Just one more thing...

Well, as I have recently been only too happy to report, Elise has been doing extraordinarily well....much better than I ever imagined she would be this point, just 2 months post-Kasai. As a result, her liver clinic appointments have been seemingly more routine...not alarming by any means. However, at this last clinic appointment this past week, we were just about to leave the office when the doctor added "one more thing;" he said that Elise needed to be tested for urinary reflux. You could say I was less than excited to have to bring Elise back to Children's hospital for another test, exposing her to another dose of radiation, but the rationale did seem reasonable, and the benefits of this test reportedly outweigh the risks, so we scheduled the VCUG test.

This past Friday, I brought Elise to Texas Childrens' for the voiding cystourethrogram (VCUG), and the result is positive; Elise has grade 4 urinary reflux, which is obviously not good news. The doctor said that 80% of babies with urinary reflux outgrow it, so we could just "wait and see," and re-test in about 18 months...but...in the meantime, she would slowly be incurring kidney damage. We will be bringing her to a pediatric urologist within the next week at Texas Children's Hospital to further explore our options.  After doing some research and speaking with Elise's pediatrician and GI doctor, I am in favor of attempting to "fix" the problem now by having the urologist perform a "Deflux"procedure.  ANYWAY...this is just one more thing, but at least there is a fairly simple solution, and we can look forward to eliminating this issue.

On a bright note...David, Elise, Ethan, and I had dinner with a fellow "liver family" last night.  It was just so wonderful visit with them and to share experiences and ideas. They, along with many other liver families and friends, will be participating in the Liver Life Walk Houston 2012 next month with us.   By clicking on this link below, you can learn more about this event and visit Elise's personal Liver Walk fundraising page:

"Click" HERE to visit Elise's Liver Walk Houston 2012 personal page