What it's all about

Prune belly syndrome occurs in about 1 out of 40,000-50,000 births. During fetal development there is usually a blockage that occurs in the bladder that causes fluid to build up in the abdomen and into the renal organs which causes damage to the bladder, ureters, and kidneys. Each case of prune belly syndrome varies in severity and in some cases can be lethal. It is said that 50% of prune belly babies die within a few weeks of birth and of the remaining 50% that survive 20% will die before the age of 2 the remaining 30% survive with varying degrees of damage to the renal organs. Most prune belly babies also have abnormalities with other organs and systems. The heart, lungs, and digestive system can all be affected by this birth defect. It is a very sad case with most prune belly patients making their way into the world, because the birth disorder is so rare and there is very little awareness or education provided to doctors about prune belly syndrome.
When I was pregnant with Miller he was actually misdiagnosed with a posterior urethral valve. At 20 weeks we had an ultrasound to determine the sex of our baby and to make the usual measurements. At this point they determined that Miller had a complete blockage in his bladder, the blockage was not allowing any urine to pass out of Miller's body and process through the amniotic fluid(baby urine is was makes up amniotic fluid and helps develop the fetal lungs) We were sent to see a fetal specialist who diagnosed Miller with the posterior urethral valve. When the doctor told us that there was a chance that Miller may not survive the pregnancy or may not survive his birth the news was devastating. We spent the next 17 weeks monitoring Miller's bladder and kidneys via ultrasound. With each appointment the doctor would note a new abnormality that wasn't in check with the original diagnosis. Prune belly syndrome is sometimes referred to as triad syndrome b/c there are three main abnormalities that are used to make a diagnosis. The first is the fluid built up in the abdomen that fluid prevents the abdominal muscles from forming and prevents the testes from descending. Miller had all three of those abnormalities present before birth but b/c prune belly is so rare our doctor missed the diagnosis. We had spent so much time researching the PUV we were not prepared for what was to come next. After Miller was born he was sent to the NICU for a few days before our pediatrician came to talk with us. He began to tell us that he was so unfamiliar with prune belly syndrome that he had to go back to his medical textbooks and do research to come up with a treatment plan. He then hit us with another blow, there was a 50% chance that Miller could have an intestinal malrotation. A malrotation is when the intestines are not connected to the abdominal wall and they can flip and twist causing a block which can be deadly if not caught in time. Miller was sent to have an upper GI done to determine the malrotation and the next day the radiologist confirmed that he found Miller had a malrotation. We were sent home for one night and then quickly sent to children's hospital in Atlanta expecting Miller to have his first surgery at 5 days old. The fantastic specialists at children's were able to determine that Miller did not have a malrotation and we were sent home! A week later our pediatrician informed us that Miller was also born with a hole in his heart and he needed to see a pediatric cardiologist as soon as possible. He was trying to soften the blow for us so he delayed this information until we returned from Atlanta. We saw the cardiologist the following week and found out that Miller would not need surgery to repair the hole in his heart. The hole was not large enough to need repair and it would eventually close on it's own. Miller does not have to return to the cardiologist until his first birthday! We returned to Atlanta 9 weeks later for Miller to have an MRI done to examine his kidneys and ureters. Miller was scheduled for his first surgery on September 10, 2008 and he had his second on December 3, 2008. Miller recovered from both surgeries like a champ. He will have a few radiology tests done in February 2009 and from there his doctors will decide what to do next. Miller has beat all the odds and proved that prune belly is not as fatal as some may say. There are some children with prune belly syndrome who are not as lucky as Miller is. Many children have to undergo dialysis and kidney transplants before the age of 3. There is no cure for this disorder and it is something Miller will live with for the rest of his life. He has a long road in front of him and we want to do all we can to help the people who helped us when we had no where to turn. We found a website called the prune belly syndrome network or http://www.prunebelly.org/. All the information on the web is very grim and leaves little hope for new parents with prune belly babies. When we found this website we were able to see that there were children, teenagers, and even adults living with this disorder. It was the best thing that happened to us after Miller was born and it helped get us through the rough stuff. This organization offers support to families across the country that suffer from this rare disorder and every year they hold a convention to bring in doctors and specialists who have studied and trained to help prune belly patients. For most it is a fantastic opportunity to speak to doctors who can offer advice that they had not been given elsewhere. This organization has been running off a small website for years and all the funding is provided by the members. The website fund is starting to deplete and soon it may be in danger of shutting down. There are so many families who need this site now and there will be many in the future. I have made it my personal mission to raise awareness while raising a few dollars along the way. I decided to do something that I don't really love to do in order to help my sweet baby Miller. I am pretty sure that Miller did not enjoy any medical procedure he has endured over this past year so I have to chosen to run a race for each and every procedure he has had done to him. I started counting and so far we are up to 12 but the list will continue to grow in the coming year. I have to map out a calender of races but with our recent relocation I am not really sure where I will be. I plan to start in March, as close to Miller's birthday as I can. I am looking for donations from anyone who would like to contribute to this awesome organization. There are families that need the prune belly syndrome network and we are one of them. Please help Miller and please help the prune belly syndrome network.
Thank you to all of our family and friends. You have helped us through a tough year and we love you all!

Take a sneak peek at the merchandise

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Fundraising Results

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

One More

Just under a week after we returned from Atlanta we took a trip to Columbus to visit Miller's pediatric cardiologist. Miller was born with two holes in his heart one is called a patent ductus arteriosis(PDA) and the other is called an atrial septal defect(ASD). These heart complications are related to his prune belly syndrome and can occur in any prune belly baby. When we first visited the cardiologist they seemed pretty confident that the one of the holes would close on its own as it is very normal for babies to be born with a small hole in the heart. All babies have these two small holes in the heart before birth most close before birth and most will close up to 72 hours after birth. Miller was not put on any restrictions after his diagnosis and we were asked to return close to his first birthday to follow up with his condition. Well as you may know Miller will turn one next week! So we went back on Monday, Miller had an EKG and an ECHO done on his heart. We got great news, not only one but both holes had closed on their own! Miller has escaped surgery once again, way to go Miller!

As for the running, well that is a whole other story. I would love to report that the training is going well but I want to be honest. I have had a horrible cold that has lasted almost 4 weeks! The running has come to a hault for the moment because I do think that breathing in the cold morning air has really had an effect on my recovery so I had to stop and give my body a break. I can't take much more of this darn cold so if it hasn't gone away by the weekend I will have to go back to the doctor and see what's up!

Our officail move date is coming up very rapidly, March 5th the movers will be at our house so this has impacted our first race. We had planned to run in a race in Albany on the 7th but turns out we won't be here, instead we'll be headed to Niceville to celebrate Miller's birthday! Now our first offical run will be March 28th in our new hometown of Rainbow City Alabama. http://www.bigoakrun.com/ FYI after Miller's recent cardiology testing my race number is now up to 15!
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Wednesday, February 18, 2009

He's back!

We are back from Atlanta were Miller had a visit to Children's hospital for a few tests and a he went to visit the urologist. I will be honest, that was one of the hardest things I have witnessed Miller go through since he was born. He had something called a voiding cystogram, which involves a catheter being placed in his little man part and then they inject dye into his bladder and poor warm fluids on him so they can watch which direction the urine goes. They hope for the urine to come back down the urethra and be voided out of his body, what happens with most prune belly babies is the urine flows backwards up into the ureters and sometimes it can reach as far as the kidneys. The last time Miller had this test done he had grade 5 reflux in both ureters(grade 5 on a 1 to 5 scale), what this means is that Miller had the worst case of urine back flow possible. That being said I am very happy to report that after 1 hour of trying to get a catheter into Miller and a lot of tears shed by both Miller and Mommy the test showed that Miller's grade 5 reflux is GONE!!! That's right gone, not grade 1 or 2 right now he is a big fat zero!! With this goods news we can now report that Miller will not be scheduled for surgery anytime within the next 6 months. So we can enjoy or spring and summer with Miller's big ol' belly and hope for good news in August when we return to Atlanta for an ultrasound and another visit to the urologist. Miller is our little medical miracle and we are so proud of him. After seeing his poor little body being put to the test yet again it just made me want to train harder for him, it is the least Ican do after all he has done. Come on, you know you want to do it too!
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Friday, February 13, 2009

Cold

Well this weather has got me down. I caught a cold this week and have been unable to run. I got one good day in before the sickness came but now I am out of commission for a few days. It is hard to run when you can't get air into your nose! I am hoping that I will be good to go for the weekend.
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Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Blown Away

Well I thought I would double my distance today, it seemed like a nice day to do it. We dropped Madison off at school and the thermometer on my car read 62 degrees, perfect weather! Miller and I got off to a great start and then when we reached the end of our street a huge wind gust hit me right in the face! I thought it was going to get better when we turned the corner but I was very mistaken. We got up to the club house and I thought poor Miller was going to be thrown from the jog stroller! I felt like I was running on a treadmill backwards the whole time. The temperature was right but the wind was very wrong! Miller must have enjoyed it because he was fast asleep by the time I finally got home. I am hoping for no wind tomorrow.

In other news, we have had a few t-shirt orders come in and I think a few more to come! We had a great response to the whole idea and I can't wait to see them on everyone. If you got one or plan to get one please send photos to me via email so I can post them on the site.

We got news of a fellow prune belly baby who had be hospitalized with a very bad infection last week and I thought I would share that with you guys because it hit very close to home for us. It brings me back to reality knowing that Miller could be in the same situation at any moment. I really really hope that they schedule his surgery at his next visit so we can get past the infection danger zone. So please be thinking of baby Ethan this week, he has recovered from the infection but he will be having his first surgery on Friday. Best wishes to the Badger family, we hope for a very successful Friday!
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Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Check it out!!

Come check it out, we started a little store that sells t-shirts for our cause. All the shirts are customized for our "running for miller" efforts. You can now be a part of our team even if you don't want to run with us. A portion of each purchase will be donated to the prune belly network organization. It is sad to say that the entire purchase will not be donated to this cause but you can't get anything for free, right? Besides if you wear these shirts you will be a walking advertisement for us! Go take a look and let me know what you think. If you don't see anything you like or you have a special request let me know and we'll get it set up for you. We look forward to all comments, good or bad.

http://www.runningformiller.spreadshirt.com/
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HOORAY!!

I don't have asthma!! I came home from the doctor with a handful of prescriptions but I don't have to use an inhaler! So the good news is, I can continue with my training but I have to start taking a steroid! I hope they don't do any pee tests at these runs, I may be disqualified(haha, I am even fast enough to worry about). I got my new running shoes and I am off for a fresh start this week!

In other news, we have raised $175 so far from some very generous people and we are still looking for some more support. I know times right now are tough for many people but I mean it when I say that any little bit can help. I think sacrificing one Starbucks this week would make a big difference to someone in need. Keep it up everyone, we're off to a great start!
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