When we left the hospital we had a few instructions and details to change in our family and daily lives :
1- LOW SODIUM DIET
I'm going to nicely tell you right now that MANY people gave their opinions and showed us their low sodium diets and it was a JOKE! Low sodium is not what you read on the front of the box, it's a serious life change and grocery budget killer!
2- NO SCHOOL OR CHURCH for a season. Judahs immune system was shot and was going to be such for a season while on the prednisone. Meaning that the common cold of flue was said to put him in the hospital or even kill him. Our only choice was to seperate him the best we could till we knew we were in the clear and he was strong enough to fight the germs. So for three months we home schooled and watched TCC live stream from our couch. Thankful for technology we were able to stay connected.
3- SCALES AND DIPS
Judah now had to be weighed daily and have a urine dip screen from home to monitor his levels. This isn't hard it's just another step to be taken.
4- FLUID RESTRICTION
you don't realize how much you want dorm thing till you can't have it. Because his kidneys couldn't process correctly his fluid was spilling into his body causing swelling, so part of this process is to restrict any and all fluids to very little a day.
5-MAJOR EMOTIONS/SIDE EFFECTS
Prednisone is a super strong steroid that does its job and kills good in its wake. We had emotions all over the joint, and because of the high dose we also had to add eye check ups every three months for preventative care, along side the kidney check ups. PUFFY cheeks. Wowza tell an 11yr old boy that his face and body will swell up and people will stare and friends will question why. He was and is a trooper and honestly handled it all so well with grace and peace that I believe family support and the Lords grace took major parts in.
I bring all this up to say: JUDAH IS NOW PREDNISONE FREE! We've been on a slow decline (taper) since his release and although they told us to prepare for him to be in and out with relapse, he has had NOT A SINGLE ONE! He has maintained his diet, controlled his kidneys, held his head up, and stuck with it. As a family we changed the way we live life on the go, no more fast food (special occasions only) healthier and more active than before we have grown so much as a family unit and have learned to stick together and lift each other up. Judah will out grow this and he will be comepletely healed, for now he is off meds and looks amazing! And I'm super proud of him!;)
Tears in my eyes. God is faithful even in the long haul things. Go Judah...Go Jesus!
ReplyDeleteYay! What a wonderful report...God is good and faithful! Congrats Judah on kickin' butt :)
ReplyDeleteWonderful news!
ReplyDeleteAwesome, awesome testimony!
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