Biopsy - Searching for Answers

Luke's biopsy is tomorrow, February 9th, 8:30am, at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago. To say we are scared is an understatement. From what I understand, they will not need to cut him open. They will first give him an ultrasound to locate exactly where the kidneys are. They will then use a special kind of needle, which is inserted into his back and into the kidneys. The needle then pulls out a piece of the kidneys that is about the size of the lead in a mechanical pencil. The procedure is to take between 15 and 30 minutes. This does not sound too bad, right? Right! I am not too worried about the procedure itself. A needle in the back is a small price to pay if it means getting him the proper diagnosis and the proper treatment. The scary part is the doctors taking him from us and bringing him to the procedure "suite" (yes, they call it a suite). He is not going to like that one bit, Luke is not big on leaving his mom, especially to go with a stranger. And by now he knows what a hospital is, and what goes on there, no matter how many cartoon characters are plastered on the walls! The nurse has assured me that he will immediately get sedated as soon as they are in the procedure suite.

The Nephrologist is fairly certain that the biopsy will show that Luke's Nephrotic Syndrome is Minimal Change. This is the type of NS that most boys between the age of one and two years usually get. It means there is little to no change in the kidneys. If the biopsy finds that it is not Minimal Change then it could be FSGS, which means there is scaring on the kidneys, and is a bit more serious. Of course the biopsy could also find something completely different. There are many forms of NS, depending on all sorts of factors, so who knows what we may find.

We are hoping to come home tomorrow night and not need to sleep over. The nurse said it depends on how he is doing. I will be armed with trains, books, stickers, crayons, games, and whatever else it takes to get him through yet another day in a hospital bed.

Please pray for Luke to be strong and continue to breeze through whatever may come next.

"Life is all about how well you handle plan B"

-Anonymous