Legoland Bound!

Next Saturday we will awake early for the third year in a row and travel to San Diego early in the morning.  David's team, Robozilla, has once again qualified for the First Lego League competition there. 

 Here is David with his teammates and Team Coach and Assitant cheering on their team in the Robot game.  We are so proud of David and his teammates who have been working hard since September for this day.  During the qualifier they won two trophies, one for the Robot Game, and the other the Judge's Choice award. 

This is David as a back-up driver to Austin during their Robot game round.  They scored the highest score of the whole day in this round. 

Can you tell where our team is in the crowd?  LOL.  Melody's head is still a bit green from all our spirit that day. 

Though winning is fun, we are thankful for the time David has had in Lego League and the training he has had from some awesome coaches.  You see, at the FLL competition, the Robot Game is not the largest part of your team score.  Teams are judged on core values, robot design, and a presentation on a problem they have researched and designed a solution for. 

Judges are throughout the competition, watching how teams treat one another, other teams, and how they work together.  We are thankful for all the fun and robotics knowledge David has gained through FLL, but we are more thankful for the character and values that have been cultivated. 

In a world where athletes and the musically inclined have the vast majority of venues for which to showcase their talents, we are thankful for a competition that showcases another kind of talent.  FLL is growing like crazy and those of us who have kids with engineering and problem solving talents are very grateful. 

We are all very excited for Legoland.  We know our team will do their best in the competition and show the awesome and talented young men they are.  If you're looking for us, you can find us cheering them on with our green hair and neon green shirts.  Go, go, Robozilla. 

Blanket Ride

Remember trying to keep yourself busy after church while you parents were talking, and talking, and talking?  Well, I do, and apparently my kids know the exact same feeling.  But, they are pretty adept at keeping themselves occupied. 

Here is Melody getting a blanket ride from Elizabeth while Hannah video tapes.  Very cute and the clothes and blanket even came clean!  

Urology - More Than I Ever Wanted to Know

Who would have thought there is a special doctor just for the urinary system?  I hadn't even given it a thought until we've needed one more than we ever thought we would this year.

We actually see a nurse practitioner, and she is awesome and gives us so much more time and attention than the actual doctor can.  I asked her how she found herself in urology.  I mean, is that really anyones life ambition?  As I suspected, she just kind of fell into it and now really enjoys her job.  She is good at it, I will admit that. 

So why so much focus on pee, bladders, kidneys, ureters?  The nerves that control the urinary system are further down in the spinal column than even the ones that control the legs.  Therefore, people with spina bifida almost always have urinary system issues.  Even people whose legs work fine.

Up until this summer, Melody has been doing fabulous in this area.  However, after 3 back to back urinary tract infections, we knew something was not going well.  As we suspected, she has developed vesicoureteral reflux (VUR).  This means urine is flowing back up from the bladder to the kidneys instead of out of the bladder like it is supposed to. 

Tests show that Melody has grade 2 bilateral (on both sides) VUR.  There are 5 levels, so this is very low and means there is no swelling or damage to the kidneys.  Statistically, 80% of children will outgrow this problem within 5 years.  We are praying Melody is in that percentage.

In the meantime, Melody will under go a proceedure known as Deflux. (http://www.deflux.com/)  Basically, the Urologist will build a small "dam" in the ureters where they connect to the bladder.  This dam will allow urine to flow over and into the bladder from the kidneys, but prevent urine from refluxing back up into the kidneys. It is a fairly simple proceedure which will be done as soon as we can get insurance approval and everything lined up.

Why are we choosing the Deflux if Melody will likely outgrow the VUR?  If we don't, Melody will have to be on a low-dose of antibiotics daily for possibly the next 5 years, or until she outgrows the VUR.  There is a greater chance of repeat UTI's while on the antibiotics than there is if she has the Deflux done.  Also, there is the risk of developing resistance to the antibiotics.  Though it is likely Melody will outgrow the VUR, we need to be diligent to prevent kidney damage in the meantime.  Also, there is a high probability that we can avoid several years of not so fun tests if we go this route.  Plus, Melody just hates the antibiotic, so it is a daily battle to get them in her.

We are hopeful that this will solve the recurrent UTI issues as Melody has had a rough few months not feeling so well.  So pray with us for resolution of this issue and for downward flowing urine!