A reader wanted to know if I was potty training Abigail.  Unfortunately, we are not, due to her medical condition, Kidney Reflux.

We were advised by the Urologist and Pediatrician not to start potty training her until at least 2 years of age.  Because of her Kidney Reflux, she has a tendency to hold her urine (Even during her VCUG, they had to squirt water on her girly parts for a LONG time to try to get her to pee), but also let it out in little bits very often (which is why her diaper seems to always be wet but not with much in it).  Also, there’s the risk of more Urinary Tract Infections when trying to potty train.

I have read other moms (very few; I need to find more!) talk about how potty training their Kidney Reflux child took longer and was more difficult than their normal child.  GREAT!  And most of them said they didn’t start until 3.

So, I actually need advice from parents who had to potty train a child with Kidney Reflux, as it might be different from training a child without this condition.  Anyone have tips?  Resources?

Or if anyone wants to share their experiences with potty training their non-kidney reflux kid for the other readers, please do so.

I made a 17 month movie of Abigail with Jonathan’s stupid Mac (only because it’s faster than my PC).  But for the bazillionth time, it’s having trouble uploading.  It strips out the video from the video clips, and it doesn’t include the music at all!  Ugh.  It never had problems uploading the movies I made on my PC.  I hate Macs!!!!

Anyway, so I’ll do a “Happy 18 Months” post for her whenever I get the video straightened out.  Until then, I’ll give you an update on her appointments today.

Abigail had a renal ultrasound done on her kidneys and bladder.  She absolutely hated it.  It wasn’t painful (maybe a little cold), but ever since her VCUG, she’s just so scared of doctors/nurses.  I even was able to hold her the whole time, but she still cried the whole time!  About 20 minutes or more.

Because of all her squirming, they couldn’t get a very good read, but they don’t think there is any scarring on her kidneys.  They did say that her left kidney is larger than her right one.  But her bladder looks okay.

So far, she’s doing okay on her prophylatic antibiotic, and we’ll continue that until her next VCUG in about 9 months.

Cutest smile ever, right?!

Abby had an appointment with a Pediatric Urologist last week, and we feel a lot better having talked things out with the doctor.

Here are some things we learned:

• She told us potty training might be different because Aibgail will have a tendency to hold her urine or only let little bits out at a time, not fully emptying her bladder.
• Deflux is a good option for Abigail, but the success rate is only 80% (whereas Ureteral Reimplant Surgery has a 99% success rate).  She said she wouldn’t be opposed to doing either of these, but she said if it were her daughter, she would wait it out a little bit to see if the Reflux gets better.
• She said there won’t be any problems with Abigail’s fertility because of this.
• We have to get a Renal Ultrasound done on Abigail next month, and then, we’ll have a follow up appointment with the Urologist to see if there is any scarring on Abby’s kidneys or if her kidneys are dilated.
• On the advice of our Urologist, here are the reasons we might choose Deflux or the Surgery soon (which is a relative term): 1.  If it shows that she does have scarring or dilation of the kidneys.  2.  If she gets any breakthrough infections while on the Antibiotics.  3.  If at her next VCUG, her Reflux Grade has stayed the same or gotten worse

I asked how long we would “wait and see” if the reflux didn’t completely went away.  Would it be 5 or 9 years minimum before we started looking into corrective options?  The Urologist said that she wouldn’t want to wait even 5 years; she thinks she’d want it corrected within 3 years.  I think she’s confident that it should get better without corrective measures (not counting antibiotics).  I sure hope so.

**Enter the Giveaway here.**

Jonathan and I took Abigail to get her VCUG test today (I talked about this here).  It was absolutely heart wrenching.

They put her in a plastic cradle and tied her arms down with cloth and her stomach with an ace bandage.

Immediately, she started crying.  So, we gave her a little rubber ducky that she likes and started reading books to her.  We’d get her to calm down every so often (and by that, I mean sobbing) when I’d ask her “What does a fish say?” or “Can you say, “PapaBon,” etc, but she cried for at least 20 minutes straight.  When they put the catheter in, I had to step away, so she wouldn’t see the tears starting to form in my eyes.  It was rough.

The technician said that he couldn’t put a grade (1-5) on it, but she was refluxing.  Then, I got a call from my Pedi’s office a few hours later, and the Pedi (our normal Pedi is out for the summer) said that the full report isn’t ready yet (we’ll hear from a Urologist), but that Abby has between a Grade 2 or Grade 3 Kidney Reflux, probably a mild 3.  He said his daughter had a Grade 4, and she had surgery for it.  Scary.

He called in an Antibiotic, and we’re supposed to give it to her every day for about 9 months.  And then, she’ll have another VCUG.  Not what I want to hear.

**UPDATE: Jonathan and I were talking about this test when he got home from work.  He said the part that killed him was when Abigail was signing, “All done” over and over again.**

**Another Edit: Abigail was also sobbing “out,” “down,” “up,” and “please” every few minutes during the procedure.  Poor girl.  I hated that I couldn’t get her out.  For those of you who have wondered what kidney reflux is, here’s a short version (as best as I can understand it): Normally urine flows from the kidneys through tubes called ureters to the bladder, then into the diaper.  Vesicoureteral Reflux (kidney reflux) happens when the bladder contracts and some of the urine goes back up into the ureters and in Abigail’s case (grade 2-5 reflux) goes back into the kidneys.  This puts pressure on the kidneys, scars the kidneys, and provides an opening for bacteria to go up farther into the body (hence her urinary tract infections).

Does anyone have kids with Kidney Reflux?  I’m trying to find out all the information I can on it.