E.coli

As some of you know, Samantha has been diagnosed with her first urinary tract infection (UTI). If you've ever had one, you know how unpleasant they can be. Thankfully, she doesn't appear to be in a lot of pain; it is more of a frequency issue. Unfortunately, because she is so young, and because of a prevalent family history of "duplex systems" on both sides of the family, the doctor wanted her examined by a pediatric urologist. (A duplex system is where you have one or two extra ureters, which is the tube that goes from the kidney to the bladder.)

Our appointment was yesterday. The urologist was fantastic and supportive. She explained that Samantha's UTI was caused by E.coli, which is - surprisingly - good news. It means that the UTI was probably caused by poor wiping. That, combined with the facts that she did not have a fever and her first UTI wasn't until after she potty trained, led the urologist to believe that this is probably nothing to worry about. BUT -- because of the family history, she wants to do a full work-up anyway.

So, our next step is to take her down to the University of MN for a few hours of unpleasant tests. She will need to be sedated by IV, which will be difficult for Mom & Dad, but will make the tests easier for Sammie.

The best possible scenario is to find out that she does not have a duplex system or urinary reflux (where the bladder doesn't fully void and instead reverses the stream back up to the kidney). If she does, they will recommend surgery. We're hoping for the best!