Another Doctor Visit

Well poor little Lila Drew has had a fever of almost 102 degrees for the past two days. For most other people with kids; it's just a fever, you watch them for a bit and make sure everything else is fine. You may decide to make a doctors appointment and you go from there. This is not the case with our little one.

Lila has Vesicoureteral reflux (VUR). Because she has VUR we have to be seen by a doctor within 24 hours of a fever with no obvious cause to make sure she doesn't have a urinary tract infection. I know I have said something about this in a previous post but VUR usually isn't a huge deal. Grades I-III usually just mean antibiotics everyday until it clears up on it's own. Not for us, Lila has grade II on her right side but grade IV on her left.



shows the ureter and kidney



VUR is when the urine from the bladder flows up through the ureter and back into the kidney, this doesn't do any harm unless she has an infection, but VUR makes children more pron to infection.

 Her last infection was so severe we know it already irreversible damaged her kidneys. Any future infection would do the same.

Because Lila's VUR is so bad we had to be referred to Stanford Pediatric Urology where we were told she HAS to be on antibiotics everyday, no matter what. That if she even misses one day she could get another UTI. The doctor told us she needs to be seen at 1 year old to have another ultrasound of her kidneys, then again at 18 months to have another VCUG. The VCUG was the worst thing in the world and I don't want to do it again but after that test they will decide whether or not to do surgery to reimplant the left ureter to the right side of the bladder. They are hoping the right side just heals on it's own.

Hearing that your baby is just so fragile and may need surgery is pretty hard to swallow. She is just the happiest little girl and even when she is sick or in the hospital she tries so very hard to smile and laugh. She may only be 8 months old (today :)) but she inspires me. She may be tiny but she's a huge light in our lives and I am so grateful for her.

I keep telling myself after each dr visit that it could always be worse. She is still happy and for the most part healthy and for that I am thankful.

Now we just have to keep our fingers crossed that her results come back negative and this whole fever thing was a fluke!

On a lighter note HAPPY 8 MONTHS to my little girl: