Awesome news and huge answer to our prayers!!!

Today we took Madilyn for a follow-up at Dell Children's.  They did blood work to check her levels and see how her Kidneys have been healing.

The great news is that her Creatinine is down to .8!!!  We were praying for anything below 1.0, so we are pumped about this news.  What this means is that she has jumped up from 40% kidney function to somewhere in the neighborhood of 70%.

Today we are celebrating and thanking the Lord for how she is healing.  Tomorrow we will meet with her kidney specialist to determine what medicines she needs to keep taking and how much, but we are so excited to see her kidneys are healing!!

Thank you so much for praying, it means a ton to our family.

For His Glory,

The Rascos

  

Wednesday Update on Madilyn's recovery

Hey guys, here's an update about Madilyn's last check-up so that you know how to pray for her and us going forward.

Today as I was studying in Isaiah 42 and 43, I read this passage that really comforted me and reminded me who has been with us during the last month. Listen to the word of the Lord given through Isaiah in 43:1&2  

Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.

There were a couple things that stood out to me from this passage.  First, it was God who allowed the nation of Judah to go through the trial they were in.  Second, God promised them that He would be with them throughout the trial.  Whatever they were going through, God was going to help them!  This is a promise that we are clinging to right now - God, whatever happens from here, we are dependent upon you, we are trusting that you'll be with us through it all.

How is she doing?

We had some tough news on Monday when the doctor looked at Madilyn's blood work.  Unfortunately, her Creatinine level did not decrease from last week, so it was still stuck at 1.1. We are praying that it will go down until it reaches the normal level of .5.  The fact that it's stuck at 1.1 is disconcerting, since that represents about 40% of normal kidney function.  Basically, if the level stays here Madilyn will need serious medications and hormones throughout her life.

The good news is, our Doctor looked at the results and said that he thinks the blood test was skewed.  Madilyn was so nervous about the blood draw that she didn't eat or drink much at all that morning.  This meant that the water level in her blood was lower than it should have been, and he could see that in her results.  So, he thinks that her creatinine may actually be down a little more from last week, but we just don't have the test results to show that.

Also, when Madilyn went to school last week she promptly picked up a cold...she came home on Friday with a runny nose and low grade fever.  We think this also contributed to her not wanting to eat or drink over the past few days.  So, this week we decided to keep her home, and Granby had to come back and help watch Madilyn during the day so that Jennifer and I can work.

Here are the things we need you to pray for:

1. We need you to keep on praying for her kidneys to come back to full strength, pray for no long-term damage!  Pray for Creatinine level of 0.5!!!  (Scott Frazier reminded me this week that we need to pray for this until God changes our prayer, so please keep it up)
2. Pray for her appetite to pick back up as she gets well from her cold - we need her to eat and drink well to help in the healing process.
3. Pray for our nerves as we wait for the next blood test.  My biggest temptation is to worry about all that could happen, but that's not helpful, and it's actually sinful (Matthew 6:34). Pray that we draw closer to the Lord for help with the things we cannot control! 

Thank you again for praying, please keep it up!! 

This pic is from last Friday night when we all went to see Round Rock take on Smithson Valley.  Sorry San Antonio friends, the Dragons Rocked them!!

For His Glory,

The Rascos

  

Hey guys, we had a busy week last week, and we forgot to update the blog with Madilyn's news.  Here's a quick Monday post, and we'd love for you to pray for her today.

How is she doing?

We have had Madilyn home for almost two weeks now, and she has been doing really well.  
When we first brought her home we had to take her in every other day for blood work.  This was not fun for her at all.  After being in the hospital for a month, Madilyn is not happy about seeing Doctors, and especially about having blood drawn.

Madilyn's potassium level has been the main thing we've been watching, even though she's on a low potassium diet.  Since coming home, she has been on a medicine called Kayaxelate to control potassium.  It's a pretty gross medicine, and she has to take 40ml of it (not bad for an adult, but Madilyn hates it).

You can tell by the picture below that Madilyn's color is still quite not right.  This is due to the anemia, she'll also be anemic for a while as her kidneys recover (kidneys are in control of how many red blood cells you produce).

Last week, Madilyn was able to go to Pre-school.  She was so ready to go and meet her teacher and new friends.



Here are the things we need you to pray for:

1. Pray for Madilyn's kidney function to keep improving...Madilyn's kidneys have improved from 20% when we left the hospital, to 40% at her last visit.  Some of the other HUS moms have told Jennifer that this part of recovery could take around a month.
2. Today we are taking Madilyn into the lab to draw blood and check her levels.  Please pray for her to not be afraid, and for it to go smoothly.  Also, we are praying that her levels have improved to 80% today!
3. Keep praying for our family as we wait to see where she will end up. There is nothing we can do but wait and see, so pray for God to give us peace while we wait. 

Thank you again for praying, please keep it up!! 

For His Glory,

The Rascos

  

We finally brought her home!!

Hey guys, I wanted to send out a quick post about how Madilyn is doing since we came home, and I would like to ask for continued prayer for her.

How is she doing?

First off, the great news is that we were able to bring her home on Tuesday afternoon.  All her labs came back good, and we were able to pack up our hospital room and bring her home!!



This is Madilyn's first nurse, who also happened to be her last nurse!  Thank you Nurse Kim, and all the other amazing people who took care of her for the past month.





Now the recovery continues at home, and we could really use your prayer for the next few weeks and months as she heals.  We are finding out more and more about the kidneys, and we've learned that they are an interesting organ that is very difficult to predict.

Here are the things we need you to pray for:

1. Pray for Madilyn's kidney function to keep improving...Madilyn's kidneys are filtering at just over 20% right now.  This number has been going up steadily, and we want that to keep improving until it gets to 100% or very very close!
2. We now have to take Madilyn into the lab to draw blood every other day...this is very traumatic for her, and she does not like it.  Please pray for us to endure, and to be able to help her have peace about this and ease her pain.
3. Keep praying for our family as we wait to see where she will end up. There is nothing we can do but wait and see, so pray for God to give us peace while we wait. 

Thank you again for praying, please keep it up!! 

Quote of the day - when we brought her home, Madilyn must have said 10 times "I'm so glad to be home"...usually that was followed by a hug and I Love You.

For His Glory,

The Rascos