Monday, June 17th - A bit dejected

Theo spent most of last week on cruise control. His energy was up, his numbers were improving, and his spirits were high. Then, on Friday, things took a turn for the worse.

Initially, we thought it was simply a bad case of teething (which still might prove to be true). Theo has been sleepy, irritable, fussy, and generally un-Theo like over the past three days. Then, this morning's blood test showed that his kidney numbers had deteriorated rather significantly.  His creatinine when from an acceptable 0.80 on Friday to a slightly less acceptable 1.20. We weren't expecting a move in the wrong direction, and this one was rather dramatic. Kidney function shouldn't move that much that way over a weekend.


We had an ultrasound done on the transplanted kidney (known affectionately as Dubya, for those of you who are just joining conversation), and the initial results look like the blood flow is relatively unchanged, which is good. But, we'll head back tomorrow for more testing to see if there are any other moves overnight which would give us an indication of changes in function.

My guess is that we're likely to end up biopsying Dubya to ensure there are no signs of rejection. If there are, we may have to change up our medications so that Dubya can regain her confidence and once again become the kidney she was always meant to be.

Avid readers will note that the last kidney biopsy, shortly after transplant, did not go smoothly and Theo ended up with bleeding afterwards. That bleeding is, in many ways, what lead us down this long and winding path to where we are today.

Natalie and I are both disappointed by these lastest changes. We've had a really great couple of weeks, and Theo has truly started to do amazing things. He had finally been able to act like a little boy, and we look forward to more progress in the right direction.

We've started to ask God, honestly ask, why this boy has to keep hitting rough patches. While we don't yet know the answers, we know that He is in control, and His plan is perfect.