Ethan's update.

So, the last time we saw the specialist at Children's Hospital for Ethan, the last thing he said to us was, "He's not 100% cleared, but I'm confident it is clearing up and there is no need to see you anymore." It left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth because I felt like *I* wanted to keep seeing him until it was 100% cleared up. But, I tried to have confidence in the fact that I had researched this doctor for several months before we saw him and knew that he was the best in the area. If I can't do anything right, the one thing I can do right is pick the best doctors for my kids when there is something wrong. So, I tried to remember that and to keep in mind that he knows what he's doing. But, there was always that thought in the back of my head of, "What if..." Anyway, Ethan has been the sicker of the two kids for a long time. He gets these fevers and I started journaling to keep track of them and it seemed to occur every six weeks, like clockwork, and would range between 102 and 104, rectally. No other symptoms, except a high fever and lethargy. He would, literally, crawl up on my lap and sleep on me all day long. When I'd move him to play with Ellie, he'd sleep on the couch. What 1-2 year old does that? So, I mentioned it at his 2 year appointment on January 9th. She felt as though the fevers and his kidney history warranted another battery of tests. We're pros at these tests since he had them so much during the first year, so it's not a big deal (until they start sticking tubes up his penis and then I lose it). We went this morning and Ethan was PHENOMENAL. I have to say that because I'm so proud. In fact, the only reason we know as much tonight is because Ethan laid completely still for 30 minutes and allowed the guy to get really good scans and monitor the urine output through the ureter to the kidney and bladder. Anyway, it seemed to be okay and they sent us home. Until 7:30 tonight when our doctor called us and asked if we had some time to talk. Ethan has dilation of the left kidney (always was the problem side) and the urine is basically backwashing. In addition to all of that, they found a new problem. I'm not sure if it was always there and there was no need to mention it or if, now that he's grown a bit, the issue is more pronounced. Basically, when the urine flows from the ureter to the bladder and kidneys, it branches out into (essentially) tree trunk type things. It looks like fingers going from the ureter to the organs. Ethan has too many, which is causing a problem. I'm not sure what the fix is for that, other than going in and taking a laser and "chopping" off some of those branches. I have to go pick up his test results tomorrow and make an appointment with the specialist, then we'll see what he has to say.

I'm kicking myself in the ass right now because I KNEW I should have pushed the issue a year ago when the doc told us that we didn't have to come back. I swore I'd never let a doctor push my mother's intuition down, again. Bah!