Kidney Kid Update 9/7 (just written late)

Oops. Forgot this. Saw the Kidney Kid's specialist on Wednesday--good visit all around. Got some concrete advice on his diet, which isn't nearly as restricted as we thought it was from the vague statements he'd given us before, like "limit X." Well, how much is limited? And he was so distracted with things like making sure the kidney was actually working, he'd not get around to answering. But we must've asked at the right time this visit, because he sat right down and wrote a little list for us. Phew.

As for the kidney--everything's looking good. At this age the best indicator of kidney function is growth, and he's doing fine there (sure, he's the size of Owen when Owen was half his age...but hey, just keep thinking Gary Coleman, and the kid's doing fine). As an aside, the KK just shot his father a look that could've gone with a "What you talkin' about, Willis?" line. The blood levels are good--his creatinine, which is what most eyes are on, had actually gone down. This was fantastic news, as the doc had pretty much concluded that he had leveled off and would only get worse from here on out. We got a new factoid this time--doc crunched some numbers and said his kidney was functioning at 51% of what it should be at 18 months (+/- 5%). As bad as that sounds, the doctor was very pleased with that number.

Other than that, he's jabbering up a storm and climbing everything he can think of. We've never had such a climber before--kid's just fearless. Dad figures he knows he's got this chronic illness and figures he has nothing to lose. Mom figures her husband need to spend a little more time in reality. The Kid is spending more and more energy trying to be one of the gang with his older siblings, and frequently succeeds. Frodo has taken to spending a good deal of his free time just hanging out with his youngest brother, it's very fun to watch the two of them.

Oh yeah, lastly, we have another baseball fan in the house. One of his favorite things to do is check out mlb.com on his daddy's lap. And last Friday while everyone else was excited about the game, he lifted his arms above his head and yelled "Yankees!" Truly, a proud moment.

So that's the state of the kid. Thanks for your interest and prayers--they're working.