Our 2012 Double-Birth-Versary

Here we are, over two months past our special March 28th day. Two days before Abigail's surgery I finally have the courage to post about her kidney function test.

The nurses greeted us with birthday gifts for her at the hospital!

I'm the one who scheduled her appointment. The day started with guilt as my two year old had to fast on her birthday, on her Daddy's birthday, our anniversary. We had some reasons to be concerned about her left kidney again, so I eagerly took the next appointment available which had been a last minute cancellation. Otherwise we would wait and things may get worse.

We didn't know then what we know now. We didn't know that her left kidney was failing. We found out about the reflux in her ureter when she was two weeks old with a soaring fever, spending her 3rd week of life in a hospital. It was so scary. We just got her, could we lose her already? 

The birthday kids!

Months of countless appointments with about 12 doctors went by and things were starting to look up. A year and a half went by with regular kidney check-up appointments and we were confident she was healed. 

We were not angry when we found out that she wasn't healed. We weren't questioning our prayers and God's faithfulness when we learned from her kidney function test that her right kidney was performing like a rock star to make up for the little life being held up in her left kidney. It shrunk. The tests came back confirming that the upper part of her left side double-kidney was almost non-functioning and dragging the second half of her kidney into the pit of death as well. 

You can live with one kidney. You can live a perfectly normal and healthy life with just one kidney.

Craig and I had found out the month before that we were not a kidney match for our friend who was in desperate need of a match. We were warned that we shouldn't even entertain the idea of donating a kidney with our daughters "possible" condition. 

Our God is bigger than transplants. Bigger than being a kidney match. And bigger than healing our daughter of reflux and her strange double kidney/ double ureter issue. 

Our friend's wife is his match and they will be doing the transplant June 19th. June 7th, our daughter with undergo surgery to re-route her left simies-connected ureters (plural) to the other side of her bladder with hope that there will be no more damage to the kidney and the tubing will be long enough to allow regular flow. We are praying passionately for plan A. Because we want her to have two HEALTHY FUNCTIONING kidneys and plan B would require removing part of her tiny body- her left kidney.

Her Daddy and I will be with her into the next day when we can come home. Her Heavenly Daddy will be there during the whole surgery when we can't. He will be able to hold her so tightly and bring healing into her body the way that we can't. 

So pray for her on Thursday afternoon? It is a 3 hour long process and her Doctor will be doing two other surgeries that morning. Pray he is rested and wise. Pray for us, her parents. It will be a long 3 hours for us and helping a two year old come out from anesthesia is sad and scary... we know. 

This is our Abigail (Hebrew for Father's Joy) Charis (Greek for Grace) and that she is. Our joy and grace. The most wonderful gift God has given to us, her parents.