So today’s appointment went AWESOME! (Besides waiting in the room for 45 minutes – God bless specialists at a PPO…)
Dr. Smith was SUCH a great doctor – he listened to all our details, added them all up with the evidence we DO have (from her recent tests and whatnot), and plotted out a great plan of action with and for us.
In a nutshell we are attacking the problem as proactively as we can without jumping right to surgery. She will be adding a LOT of fiber to her diet, wearing a stopwatch to remind her to “go potty” every two hours, and will be on long-term antibiotics to all hopefully combine to KEEP THE BAD BACTERIA AWAY!!! So I get to learn how to bake with lots of wheat germ (does anyone have any wheat germ they can spare?!?!?), keep her on a strict regimen of routine snacks/meals plus potty trips, and all in all – hopefully keep her out of the OR!
she has one more test on Monday the 20th which will not involve any kind of 
sedation or pain, but will hopefully give us a very clear picture of any anatomical or structural abnormalities that WOULD require immediate intervention. The bad news is, the test we took her for a few weeks ago, where they didn’t end up sedating her, turned into, in his words “just a fun form of torture”. The way they had to complete the test (complete with screaming crying child and me not able to be in the room with her due to radiation+pregnancy = bad combo), ended up telling them next to nothing, except that she has this complete lack of muscle support in the back of her bladder. It doesn’t tell us which came first – the muscle blowout being there from birth, or if it happened AFTER all of these UTI’s. SO, if next Monday’s test indicates that there are structural issues, then we’ll go BACK in and do the sedated test, BUT at that time they would also be able to concurrently fix the issues. So no EXTRA surgeries or sedation. UNLESS (of course there’s always an unless), her bladder “hole” is such that there is no more support for the “fix” to grip onto. There’s just no way of knowing for sure until they get in there with the scope.
I truly feel a peace that i didn’t think I would about this approach. so I know its God’s direction for her. It’s God’s way of not overwhelming me right now with too much information if that’s not what i need to know at this moment in time. Sure, she MAY still need surgery, but it’s not immediate and its not happening before this baby comes and she’s not doing more internal damage with every day that goes by. those were my main fears.
i am not a superfan of the antibiotics on a daily basis either, but I also have to say, if it takes us into bad infection season with a new baby with SOME sense of peace for me that she isn’t going to develop some horrific UTI or ear infection, then so be it and Praise God. We’ll just do lots of Florastor and yogurt!
overall, i know she is in God’s hands. and i think that’s the best kin
d of peace you can get. knowing who knows the outcome, and knowing that i don’t have to worry about it anymore. for now at least.
So back to the ol’ grind we go.
midwife appointments for me, MOPS meetings, dental appointments, portrait sessions all weekend, a trip to Chuck E. Cheese for good school behavior, gymnastics lessons, teething toddlers and a special project for my grandma as a favor (because really, who can say no when their grandma asks them to help with a special surprise present?) Ugh. Its all making me very tired. I just need ONE good nite’s sleep, sans Billy Blanks workouts occurring in my womb.
Thanks for all the prayers and happy thoughts from so many of you across the country as we went in today – each and every one of them was felt and so appreciated. Another special thanks to my darling better half – who woke up at the crack of dawn to make a 5.5 hour journey back home to be with us for the appointment before having to leave immediately afterwards to drive three more hours to make it to his next meeting. And in the midst of it all – he stopped at sonic to fulfill the craving of one very pregnant lady for a footlong coney dog and tots. And i’ll be darned if that 3 hour cold chili dog wasn’t THE BEST MEAL i have had in a very long time. Because it was served with love. Thanks benj – you’re my hero! (yes for lots of other reasons than just because you went to sonic for me!)
Stay tuned tomorrow for my review of the Indi-Flamers concert from Sunday nite! It was truly THE BEST Indigo Girls concert I have ever been to. You’ll all be dying to know, I know.
Auf Wiedersehen!
terra