that Bruce Springsteen was my man. He was playing guitar and putting up shelves in my kitchen for his tools.
I get into my car the next morning and turn on my satellite station # 20 East Street Radio and hear this song & I had myself quite a chuckle...
Jack of All Trades
I'll mow your lawn, clean the leaves out your drain
I'll mend your roof to keep out the rain
I'll take the work that God provides
I'm a Jack of all trades, honey, we'll be alright
I'll hammer the nails, and I'll set the stone
I'll harvest your crops when they're ripe and grown
I'll pull that engine apart and patch her up 'til she's running right
I'm a Jack of all trades, we'll be alright
A hurricane blows, brings a hard rain
When the blue sky breaks, feels like the world's gonna change
We'll start caring for each other like Jesus said that we might
I'm a Jack of all trades, we'll be alright
The banker man grows fatter, the working man grows thin
It's all happened before and it'll happen again
It'll happen again, they'll bet your life
I'm a Jack of all trades and, darling, we'll be alright
Now sometimes tomorrow comes soaked in treasure and blood
Here we stood the drought, now we'll stand the flood
There's a new world coming, I can see the light
I'm a Jack of all trades, we'll be alright
So you use what you've got, and you learn to make do
You take the old, you make it new
If I had me a gun, I'd find the bastards and shoot 'em on sight
I'm a Jack of all trades, we'll be alright
I'm a Jack of all trades, we'll be alright
(c) Bruce Springsteen
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
One day at a time
...is a lot easier said than done. I would be lying if I said that this whole thing with Carmie isn't consuming my every waking thought, because it is. Eventhough we had a great meeting with the wonderful Dr. at Yale, we are still going to get another opinion from a specialist. Boston Children's Hospital is ranked #1 in the country, so we have an appointment in two weeks from today with a Dr. there whom has worked in the field for 51 years. We are hoping his level of expertise & experience can provide us with even more insight (prior to genetic testing, which we have yet to do) in determining the TRUE diagnosis of Carmie's kidneys.
In all honesty, I've never been much for prayer... until recently. So I simply ask you, my close friends and family reading this blog, that you pray for our strength to handle this second opinion, whatever the outcome may be.
With <3, the Cartwrights
In all honesty, I've never been much for prayer... until recently. So I simply ask you, my close friends and family reading this blog, that you pray for our strength to handle this second opinion, whatever the outcome may be.
With <3, the Cartwrights
Saturday, March 10, 2012
It's been a while
Hi friends,
It has been a little while since I've last written. It actually feels like longer. These past few weeks have really been exhausting and life changing for us.
Carmie is advancing by the minute. She's babbling, Mama and Abba, and Apple and Abu Dabu...no "daddy" yet, but close. She is almost 8.5 months and her crawling that began last month immediately turned to standing and now climbing. I have pictures as she was caught making her way up on Armoire in our living room...trying to stick her hand in the VCR! Bad girl! It has all happened so fast. We are so blessed as she is truly the light of our lives.
2 weeks ago we went for a follow up appointment to the Radiologist. After she was hospitalized in late August of last year, she had gotten sick again in September and we decided to request an abdominal ultrasound....yes, it sounds strange already that my husband and I, not medical people by any means, thought it smart to request an ultrasound to see what was causing this reflux. Long story short, they took about 80 or so scans of her teeny belly and the result was only that her kidneys seemed enlarged.
Our pediatrician passed along that information to a urologist that said it was most likely due to her hospitalization and the increase of fluids from her dehydration and that it would be a good idea to follow up in 4 months or so- hence the follow up appointment I previously referenced.
The tech. was a very sweet young girl who just adored Carmie. Once she was done, she brought in the Dr to review and he came in with a team of 2 more who wanted to take a closer look using a higher resolution camera. He told us that he found tiny cysts all over both of her kidneys, that could be hereditary, but that he would fill out a complete report and send it to our Pediatrician. We told ourselves over and over that she was fine. That it was nothing. That we wouldn't get carried away trying to make a diagnosis via the internet, while we were waiting for our appt, with our Dr.'s. We went in that Thursday to review the report and check her growth.
Once reviewing the report, the term for what the Radiologist suspected Carmen to have was called ARPKD or Autosomal Recessive Polycystic Kidney Disease. We were shocked. No way did we believe this. I had been googling all weekend 'cysts in my baby's kidney' and this came up, but the disease is so rare. (1 in 20,000--40,000) I stopped reading, thinking, oh...that couldn't be it.- They immediately sent us for kidney & liver function tests which we got the results the next day that everything was normal!!! We were on edge waiting for our Dr. to call us back and we were pretty disappointed on how they handled that next day, but that's an entire different story which is no longer important in the grand scheme of things. We will be finding a new pediatrician. and soon.
A half a week had gone by and the days had blended together. We spent them thinking the Radiologist did not know what he was talking about. Carmen had a rough road, but she was rock solid strong, advanced beyond words, not to mention the cutest girl in the world. No way. They were wrong. They had to be.
That Wednesday. This Wednesday. 2 days ago Wednesday. Why does it feel like such a long time?
We met a wonderful Dr. at the Children's hospital at Yale. Sure, the Dr. was and is fabulous. But he had news for us that we were not expecting. He drew Carmen's kidneys on that white paper that covers the bench. They are filled with tiny cysts. "Inumberable" cysts. He said, 'Do you know what inumerable means, too many to count." He's seen this disease many many times. He's transplanted many kidneys because of this disease. He is certain that our daughter has ARPKD....He went on to tell us that we can do a genetic blood test to know the name %100, but that it could only be 1 of 3 types of kidney disease and the treatment would be exactly the same.
Wham. I want to cry, and I have a hard time holding back the tears.
Mike is holding Carmie and she's happy as a clam. The innocence of a child.
The Dr. is a kind man, he understands how we feel, or at least he says he does. He says that this is a lot to take in. He goes through Carmie's reports, page by page, with so much detail and with a smile says, look, perfect. Her kidneys, her liver, her blood count. Look at her growth chart. "It's better than a normal/healthy kid." This is the BEST case of ARPKD I have ever seen in my life, he says. (I've repeated these 2 statements in the past two days with what feels like a million times and I will probably say them a million more.)
What does this mean for her future?
He said she won't be able to play football or be a Karate master, but that she could dance. That we will have to prevent trauma. To call him immediately if we see blood in her urine or she spikes a high fever.
He checked her blood pressure and after a while sent us home to enjoy our beautiful girl. He said. Take it one day at a time and let him worry about monitoring her. That if she needs new kidneys or a new liver, then he will give them to her. It sounds cocky, but he wasn't. He was confident. And that is what we liked about him most.
One day at a time. Okay, we say that we can do that. That is what we are doing. Isn't that what we are ALL supposed to do.
I wanted to break down and lose it. But I didn't.
I keep reminding myself. We are the lucky ones. Carmie is 8 and a half months old. She has no symptoms. We discovered this by accident. Because everything happens for a reason. This is the reason we spent that week in the ER... To be the lucky ones. To be able to see this coming from a mile away. We have to have faith. We have to get smart. We have to understand everything we can about this disease and how to manage it.
I read in a blog today that "We don't get more than we can handle." I hope this is true.
It has been a little while since I've last written. It actually feels like longer. These past few weeks have really been exhausting and life changing for us.
Carmie is advancing by the minute. She's babbling, Mama and Abba, and Apple and Abu Dabu...no "daddy" yet, but close. She is almost 8.5 months and her crawling that began last month immediately turned to standing and now climbing. I have pictures as she was caught making her way up on Armoire in our living room...trying to stick her hand in the VCR! Bad girl! It has all happened so fast. We are so blessed as she is truly the light of our lives.
2 weeks ago we went for a follow up appointment to the Radiologist. After she was hospitalized in late August of last year, she had gotten sick again in September and we decided to request an abdominal ultrasound....yes, it sounds strange already that my husband and I, not medical people by any means, thought it smart to request an ultrasound to see what was causing this reflux. Long story short, they took about 80 or so scans of her teeny belly and the result was only that her kidneys seemed enlarged.
Our pediatrician passed along that information to a urologist that said it was most likely due to her hospitalization and the increase of fluids from her dehydration and that it would be a good idea to follow up in 4 months or so- hence the follow up appointment I previously referenced.
The tech. was a very sweet young girl who just adored Carmie. Once she was done, she brought in the Dr to review and he came in with a team of 2 more who wanted to take a closer look using a higher resolution camera. He told us that he found tiny cysts all over both of her kidneys, that could be hereditary, but that he would fill out a complete report and send it to our Pediatrician. We told ourselves over and over that she was fine. That it was nothing. That we wouldn't get carried away trying to make a diagnosis via the internet, while we were waiting for our appt, with our Dr.'s. We went in that Thursday to review the report and check her growth.
She weighed in at a whopping 17 lbs! And was 26.5 inches long!
Once reviewing the report, the term for what the Radiologist suspected Carmen to have was called ARPKD or Autosomal Recessive Polycystic Kidney Disease. We were shocked. No way did we believe this. I had been googling all weekend 'cysts in my baby's kidney' and this came up, but the disease is so rare. (1 in 20,000--40,000) I stopped reading, thinking, oh...that couldn't be it.- They immediately sent us for kidney & liver function tests which we got the results the next day that everything was normal!!! We were on edge waiting for our Dr. to call us back and we were pretty disappointed on how they handled that next day, but that's an entire different story which is no longer important in the grand scheme of things. We will be finding a new pediatrician. and soon.
A half a week had gone by and the days had blended together. We spent them thinking the Radiologist did not know what he was talking about. Carmen had a rough road, but she was rock solid strong, advanced beyond words, not to mention the cutest girl in the world. No way. They were wrong. They had to be.
That Wednesday. This Wednesday. 2 days ago Wednesday. Why does it feel like such a long time?
We met a wonderful Dr. at the Children's hospital at Yale. Sure, the Dr. was and is fabulous. But he had news for us that we were not expecting. He drew Carmen's kidneys on that white paper that covers the bench. They are filled with tiny cysts. "Inumberable" cysts. He said, 'Do you know what inumerable means, too many to count." He's seen this disease many many times. He's transplanted many kidneys because of this disease. He is certain that our daughter has ARPKD....He went on to tell us that we can do a genetic blood test to know the name %100, but that it could only be 1 of 3 types of kidney disease and the treatment would be exactly the same.
Wham. I want to cry, and I have a hard time holding back the tears.
Mike is holding Carmie and she's happy as a clam. The innocence of a child.
The Dr. is a kind man, he understands how we feel, or at least he says he does. He says that this is a lot to take in. He goes through Carmie's reports, page by page, with so much detail and with a smile says, look, perfect. Her kidneys, her liver, her blood count. Look at her growth chart. "It's better than a normal/healthy kid." This is the BEST case of ARPKD I have ever seen in my life, he says. (I've repeated these 2 statements in the past two days with what feels like a million times and I will probably say them a million more.)
What does this mean for her future?
He said she won't be able to play football or be a Karate master, but that she could dance. That we will have to prevent trauma. To call him immediately if we see blood in her urine or she spikes a high fever.
He checked her blood pressure and after a while sent us home to enjoy our beautiful girl. He said. Take it one day at a time and let him worry about monitoring her. That if she needs new kidneys or a new liver, then he will give them to her. It sounds cocky, but he wasn't. He was confident. And that is what we liked about him most.
One day at a time. Okay, we say that we can do that. That is what we are doing. Isn't that what we are ALL supposed to do.
I wanted to break down and lose it. But I didn't.
I keep reminding myself. We are the lucky ones. Carmie is 8 and a half months old. She has no symptoms. We discovered this by accident. Because everything happens for a reason. This is the reason we spent that week in the ER... To be the lucky ones. To be able to see this coming from a mile away. We have to have faith. We have to get smart. We have to understand everything we can about this disease and how to manage it.
I read in a blog today that "We don't get more than we can handle." I hope this is true.
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