REMISSION!

What a great word to hear after the last six months!  Remission… She made it!

Thursday, June 6th we took Ella in for her second kidney biopsy.  The day didn't start as perfect as we would have hoped, but every time we step into the hospital we are reminded just how blessed we really are.  Even though Ella does have an on-going, chronic condition, she is still able to run, jump, laugh, talk, walk, sing, smile and stay pretty much pain free.  You just don't realize how much of a blessing that truly is.  It has been by the grace of God and amazing that Ella had almost 4 completely healthy years.

Back to Thursday.  Unfortunately, the iv starts just never go well and always consist of us holding her down while she's yelling things that just break your heart in a million pieces.  It's in those moments I would lay down my life to take all this away from her!  So when the first iv gets in and then blows… and then the second attempt gets in and then blows again…. you can only imagine the tears of defeat that roll down everyone's faces.  They ended up calling the vac team- a team of people that ONLY come to start an iv and use an ultrasound machine for help.  While we sat there for over an hour waiting for them to come, we continued praying.  God definitely sent an angel and she started the iv in a matter of seconds.  Finally, after not eating or drinking since 6:00am, at around 2:00pm they took her back.  Clif and I were able to be back there with her until she actually fell asleep.  I will have to say it was the strangest thing I've seen.  (Yes, she did have a biopsy back in December but there was so much going on and Ella was so ill that we ended up having to leave her back there before she fell asleep.)  Watching her play and talk and laugh and then all of a sudden fall over with her eyes closed was very scary!  We walked out and waited for over 30 minutes and then the doctor came out and said everything went well and she was sleeping.  She actually slept for 2 and a half hours after the procedure, which I guess was a good thing because they want her to lay flat for as long as possible afterward.  As soon as she woke up, she was ready to eat, talk and play.  What a blessing again for her to be in such great spirits; however, she was going to be on bed rest for 24 hours.  It's not the easiest thing to keep a four year old in bed when they otherwise feel fine.  But we made it and she did great.

We were told we would have preliminary results back within 24 hours.  Thursday night wasn't the best night of sleep and Friday we were sitting on pins and needles, hearts racing.  We waited, and waited and waited and waited and waited.  I thought it would be sometime before noon that we would find out… at 12:15 our nurse called the doctor to get an update and she said she was about to go see it and come tell us "soon."  We waited, and waited and waited and yes, waited.  Finally, at about 4:15 we see Dr Kale coming in our room.  Clif and I both jumped up with eager anticipation ready to hear the results.  Dr Kale first checked Ella as Clif and I were looking at each other with eye brows raised!  She told us to sit down… I was all of a sudden nervous because that's what she told us before she delivered the news in December!  First thing she said was "good news is…" There was NO additional scarring that has happened since December.  And then she went on to explain that Ella's glomeruli is still about 65% chronically scarred but her tubules look okay.  The reason she is loosing so much protein and blood in her urine is because it is just leaking through the scarred parts.  Then, she told us the best news… NO ACTIVE INFLAMMATION!  What a relief, what a blessing, what an answer to prayer, what a way for God to show is mercy, power, sovereignty.  Clif and I smiled, high-fived and hugged.  Clif then asked if that meant she was in remission and Dr Kale said YES!

What now?  Well, now Ella moves from the "induction" phase to the "maintenance" phase.  This will include to continue weekly Solumedrol infusions, daily medication and starting a new daily medication.  Ella's now on the road to slowly but surely wean off all of these.  I'm not sure how long that will take and she will continue to see all doctors on a monthly basis.  What we don't want to talk about is that this is remission so it could come back… and that her kidneys have been so damaged that she will need a transplant at some time.  But worrying will get us nowhere and will only take away from the joy we have today!  The enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy!  Ella has come too far to allow that and Clif, Alyssa and I have come too far to allow that!

Cheers to remission!