I'd Rather Be in the Path of a Hurricane
Being the strong, tough, and courageous man that I am, I decided that it was my turn to take Madalyn in for her kidney tests and give Katie a chance to sleep in (Ok, fine, Katie had to ask me). We woke up around 6:15 this morning (Ok, fine, Katie had to wake us up) and Madalyn was very excited to see me and kept saying "Hiiii Da Da" over and over again. It was great and I felt very much in control.
We get to the hospital and while I am filling out the paperwork (and being falsely accused of having to make an $800 co-pay) Madalyn is waving at everyone saying "Hiiiii" and "Clap! Clap! Clap!" while clapping her hands together. Things were going very smoothly.
In the waiting room, Madalyn is sitting in her stroller waving, talking, and smiling while I am sending emails, checking market news, and making phone calls with my BlackBerry wireless handheld. Patting myself on the back, I came to the conclusion that this whole parenting thing came natural to me and that I could easily watch the kids and work from home if the future ever required me.
Call me Panglossian. Please.
Like a Jihadist realizing that he mistook 72 virgins for 72 Virginians, Madalyn started screaming bloody murder - she saw a nurse dressed in scrubs. Madalyn had remembered what happened last time she saw someone in scrubs (catheter). Her strong, tough and courageous father (me) began to lose all control and wondered why he had agreed to this mission.
The first test was a simple ultrasound that ended up taking a half hour because they had to do the front and back of both of her kidneys as well as her bladder. Madalyn screamed and looked at me like this for the first 20 minutes of the test, and then she fell asleep. I could barely stand her tears. I would have done anything to make her happy.
Then the nurse told me about the next test.
Madalyn had to have another test called a VCUG where they actually insert a liquid into her bladder, put her into a machine that looks like the iron lung at the St. Louis Science Center and then they check to see if the inserted liquid moves from the bladder into either of the kidneys. Before the test occurred, I was kindly informed by the nurse that if I see the liquid move from her bladder to either of her kidneys that we might have a problem.
Madalyn screamed, cried, and pouted from the beginning to the end. She was squeezing my fingers and not even me singing The Wheels on the Bus for the whole wing of the hospital to hear was enough to calm her down. I had lost all control and there was nothing I could do to make her feel better. The nurse must've of seen the tears welling up in my eyes and that I looked like this so she kindly escorted me from the room to tell me she was fine and that she would get me some water. I declined and went back to be with Madalyn.
Well, to make a hard day worse, I got to watch as the liquid moved with ease from her bladder into her right kidney. The nurses told me that on a scale of 1-5 (5 being the worst) that Madalyn was a 4. They also told me she was prone to urinary tract infections until the problem was fixed. You can see more details of what she has here.
Being strong, tough, and courageous father that I am (or was), I packed up Madalyn's clothes and carried her all the way back to the car and pushed the stroller at the same time. Madalyn fell asleep on me during the hike back to the car and I was somewhat relieved. I put her into her carseat, got into the driver's seat and breathed another sigh of relief as I backed the car up.
But the car wouldn't backup.
I started giving it a little more gas and it still wouldn't move. Then, out of the blue I hear someone laying on his car horn screaming "THE BABY! THE BABY!."
I had just run over the stroller and this man thought I had left Madalyn in the stroller. Not looking at the man, I got out of the car, pulled the stroller from underneath the wheel, failed when trying to fold it up and just threw it in the back of the car. I thought that when I took a good look at the stroller it might look something like this; however, it might still be redeemable.
To summarize, Madalyn has had a rough week and things might have to get a little tougher before they get easier. The doctor said she needs to go see a kidney specialist and that he might recommend surgery on her kidney. Luckily, it is a common surgery that is always successful at solving the problem. It is not a "wait and see" type surgery.
So, if you could, please keep Madalyn in your prayers as she goes through this bit of a trial in her young life. Thanks.
Shaun McDonnell
