Dear Friends,
On Tuesday, Philemond, our driver, and Joker, our mechanic, took Dieuferly and Jasson (Jackson) to the Dominican Republic for checkups. They took Dieuferly first; he is the one who had surgery done on his club foot; both his feet were bad from botched surgeries here in Haiti.
Dieuferly is doing well. He can walk without his cast but has to do physical therapy.
Jasson has severe kidney problems. Jesse Ostrander, a Love A Child Missionary, has done a lot of work finding the right kidney doctor for Jasson.
She has told us that Jasson needs to be treated as a child, instead of an adult, when it comes to dialysis.
She had Jesse take him to the dentist to check for any infections and clean Jason’s teeth. Then, she sent Jasson for all his vaccinations, etc.
Today, she will send him to an eye doctor and lots more tests. Here is a report that came in “last night” from Jesse…
“I took Jackson to his pediatric nephrologist. She is amazing. I am very impressed by her thoroughness and her bedside manner. She is very kind and thoughtful. However, it was quickly determined that there are much more tests needed. Jackson has a long day of tests and doctor’s appointments tomorrow. In a nutshell, she has to determine a baseline for infection. It helps them know how the kidneys are functioning or if they are functioning at all.
They need to examine his teeth and gums, his ears, his eyes, his heart, and his nutritional intake. This all must take place while we are here. She also has ordered another ultrasound, urinalysis, and blood tests.
We were able to see a dentist today after our appointment with the nephrologist. Jackson had his teeth cleaned and a thorough examination of his gums. So far so good. He has no infection in his mouth.
Tomorrow morning, (Thursday) I will take him to a lab to get his urinalysis and his blood work.
I will then take him to a place that administers immunizations. He needs to be current on every immunization in order to be considered for dialysis. I will then take him to get an ultrasound of his kidneys. After these tests are done, he will then begin to see doctors. Following this appointment, he will have his eyes checked by an ophthalmologist. Then we will have his hears checked.
Following these tests and appointments, he will see a pediatric renal nutritionalist. I never knew there was even such a thing.
The idea behind all of these appointments and tests is to extend the time without the need for dialysis. I guess dialysis is really hard on the system. They are trying to maintain his quality of life as long as possible before putting him on the dialysis regime.
After all of the data is put together, the Pediatric nephrologist will determine whether or not to put him on dialysis now or wait. It is not a question of whether or not he needs dialysis, it is a question of how soon to start it.”
Jesse
Thank you all for your prayers!! We have wonderful doctors, but “Jesus is always the Great Physician.”
Sherry
