deflux for the reflux

Sasha, Mark and myself have all been sicky to some degree this past week...runny noses are now almost subsided...the fog is starting to clear...

Sasha has been booked for the deflux procedure on March 14th. If all goes well she'll be off the antibiotics and on the road to reflux recovery within a month of the procedure! yeah :)

In the past week tooth number 3 & 4 have finally cut through and are quite visible now. Soon her two front teeth will be in full view. (hey, when do they sing "all i want for xmas is my 2 front teeth"?)

Sasha is going to attend her first rally on Tuesday in defence of child care. Though it would be great to go to the large one in Victoria, we're going to hang with Gilly and Merlin at the rally in Vancouver at city hall. First time Gilly and I really hung out was many years ago on a journey for another rally at the legislature...seems there's much need for showing a collective voice to make a point in our 'democracy'! Good times ;)

Seriously...when it comes to child care I know countless families who have had a struggle to find quality, affordable and convenient choices when it comes to care for their children. Many folks don't have the financial resources to stay home or hire a nanny, or the extended family network to provide a lot of choice.

It may be great to get that $100 a month, but in my mind it makes far more sense for our tax dollars to be invested in providing a universal child care system. Who can afford the care they need on this money?! (and we're taxed on something we pay with our taxes?!!)

The people who commit themselves to taking care of our children also deserve to be paid respectably for their work...especially as we know that the first handful of years are the most important stage of our development! There should be quality training for those who seek to care for kids as their profession, and standards parents can rely on.

And most importantly - every child deserves a healthy start in life. Research has proven how important the first few years really are. Since our society is not structured around a 9-5 world anymore, there needs to be flexible options for families to provide the best care for their kids.

Enough of my soapboxing...but please contact your local MLA, MP, and city councilor and share your story. Everyone knows someone with a nightmare child care ordeal...let's help provide the structure necessary for a generation who finally won't have this stress...hopefully our kids! (not our grandkids!) We benefited from a generation who invested in a universal public education system (though there is a lot of room for improvement here...but that's another soapbox for another day...) and now it's our turn to help shape the continued effort to improve our society. Isn't that what an educated, wealthy and compassionate society does?

If you want more information on what's happening with child care advocacy, research or government policy, and what you can do to make a difference, I highly recommend you check out one of the following links:

Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada - www.childcareadvocacy.ca
Coalition of Child Care Advocates BC - www.cccabc.bc.ca
First Call BC Child & Youth Advocacy Coalition - www.firstcallbc.org
BCGEU Child Care Campaign - www.bcgeu.ca/campaigns/child_care
-this site is loaded with materials and links to help you take action

Here's a couple more pics of my cutie who keeps me inspired to stay active and informed...

9 months & "she's thriving!"

so says our lovely pediatrician :)

We have decided to book Sasha for the deflux procedure after much thought about it. It has been highly recommended and the risks seem very minimal for the amazing outcome of getting her off antibiotics and enabling her body to outgrow the problem without further complications. (well a much larger chance of it anyway!)

Dr. Hailey was absolutely thrilled with Sasha's development (she declared "she's thriving" with enthusiasm!) and is confident the procedure will benefit her greatly. She has grown in length...two inches in the past month (now 30 inches long)!! Her weight continues to hover around 22 lbs and overall her health is fantastic.

She also seems to be quite the overachiever. Dr. H says she is anywhere from 3 weeks to a couple of months ahead of "normal" in all stages of development so far, though girls typically speed through these stages faster than boys. She is a stubborn problem solver so this probably helps too! (my daughter stubborn?! teehee)

Now that she has actually begun cruising I'd actually be happy if she'd slow down a bit in her development! LOL ;)

here are just a few more pics to tide you over 'til the next update...in cahoots with Merlin cruising around the table, showing off at home (above) and clever thing has figured out how to open the tupperware drawer! (time to get on that baby proofing!)

reflux update...

Tuesday we spent the day at Children's Hospital and Sasha had an ultrasound and DMSA renal scan to see how her kidneys are doing. (Thank you Virginia, Janice and Adrienne for the visits with you which broke up the day and the extra hugs were great!)

Thankfully we met with the urologist at the end of it all so we knew the results right away (well...over 45 minutes in the waiting room is not exactly right away...but I've had to wait many days for results before and that really sucks!)

to recap what the problem is Sasha has Vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) which occurs when the valve between the ureters and the bladder is not working properly. It should operate as a one-way valve. Instead, it operates as a two-way valve and can allow urine in the bladder to flow backwards (reflux) into one or both ureters and kidneys.

and the results...it looks like her right kidney has suffered some damage, though it is unclear whether this is scar tissue from the infection in June or new damage caused by the reflux of the urine from the bladder back into the kidneys.

(I also have scar tissue on my right kidney from my infection as a teen. I'll soon be having a follow up ultrasound as our doctor wants to ensure that it is only scar tissue and not a new problem...great!)

anyways...the two main options we now have to consider are these:
1. continue with the antibiotics for a couple of years (with follow up tests along the way to measure progress) and see if her body can outgrow the reflux problem on it's own. With this option she has a 50% of making it to age 3 without further complications. However, the antibiotics are no guarantee that she will not get another infection...
2. Sasha can have a procedure called Deflux. This is an endoscopic procedure (not a surgery that requires cutting open, however she would be sedated) where the surgeon injects a gel around the ureter opening to create a valve function and stop urine from flowing back up the ureter. This basically provides a structure for her cells to grow around as well. The risks are 'minimal' - along with the usual risks involved with being sedated, etc. The procedure gives her a 75% chance of recovery...and we can take her off the antibiotics.

so, we have an appointment with our pediatrician next Friday, and after a week or so to think it over and do some more research on our options (and are there any others?) we will discuss it with her before making our final decision. It may seem like a no brainer to some...but I want to be confident we are making the best choice for her health.

as it stands she may have high-blood pressure problems in her future due to the damage done (so we need to make sure her blood pressure is checked regularly), but so far she seems to be in great health.

if you are interested in medical procedures, or curious to learn more about the Deflux procedure Sasha may have, the web site from the pamphlet we were given is www.deflux.com

I'll update again after we meet with our pediatrician and have made up our mind...in the mean time, here are some more picks of Sasha living la vida loca!
- her first swing ride, my favorite bath pics, telling a story and exploring her world on foot!
- conspiring with her buddies Merlin and Charlie (Sasha and Charlie broke into big smiles after I took this one)

Thanks to all of you for your positive energy and concern for Sashas' health...your support means a lot! :)

Happy New Year!

Sasha crawled into the new year after taking her first 'steps' (to try and reach Aunty Mel's pretty bracelet) on christmas day! She also pulled herself to standing all on her own the same day...very memorable! And now she is a moving machine...can't stop her!

She begins 2007 (after her last doctor's appointment for her immunizations shots) weighing in at 22 lbs and 28 inches in length. So she has plateaued a bit...except for her head which is the only part that grew in the last month and 1/2! I keep saying we gotta make sure she doesn't get a big head from everyone gushing at her that she's beautiful...lol!

Anyways, I'll write again next week when we will actually have the update on the progress of her kidneys, reflux problem, etc. (the key health issue in our mind!)

for now here are some fave pics from the holidays and into the new year. check out the hat that Che made for her (actually the best gift we got this year was the tree ornament that he made for her first xmas...it is so AWESOME!!)...and one of the best pics is of Sasha being held by cousin Brett :)

happy holidays :)

This holiday season has been a wonderful time so far! It's been a little wet...but we also had over a week of beautiful white snow, and it was so much fun to see how Sasha reacted to the glow of the winter wonderland :)

The last time I actually wrote an update was close to 2 months ago now...and boy oh boy, does a lot ever happen in the life of a baby in that time!

So instead of giving the update in story mode, I'll keep it concise. On the health front she has now had her second round of immunization shots which she barely reacted to, and the third set are scheduled for early January. Our pediatrician is still thrilled with Sasha's development, which is good news. For weight and length she is in the 97th percentile for her age at 21 lbs and 28 inches long (mind you that was a couple of weeks ago...and we just had to upscale to the next diaper size - already size 4!!)

The not so good news was that she could be on antibiotics for up to two years as we wait for her to outgrow the reflux problem with her kidneys. Her reflux is about as bad as it gets apparently, so there is little chance of her outgrowing it within her 1st year. Since she is at easy risk for infections she will need the antibiotics to reduce her chances...'cuz another urine or kidney infection could require surgery to correct it. So for now, she is super happy & healthy and we remain positive.

January 23rd we will spend the day at Children's hospital where two tests she had done while in hospital will be redone. Our follow up with the urology specialist will be right after the tests so he'll be able to let us know how much progress she's making and if any major damage has occurred. She will also be radioactive baby for a couple of days again...maybe she'll end up with a super power ;)

As for the rest of life, I'll let the pictures tell the tale. Here are the highlights:

- Sasha has been sitting up all by herself for a couple of weeks now. She's so close to crawling...working hard to move a few inches forward at this point before she decides rolling there is easier for the moment. She's pulling herself to standing while holding hands, and likes to practice walking too
- check out the smiling pic where you can see her bottom teeth! her third tooth up top is on it's way...
- checkin' out the winter wonderland with me on the deck and on a walk with daddy
- center of attention with Aunty Karli and her cousins Sarah and Elise...and again with Granpa and Granma Liz
- on the lap of her brother in a pic with her cousins Cheyenne and Keyanon, and on the lap of Aunty Julie who's expecting in a couple of months (yeah!)
- below are pics of Sasha with her buddies Merlin and Charlie, and also a pic of her new friend Melody (it was amazing to watch Melody and try to imagine Sasha at 15 months next year at the folk fest!)
- not at all a fussy eater, below are pics of her first teething cookie and sucking a lime! I thought she would pucker up and refuse it...but after a quick grimace she put it back in her mouth for more!
- sacked out with daddy on the couch, and trying on his glasses for a look at a blurry world ;)
- she attended her 1st Music with Marnie show (we love our friend Marnie! and if you have kids you must check out her shows, or CD's...even better if you're in Vancouver...both! www.musicwithmarnie.com) at a Kids Around the World event.
And if I haven't told you about Kids Around the World yet...shame on me! please please visit www.kidsaroundtheworld.ca and "Come See the World in Our City" (I'll include more info on this developing children's museum in a future post)

And to end on a positive note for the year (next update will be in 2007!)...
the free hug campaign continues to spread across the globe (there are now videos from many countries!) and it really warms my heart to see it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l53QBX6TxyU

please follow the link and see the power and the beauty of a hug (and I really love the part when the students all pile on the bus to hug the driver and passengers!)

be part of the revolution and hug someone new today!

Happy holidays...and cheers to days full of wonder in the new year. Thank you for your positive energy in the first year of Sasha's life with us!

peace to you and yours
Kathy, Mark, Che and Sasha
:)