Hospital Update....day 11!

Ok.....as the end of day 11 at Dell Children's Hospital an update is in order!  We are STILL here!  We had a small surgery last night to look in her right and left kidneys.  Pretty much  unremarkable.  Which is good, I guess.  However, today we were visited by Dr. George (neurosurgeon) he has taken into account Mel's medical condition right now with her kidneys and looked at the MRIs of her spine.  He has decided that there is a small section of her spine that is tethered and needs to be released.  This could very well be the reason why the huge changes in her bladder that has caused the massive problems with her kidneys.  Let me explain a little more....Mel has a neurogenic bladder....which means that the nerves that go to the bladder and make it work properly were destroyed due to the spina bifida.....since her spinal cord isn't working properly again because of tethering (which can be common in spinal cord injuries) it is causing her bladder that already doesn't work right to function less right.....then causing her kidneys to suffer since they are all connected.  Sooooo, what that means is that we are headed for another surgery very soon!  Dr. George wants to do it "sooner than later".  When asked if it will be on this admission, he wasn't sure...he was going to need a blessing from the infectious disease doctor first....go figure, he doesn't want to open up her spine when she still has an infection!

On the infection front.....Dr. Fernandez came in shaking her head.  She is not too comfortable with what is going on with Mel right now.  She is not confident enough to know that she is getting better the way she wants her too.  We are currently still on 2 IV antibiotics.  Today, Dr. Fernandez ordered some more blood work.  Mel's blood test from day before yesterday showed inflammation in her body again, that had come down some what since she was first admitted.  This is being looked at that there might be more going on....boooooooo!  We repeated that test today and will have it repeated again tomorrow.  For now, it looks like our ideas of possibly going home this weekend is a far stretch!  Oh well...it is what it is!  On a good note, Mel is finally seeming to have longer and better days for the last 48 hours.  An uneventful night was our first night!  She felt good today too.  Her coloring is still pale, still dark circles under her eyes....but better overall. We will see what tomorrow brings!   HOOOOHUMMMMMM

One more thing....OU Still Sucks!  Just sayin'!  Hook'em!  \m/