The Pee Diary

Amazing, how 7 years ago, I NEVER would've talked about what goes on in the bathroom with complete strangers, much less put it on the internet for all to read. My how 7 years and 4 children can change your perspective. I write, not to make you laugh (although you might) or to make light of a serious situation (I'm not), rather I ramble on to ask for your prayers for one John Paul the Great. So, here goes...

Scott and I have become increasingly concerned about how often John Paul goes to the bathroom. I called the urologist last week to schedule an appointment. Evidently there is an unspoken rule here in Austin that you can have no more than 3 pediatric urologists per 1 million people. So, to get him in to see Dr. Cortez would take like 4 centuries. We settled for an appointment with the Nurse Practioner in this century, instead. After an ultrasound, a pee test and a physical exam, we learned lots of things (ok, Scott actually learned all these things and told them to me; I was at my doc doing spin classes, remember?):

1) He has fluid in both kidneys (not in and of itself bad, but still not entirely normal)
2) He may not be emptying his bladder completely (thus the reason for 1,000 trips a day)
3) He needs more fiber (we'll just leave it at that)

We go to Children's sometime next week for a further test to see if his ureter (sp?) tubes are large enough. And, after that we'll know more. We (along with the NP) don't presume to freak out any more than we already have. Further testing could mean surgery, but it could also mean a change in diet, more fluids, etc. So, I haven't gone into Hypo-Freakout-Mode...YET. I'm just getting revved up. Keep our little guy in your prayers and we'll keep you posted.

Oh, how could I forget? Part of his "testing" is to journal his peeing, thus the birth of THE PEE DIARY (duh, the whole point of this post!) As we pull into the driveway last night, John Paul comes running from the house, holding his container and shouts, "Mommy, mommy here's my pee bucket. Isn't it cool?" Wow, I never knew just how cool it was to be a boy and have the doctor give you a target to pee in...and then tell you to write down how often you do it. It must be great to be a 4-year-old boy.