Tag Archives: ryan

Update on Konner: Still not sure what's going on

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I just talked to Sandy now. (If you’re just getting caught up, my godson was transferred by ambulance to Yale last night from St. Mary’s, and this afternoon the team at Yale finally found that Konner’s iron levels were low after tons of tests. Since this afternoon, Konner’s iron levels have risen. They’re not sure why his iron was low in the first place. They’ve also done a culture to check for infection, and there is no infection at this time. He doesn’t seem to be able to urinate, but they’re thinking that St. Mary’s botched the catheter they put in last night, which would explain the cloud of blood in his bladder (and would explain why he isn’t peeing). They might have to catheter him again, though, because he isn’t peeing on his own.

Also, his scrotum is black and blue, which could be because of the hernia, but they’re not sure. So basically, we’re back at square one, though we do know that he isn’t fighting an infection and isn’t losing his remaining kidney.

It’s frustrating, and we’re all worried and confused. When I hung up with Sandy, she was leaving for a little while to get something to eat. She’s doing okay (aside from being worried and confused and frustrated). I don’t know if we’ll find anything else out tonight. It’s looking like they’re going to be there for a while, though.

I’ll keep you guys posted as I get more news.

Update on Konner: Some answers, more tests

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Finally, some news! And, it’s relatively good (or at least better than a diagnosis of kidney failure)!

After tons of tests, the team at Yale has determined that Konner is anemic and has protein in his urine. They determined that the kidney function is good, but are still uncertain as to why there is a cloud of blood in his bladder, and why it’s gotten bigger. However, he is showing no signs of kidney failure. They are thinking that he might have an autoimmune disease, and are doing blood tests to figure out which one, if any.

Sandy also told me that she, Ryan, and Konner are probably going to be at Yale for at least another couple of days. I asked about treatment, and she said they are continuing the course of antibiotics every four hours, and are putting him on an iron-rich diet for the anemia.

I am relieved beyond words. I hate that my little man might have an autoimmune disease, because hi! I know how much of a pain in the ass they can be, but am so, so glad that our worst fears have been ruled out. Yale has, once again, proved to be amazing.

I think the not knowing was driving us all crazy. My regular readers know that I am horribly impatient, and that not knowing is pretty much my Achilles’ heel. Of course, I cannot even imagine what it has been like for Sandy and Ryan, but I know all too well how frustrating it is to not have answers. Now that we are on a path toward getting more answers, and now that a treatment plan is in place, I think we are all mutually relieved.

Thank you all so much for your positive thoughts and prayers. I got all of this news via texts from Sandy, so I will be sure to pass on your messages as soon as I talk to her on the phone. Please continue to keep Konner in your thoughts and prayers.

Update on Konner: Waiting for an answer

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I just got home a little while ago, and was going to write about Konner anyway, but a few of you on Twitter and Facebook have asked, and since it’s such a long story, it makes sense to write it up here rather than dealing with the character limits.

Sandy and Konner

Sandy and Konner

My best friend’s son Konner (my godson) was born with a kidney disease called hydronephrosis hydroureternephrosis. One of his kidneys was irreparably damaged because of this, and the other was starting to fail, too. I guess I never ended up writing about it, but his urologist at Yale, Dr. W, removed the bad kidney last year and said that the remaining kidney should heal and function at normal rate, but that there was a chance that it could begin to fail, too (because of the hydroureternephrosis). Konner seemed to have been recovering fine, and we all — doctors included — thought that he would continue to live a healthy life.

Earlier today, Sandy noticed that one of his testicles was pretty swollen, so she took him to the ER at St. Mary’s (local hospital) to have it checked out. While examining him and doing a catheter, the staff at St. Mary’s found that he has a large cloud of blood in his bladder, and a hernia (on his testicle, I think). They arranged to transfer him to Yale’s children’s hospital, since that’s where his urologist (Dr. Weiss) and other experts are. Admittedly, they don’t have that kind of expertise at St. Mary’s, so even though they said they didn’t know what was going on — whether it’s a UTI or a sign of kidney failure — and that it didn’t look good, I’m hoping that when Dr. Weiss sees him in the morning, things will look less grim. We do not want him to have to go on dialysis and wait for a donor match. We’re all hoping that it’s something much less major.

St. Mary’s did say that the hernia would have to be operated on and that the procedure would be relatively minor, but that they were much more concerned about the blood in his bladder. Sandy told me that when they did the catheter for a sample of his urine, nothing but blood came out, as if a vein had been cut open in someone’s arm or something.

So yeah. We are all pretty much freaked out right now. I had to go home because the visiting hours at Yale were over, but I would give anything to be there with Sandy right now. Luckily, Konner’s dad (Ryan) is awesome, so she isn’t alone.

I hope that Dr. Weiss and the team at Yale can come up with some answers tomorrow, and that those answers are much less scary than kidney failure. My little man has been through so much, and he’s only three. He’s definitely a fighter, though; he was all smiles and giggles while Mike and I were visiting at both St. Mary’s and Yale.

Please keep him in your thoughts. I’ll try to update as soon as I have more to tell, but if they’re still at Yale tomorrow I’ll probably be up there.

An update on Konner

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Konner, taken by Sandy 10/21/2009 My godson Konner went for his regular checkup at Yale hospital this morning, and his doctor said that what was his good kidney is now starting to fail as well. He has to go for a VCUG in January, and sometime in the spring will be getting his bad kidney removed.

His doctor told Sandy that he will either have to go on dialysis or get a transplant. He’s been put on a donor list, and both his parents have been tested to see if they are a match. They aren’t. Sandy can’t test Kaylene because it’s not entirely her decision to do so (Kaylene and Konner have different fathers), and Ryan can’t test Kayden (his daughter) for the same reasons. After the VCUG, I’m going to get swabbed to see if I’m a match, and Sandy is asking everyone else she knows to consider it as well.

Dr. W (Konner’s doctor) said that the kidney removal is a high risk surgery. Konner will turn two on the 27th of November. So far, he has proven to be our little fighter and I have to keep faith that he will come out of this just fine, too. Dr. W said that usually once a bad kidney is removed, the other kidney will start to recover. Hopefully it does and we find a match very soon. I don’t want my little man to suffer any more than he already has. Sandy said that he has no idea what’s going on and that he is in no pain, which is great.

Please keep your fingers crossed.

Amy

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I couldn’t think of anything to blog about today — until I read Sarcastica’s Out of the Ordinary series (read part one and part two). This happened almost two years ago, but it still gives me chills whenever I think about it. I might not have everything straight, since I’m telling this secondhand, but I’ll do my best to tell it right.

A couple of years ago, Sandy and my goddaughter Kaylene moved in a new apartment with Sandy’s new boyfriend, Ryan. Ryan has a daughter, Kadyn (my friend Tyla’s daughter), that he took for a couple days every other weekend at the time. The two little girls shared a room, and Sandy and Ryan had their own room. They kept a camera baby monitor in the girls’ room so they could make sure the girls didn’t play when they were supposed to be sleeping.

Sandy started noticing that Kaylene would stay up talking to herself at night. Kay would sometimes yell or tell whomever she was talking to to stop. Sandy didn’t think much of it at first; all little kids have imaginary friends. Hell, I had two and so did my little sister. We figured she would just grow out of it.

She didn’t. She talked about “my friend Amy” all of the time. She continued to stay up late talking to Amy, and sometimes she would just sit in bed saying “no” over and over.

Things started getting stranger and stranger. Sometimes the camera in the girls’ room wouldn’t work, or it would fall from its position. One night Kay sat screaming in her bed, and Sandy had to go in there and ask her what was wrong.

“She won’t leave me alone,” Kay wailed.

“Who won’t leave you alone?”

“Amy.”

When Sandy tried to soothe Kay and get her to sleep in her bed, Kay said that Amy wouldn’t let her. Sandy put Kaylene in Kadyn’s bed that night, and Kaylene finally went to sleep.

Sandy was convinced that Amy was real at this point. We both knew that no kid’s imaginary friend would scare them. Still, she wasn’t exactly hurting Kay and Sandy and Ryan couldn’t just pick up and break the lease on their apartment.

The screaming didn’t stop, though. Sandy started finding random and unexplainable bruises on Kay. She and I talked about it many times, and both of us came to the conclusion that no one else was hurting Kaylene. We became convinced that it was Amy.

Kay would say that she didn’t like Amy anymore, and the camera continued to blur out or fall in the girls’ room. Finally, Sandy and Ryan were able to move out of the apartment, and gradually Kay forgot about Amy. Amy apparently couldn’t leave the apartment, so Kay was safe.

I’d always had a weird feeling about that particular room and the apartment in general, and it was definitely not my first — or last — experience with the other side.

I’ve got lots of ghost stories, so I think I’ll start posting one every Friday. I’m always off on Fridays and usually have extra time, so it’ll be fun!

Share your ghost stories in the comments below, or blog about it and comment with a link! (: