To Pee or Not to Pee

When we arrived to the hospital on Friday morning, we knew that Jackson had not peed for awhile.  This is obviously concerning and since the doctors didn't know what was causing the fluid in his abdomen, they called in a specialist ( a nephrologist / kidney doctor) to look at his kidneys and see if there was anything they could do.  Basically, the nephrologist told us that modern medicine wasn't advanced enough to really understand what was happening with his kidneys and that there wasn't much known that would help him urinate.  Later that night, the night doctor came in and said he wanted to try something that sometimes works.  He gave Jackson some medicine and told us that he didn't know why, but sometimes this medicine was able to jump start kidneys that had stopped working in older children.

Well, it worked; kind of.  Jackson peed and has continued to pee in small amounts!!!!  This is very good news as he went over 30 hours without peeing.  The substances in his blood that the kidneys filter out have always been high but they got really high during those 30hrs.  Now, his levels have lowered a little since urinating.  The doctors now think that the fluid build up in his gut is actually urine coming from his kidneys.  Mercy felt that the team of specialists in Iowa city, would be the best team to help us figure out what is happening.  So, we were transported to Iowa city where they are currently studying and trying to learn more about kidney issues in micro-preemie babies.  The doctors and nurses  in Des Moines have told us repeatedly that Iowa City might not now exactly what is going on but they have the best shot at figuring it out and being able to do something about it.

We made it to Iowa City around 5:30pm last night and Jackson made the trip in remarkable form.  All of his vitals and electrolyte levels are looking better.  Today Jackson will  receive two tests to help determine if and where a blockage in his urinary tract is located that could be causing high enough urinary pressure to cause a rupture which would have caused his urine to spill into his body cavity instead of out of his body as it should.  Since Jackson's white blood cell counts have also started coming down, the doctors in Iowa City are in no hurry to remove the drain from his abdominal cavity since it is allowing a path for his urine to leave the body.  At this point we are almost positive the fluid in his body cavity is urine and not some other substance.  Furthermore, they are possibly going to want to leave the drain in his abdomen open for a while.  If there is a blockage in his urinary tract, once he is a little bigger they can try and go in and remove it; or if there is a rupture, it may just heal itself over time if we can keep his urinary back-pressure to a minimum.  So either way, the drain won't hurt anything as long as it doesn't get infected.

Please pray for guidance and discernment for the doctors and technicians as they run Jackson through a few tests to help determine the cause of the problem and as they determine how to best resolve the issue.  Please pray that Jackson's kidneys were not permanently damaged through the process also.  Please also pray for Annie and me as this now means we will be either apart from each other or apart from Jackson for greater amounts of time since Iowa City is further from Pella.  However, it also means Jackson has the best medical shot at getting better.  Thank you for your continued prayers for God's will to be done and for our little man to be healthy.