and she's sleeping, still recovering from her procedure. First thing we noticed about the peritoneal dialysis is that fluid drains immediately now, almost gushing out and takes less than 5 minutes. This was a dramatic change from yesterday when it was such a slow process to drain. So with that blockage taken care of, Maia should continue to shrink down to her normal size.
We're hoping Maia continues to remain stable with no major complications. We also hope she continues to pee!... once again, thank you to everyone for their prayers and support!
Gordon had to work a full day Saturday, so we went to visit Maia a little later than we usually do. Marcus didn't really feel like going and we didn't want to force him to go. Plus, with the doctor's words of discouragement (is that even a word?), Gordon felt it might be best if Marcus not get too attached to Maia, more than he already is... so my cousin, Melanie aka "Nining," was nice enough to watch Marcus for a few hours. Thank you!.... When we arrived at the hospital, the nurse said Maia was doing good and had been stable most of the day but that they were having some problems draining fluids with her dialysis. So Maia was swollen, but had been slowly shrinking throughout the day... she also mentioned that Maia had a pee pee diaper! I couldn't believe it at first, but she insisted that earlier in her shift she changed a pee pee diaper. I still couldn't believe it until she did another diaper change several minutes later and showed us the actual diaper!... don't worry, I didn't take a pic! It wasn't just a few questionable drops like before, it was yellow all over and the nurse even showed us the outside of the diaper where the little indicator strip had changed colors! So now we were excited and happy... finally she's started to pee again! It's what we've been waiting and praying for! It's a sign that her kidneys have started working again by making urine!
The following day we came into Maia's room to find her bed in the reclined position! It was almost like she had her own Lazy Boy chair! I guess in her case it's more like a Lazy Girl! The nurse said she hadn't peed yet, but had peed during the middle of the night. Although she had shrunk some more overnight, the nurse was still having some trouble with the peritoneal dialysis and has been trying to manipulate the catheter and also Maia's position to drain the fluids. It was taking longer than usual and turning Maia left and right every once in a while seemed to help. It seemed like Maia was liking this reclined position too! Who could blame her? At least she was looking at things from a different angle, even if it was just for 30 minutes.
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| Maia in her reclined position |
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| Maia enjoying her Lazy Girl |
On Monday, Maia's dialysis catheter was still causing problems with draining the fluids and when we entered her room, Maia was laying down on her tummy! It sounds funny, but we had never seen her back before, so we found it somewhat amusing! She even got a back scratch from Daddy without even asking! Maia wasn't complaining and the nurse even said all her vital signs and blood gas numbers looked better in this position. We asked about her pee (a daily question now) and the nurse said she peed a little bit, but not too much. For us, a little bit is better than nothing! We also got a visit from one of the renal doctors who informed us that since Maia has started to make urine again, it will take another week or so for some consistency. So we shouldn't worry too much if she pees one day and not the next... good to know! The nurse also said that the main reason Maia was on her back was because of the catheter. It wasn't working well at all so she notified the catheter specialist who would take a look at it the following day to see if it needed to be replaced, or if they could just flush it out in case there is something causing some blockage. Doctors and specialists later came in and discussed this with Gordon. Maia will go down to the operating room around 10am Tuesday morning to have her catheter checked out.
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| A new position for Maia! |
After trying not to worry so much, I get a call Tuesday around noon. It's one of the catheter specialists that did the procedure on Maia. They found some blockage in the catheter and were able to flush it out, so they did not need to replace the catheter, which would've been more invasive. They removed part of her omentum, which is tissue on the abdominal lining that is known to cause blockages in these catheters. It's also known to have no significant function, similar to the appendix. So a few hours later, we go to see Maia and she's sleeping, still recovering from her procedure. First thing we noticed about the peritoneal dialysis is that fluid drains immediately now, almost gushing out and takes less than 5 minutes. This was a dramatic change from yesterday when it was such a slow process to drain. So with that blockage taken care of, Maia should continue to shrink down to her normal size.
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| Ready to shrink back to normal |
We're hoping Maia continues to remain stable with no major complications. We also hope she continues to pee!... once again, thank you to everyone for their prayers and support!
Sending prayers and love to all. Thanks for these updates. I look forward to reading them. Love Aunt Noni
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