Today I am thankful........

Today I am thankful. Today I am extra thankful. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving so I feel compelled to tell all of the things that I am thankful for. Bear with me.......

I am thankful for

• Dr. Malagon- without her Brayden wouldnt be here with me.
• My husband- he has put up with me for this long, even through the crying fits when I just dont think I can handle one more thing.
• My family- My mom is amazing, she has always been the one to try to look at the bright side when it comes to Buddy. This is hard for me and her because we typically are pessimistic people.
• My job- Luckily I have a job.....I love my job ( most days)....
• The guy who invented dialysis and the guy that decided to try it out on a kid
• Not having to cook dinner for Thanksgiving tomorrow.
• For having a mostly healthy baby that has a problem that can be fixed- I know way to many people that have kids that for one reason or another are going to need help and support their whole lives. I know somewhat what they feel but then again I dont because my baby will be "fixed" after transplant.
• My dialysis mommys- Yvette is has been my #1 when it comes to "venting" about Buddy. Her baby Brandon is 10 days older than Brayden. They are our Twin Kidney Babies! Laura is our newest kidney mommy. Summer is 4 mo old and on Hemo. I am so proud of Laura, she has handled this SOO well. Summer has been thru much more than Brayden had at 4 mo old. Jessica has been a saving grace for me. Logey is 1 year and 1 day older than Buddy and she is who I look up to. She has already been thru it and she is who I will go to when it comes to transplant. I am also thankful for the support groups. There are to many mommys to name but they know who they are. You guys are amazing women ( and men) and you have done such a wonderful job of "growing" your kids!

Last but not least!!!!!!!!

I am thankful for starting the transplant ball rolling today!!!!!!!

Brayden is now 8.76 kg ( 19lb 3 oz). We have started the ball rolling with the insurance companies etc. Next step is to start testing Brayden and Kyle and then talk to the surgeons etc.

Today we saw Dr. Malagon and she was so happy that he looks so great!!! Since changing to Nepro/ Duocal ( his formula) his potassium is actually way low today. It was 2! She considered giving him some potassium but I asked her to hold off and I plan on giving him some bananas today. We also stopped his Bicitra because another lab...CO2 was high. And stopped his Tums because his Calcium is still high. So, we are down to 12 from 18 now!!!!!

I am thankful today. I am thankful everyday but today it just hit me a little harder than normal.

I'm a bad blogger....Sorry

So.......
Since the last time that I posted anything about our life. It has changed alot but then again not much has changed.

Brayden is still of dialysis 9 hours a day, 250cc fills with 180 last fills. He is still the funniest kid on the planet. He still throws up a ton and goes back and forth from eating and not eating.

A few weeks ago he learned to say Mama and Baba and then he had surgery and promptly forgot how to say mama and baba but learned to say Dada and now that's all that I hear! Dadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadada!!!!!! He is the smartest kid on earth! Im serious, I have the smartest 8 month old ever! ( I know everybody says that LOL) He watches what Kyle does and tries to copy it, he waves bye bye, he nods yes and no, when you say Wiggle-wiggle-wiggle he wiggles all over. He is sitting up on his own and starting to put some weight on his hands and knees. Physical therapy is doing amazing things with him!


On the other hand, Our dialysis friends havent been doing so hot lately.

Brandon, Buddy's "twin", has been in and out of the hospital a whole bunch lately. He got a peritonitis ( infection in his bellly from dialysis) and it turned out to be worse than they thought. He had to go onto Hemodialysis ( blood dialysis). He had some complications with that and ended up with an infection in the IV lines that they used for his Hemo. Yesterday they put in the Peritoneal dialysis cath back in and in a week or so they are going back to PD instead of Hemo. Because of his frequent infections, Dr. Malagon wants Brandon to have his transplant much sooner than expected. He is 8kg ( 18lbs) now and the surgeons would prefer him to be 10 kg (20lb). Cincinnati Children's has agreed to look at him soon and hopefully will start the process in the next week or so.
His momma is one of my closest friends and she has just been soooooo stressed out. I feel like Brandon is a part of me too. I just cant imagine how they feel.

Summer, who you guys have never heard about, is a 4 month old lil sweetheart. She is new to our dialysis clinic. She was born on time but had to have both of her kidneys taken out because of a genetic disorder that caused tumors on them. He has been on both the Hemo and PD dialysis. Last week, she "crashed". Her oxygen was very low and she had to go back on the ventilator because they found a hole in her diaphragm from the PD ( this is a fairly common complication). She was doing better then crashed again. They think she might have an infection or the flu. Her momma is taking all of this like a champ. I guess we dont really have a choice to take it well or not. We are all in survival mode.






I am thankful that I have a baby that is as healthy as he can be. A happy baby and a baby that is at home with me. When I get on my pitty party for myself, I think of all the other amazing parents that are going thru more than I am at the moment. Please pray for all of our babies!

I will try not to be such a bad blogger.