Test Results

I'm sorry I didn't have any test results to share with you on Friday morning, but I've got them all now! Both kids were in hospitals last week for tests. Gavin had his outpatient VCUG test at Edwards Hospital last Tuesday, and Evie spent the night at Christ Hospital last Thursday and Friday for her second cardiac catheter, i.e., angiogram. Needless to say, neither of them were happy about the procedures.



For Gavin, the pediatric urologist confirmed what the radiologist suspected: that Gavin has Grade IV Vesicoureteral Reflux (Grade V is the worst), which is where urine refluxes all the way up the ureter and back to the kidney. He will have to have some kind of procedure done to correct this, but not until he is closer to a being one-years old.

Normally, he would have to undergo a small surgical procedure, where they disconnect and reconnect the ureter (the tube that connects the bladder and the kidney). However, there is a new kind of non-invasive, outpatient procedure, called a "Stinger" (thanks Dan!) that the urologist will try first, where some type of gel is injected into the ureter tube to help keep the valve shut that is allowing urine to backwash up to the kidney. Although the Stinger procedure is not as successful as the surgery, it’s better to try the non-invasive procedure first.

The urologist will see Gavin again in 3 months, and in the meantime we will continue to give him a low dose of antibiotics that prevents him from getting another urinary tract infection. Although it's a shame he has this condition at all, it's for the best that it was discovered so early and that we can treat it right away.



Evie's angiogram went well (see the last blog entry for that drama) and her first surgery has been set for Thursday, February 21st. She will go in for a pre-surgery physical and blood work to make sure she doesn't have a cold or any other virus (like she did last month). Sharon will also be giving a pint of blood in case it is needed during the surgery.

This first surgery is called a unifocalization procedure. The procedure will take from 3-6 hours and she'll have a hospital stay of about 5-7 days. The angiogram revealed that the MAPCAS that have grown from her aorta and that are supplying blood to her lungs are narrowing, and thus, results in lower oxygen saturation levels for her. The unifocalization involves connecting a shunt from the aorta to her natural pulmonary artery, in order to better supply blood to her lungs. This is aimed at correcting her pulmonary atresia condition, which is just one part of her single ventricle congenital heart defect.

Unfortunately, instead of performing the unifocalization procedure on both the right and left lungs at the same time, the surgeon has determined that because Evie's natural pulmonary artery is so small, he only wants to perform the unifocalization procedure on her left lung during the February 21st surgery, and so she'll have to wait 2-3 months before having the right lung corrected.

Until then, the twins will just be hanging out with Sharon and getting bigger all the time! Gavin has been smiling and talking a lot lately, and Evie has been going to bed quite early in the evenings and sleeping for 10-12 hours straight at night, and napping well during the day.