Reflux Disorders in Children

Reflux is a disorder in which urine backs up (refluxes) from the bladder to the kidney. The amount of reflux can be large or small.
What causes reflux?

In the human urinary tract there is a valve where the bladder joins the urine tube, or ureter, that comes from the kidney. Some children are born with a problem valve that does not close properly, so the urine refluxes back into the kidney. Other problems, called voiding disorders, cause problems controlling urine release and may also cause reflux. Some of these problems will disappear as your child gets older.
How is reflux diagnosed? Are there signs to alert parents to the problem?

Usually, reflux is found when you take your child to the doctor after a urinary tract infection. About 50 percent of babies and 30 percent of older children with infections will have reflux. The back flow of urine to the kidney can cause a urinary infection to spread to the kidney, which can make your child very sick and can lead to kidney damage. You may notice that your child:

* goes to the bathroom more often
* says, “It burns” or “It hurts” when urinating
* says, “My stomach hurts”
* has a fever.

Take your child to a doctor, who will get a urine culture if he or she suspects an infection.
How is reflux treated?

Reflux can be corrected by surgery. However, most children will get better as they grow older. Therefore, your child may be treated with antibiotics to prevent infection. Only one child in ten will contract an infection when taking antibiotics.

Sometimes it is hard to decide what is best for your child. If your doctor suggests surgery, you may want to get a second opinion from a pediatric urologist, who specializes in reflux conditions in children. Most American children’s hospitals have one of these doctors on staff.

The doctor should evaluate other possible causes of reflux, such as voiding disorders, which usually cause a loss of bladder control. Some children’s hospitals have training programs to help children develop better urination control.
Do children with reflux tend to have serious problems later?

Once the reflux condition is corrected, it is very rare for a child to contract it again. However, if the kidneys have been damaged, high blood pressure may surface later in life. The risk of high blood pressure is about 10 percent if one kidney has been damaged and about 20 percent if both kidneys have been damaged. Most children do not have serious kidney damage from reflux, but some do. A small number will go on to have kidney failure later in life.
Is research being done to find better ways of preventing and treating this problem?

Yes. Researchers are trying to find easier ways to combat reflux. In the future, incision-free, outpatient surgery may be available where a tube inserted into the body allows a doctor to look into and study the bladder.
Is there anything else parents should know about this problem?

Yes. If your child has a fever, complains about pain below the navel or pain when urinating, or if the child goes to the bathroom more often than usual, he or she may have a urinary infection. A urine culture should always be done and most doctors will also order x-rays to look for reflux.

I have been told by my doctor to stop working out till i lose more weight that my body’s weight is destroying my knees. So I am going to have to up the diet and possibly add supplements to achieve a significant enough weight loss to not tear my knees up anymore. The way they explained it is my knees when I was in shape were used to functioning at a cetain level with a certain amount of force created by my weight, now with the added 60-80 lbs they cant handle the force. So here we go again change number 1,000,001 to my master plan. lol

Well Teniya is still going to dialysis three times a week, they are now able to hit her veins all the time. UC Davis is presenting her case to the transplant committee today to start the process of qualification. My legs are still shot which is hampering my ability to work out. I am making an appointment with my doctor to investigate it a little farther, this is way to much pain just to be shin splints and fatigued muscles. It feels like someone is driving a steel rod through my knee when i move it or bend it a certain way. The good part is no new weight is being put on while I cant work out so that is a big plus, its just that only a lb or two a week are coming off.

Put the candy down and step away from the plastic pumpkin!!!!!!!!!!

Don’t justify saving your children’s health by disposing all of their candy bars for them.

I want to know if anyone in Wheatland is reading this. And if you are would love to start an evening walking club at the track behind Wheatland Elementary. Let me know.

Yesterday we began the screening process to determine if mentally, physically and responsible Teniya can have a transplant. From what I hear this is a time consuming process and pretty intensive. They need to question everyone involved to see if Teniya will be responsible enough to care for the new kidney and if the support structure is in place to care for Teniya. One thing I need to do is once this moves along a little is put it out to the community to locate possible donor. Even with me being a match blood wise it may end up down the road that i may mot qualify for what ever reason or the kidney may not take in which case we need a back up in place. This a huge thing to ask of anyone but as a father i must do all I can for my child. So here a bit I will put it out to the community what we need to do. I do know Teniya is Type O blood and need an O donor. Well thanks you all for following out journey and I will try to be a little more diligent on my postings.

Today I went to Round Table on Ellis lake for lunch. Had the one trip salad bar and I must say its a pretty good deal. They keep it clean and fresh, a good variety and its inexpensive $4.50. Not bad had that and an ice water with lemon in it. Of course they do have some land mines on there so watch out, no baco’s, potato salad, canned peaches and pineapple, solid colored dressings. Remember you cant justify it by saying its on the “Salad Bar” so its good for me. But just wanted to share that with you all. There are alot of salad bars here in town but found this one to be good and affordable.

I am finding it is very expensive to lose weight. lol

Computer is on the fritz. Will update as often as I can. All is going good right now. She is doing dialysis 3 times a week. I am switching to cardio only for a bit. The strength training is causing alot of issues. Need a good source for body recovery any suggestions would be appreciated. Need something to speed recovery.

Well the shin splints have subsided enough to one again resume strenuous work outs. This is great news have been feeling like I haven’t been achieving much with the limited amount of exercise I could do. Just did some cardio and and weights for upper arms. Will start a regiment tomorrow or the next day depending on schedule of working out before work and at lunch. After work is kinda rough as I just want to get home to the wife and kids for some family time. Well hope to see you all out in the gym. Stop bye and say hi. We can chat over some serious sweating.

Time to step up the pace. Teniya had a meeting with UCDavis and they are recommending she get the transplant with in 6 months and if a live donor is available she can have it even faster. So its time to kick it into high gear. We will be meeting with the screening team over the next few weeks. There is a possibility for us to send out a request to find a donor depending on the time constraints they may impose. Not sure yet but will know soon. I have been checking with the American Kidney Foundation to see how that whole process works. Seems pretty straight forward though so if it come to that we will basically just ask the public to get checked and if we can find a matching volunteer we move forward. Teniya has expressed she would want to meet the person first and make sure they are a good person. I told here I am not 100% positive but I believe they do meet each other first for a live donor situation. Well we will see in a few weeks no need to put the cart before the horse. I have noticed that she has been a bit less irritable since the dialysis has been successful though. Key word there is a BIT…. ahe is still a teenager. Nothing can cure that.