One Year Urology Check-Up

Today was Ameliya's 1 year check up following her bilateral ureteral reimplantation surgery.  Papa Curtis was our escort for the day, and we're thankful for him sacrificing a sunny farm day for us.  Seeing how Papa was in "charge" little Dolly had plenty of spoiling - chicken nuggets, donut, chocolate milk, ice cream 😉.

We started with an ultrasound of bladder, kidneys, and urinary tract at the hospital. 

After radiology we headed to see Dr. Storm at the Coralville clinic.  Radiology had gotten us through quickly, so we were early to see the doctor, but he was actually running behind, so we had time to kill.  Luckily there was a nice breeze and shade on the small playground at the clinic.

Mia played outside for about an hour and then we headed up and she played iPad in the waiting room.

In the office she had a urine spin test (new to me!) and a bedside scan post void - it showed her bladder was completely empty after she pottied!  This is good.

{she got loads of compliments on her dress, too!}

Dr. Storm declared her a 100% success and gave us the all clear with his card to call if ever we need him.  Her surgery is "for life" and will grow with her, so no further correction should be needed.  We are still having a hard time with night time dryness, but he gave us some tips and a recommendation for a night bed alarm and said that this is normal for kids through much older ages than 5.  During the day, especially while she was recovering, we taught her to drink lots and lots of water and go potty every 90-120 minutes, so it makes sense that it would be hard for her body to just shut that off at night.  She often gets up in the night to get a drink and sleeps pretty hard so we aren't altogether shocked that night dryness is a struggle.

If you know any of Mia's journey of the last year+, you know how hard we fought to get her to not lose weight and to keep any weight on over the course of several months.  She went backwards in clothes sizes, was constantly puking, and had no appetite.  The infections in her body just took over everything.  One of the most exciting things to me was that she has gained almost FIFTEEN POUNDS since a year ago.  Her hair is growing, she's getting so tall, and she finally looks solid again - not so delicate and breakable.  When Dr. Storm came in he said, "she looks GOOD!" He's so right.  We praise God for sending Dr. Storm into our lives and bringing our Millie girl full circle.  We're forever thankful.

We introduced Papa to Cold Stone Creamery today before we headed home.

It was a long day, but a positive day and (even though my swollen feet and legs protest) I'm glad to have this done before the baby comes.

Thank you to our support people who carried us through the journey - Steph at the clinic, both sets of our parents and siblings, and so many friends and extended family.

Mia, we're proud of how strong you've been these last 2 years, and how you've handled everything that's been thrown at you with almost an excitement for the adventure and maturity in the journey.  You know a lot more about how your urinary system works than any other 5 year old I know!  This was not an easy road, this was not a road we chose, but it was the road we were sent down and we made it, Sister.  We love you, darling girl.