For those of you who know and love us in real life and for those of you who know and have generously taken the time to pray for our family through the blog, I wanted to give an update on Savannah our five year old.
Thursday Savannah had surgery to repair a congenital problem that caused urine to reflux up into her kidney.
Savannah is all pink, purple and princess. So she was excited that during her recovery she would get to be treated like a princess. It was also a special treat for her to get to the surgery floor at Children’s Hospital and find it decorated with castles.
She had fun coloring and talking with the doctors and nurses as they prepared her for surgery and was cheerful as we left her.
The surgery took a little over 2 hours and they found another genetic anomaly after they got her open. They also discovered that a portion of one of her kidney’s is not functioning, something we’ll keep an eye on in the future. The bottom line is that everything went well and was able to be repaired. We’ll go back to her doctor in a month for testing to see if this procedure stopped the reflux.
Savannah has done amazingly well other than nausea. Poor thing, the combination of anesthesia and pain meds really knocked her for a loop. This afternoon she is finally beginning to hold things down and is able to enjoy her princess treatment.
So what does a princess who has just had surgery do with her time?
Well, she sleeps
and sleeps
Mark carrying Savannah to the bathroom
eats Popsicles (and pukes them too)
enjoys pink and purple flowers, (thank you, Seth)
reads cards (thank you Aunt Alondra, cousins and siblings) and graciously receives gifts, (thank you, Nanny)
get’s a pedicure, foot rubs and lots of stories from her mom 
and of course dresses in princess pajamas.
Thank you for your prayers, as you can see God has been gracious, Savannah is doing great and enjoying her time as a princess.
You may also enjoy:
Hi, I'm Kimberly. 
Poor honey.
Surgery makes me sick for days afterwards too. . . that’s rough on a kid. 
[Reply]
she looks great, i hope she continues to recover
[Reply]
My Chloe had surgery on a finger a couple of years ago, and she remembers it fondly. : ) She loved all the special treatment. The ‘pink ladies’ even gave her homemade stuffed kittens, which she still keeps on her bed.
[Reply]
Thank you SO much for the update! We are praising God with you! {hugs} What a sweetie in her princess jammies…
[Reply]
We are praising the Lord and rejoicing with you all!
Savannah looks great and we are so thankful. Thank you for the update and to God be the glory!!!!
[Reply]
So glad to hear that she’s doing well! What a sweetie!
[Reply]
Oh,I am so glad she is doing well.What a little trooper.May God bless you all.Especially the little princess!Blessings,Marla Grace
[Reply]
She is such a cute little girl! My oldest little girl would LOVE that nightgown! =) We prayed for her and we’re so happy and thankful your little princess is doing well. Hopefully each day will get better and she can really enjoy her royal treatment!
[Reply]
One of my daughters has the same problem and we’ve been working with doctors for the last 2 years to try and avoid surgery. We may still have to do it, so it’s comforting to me to see your little one doing so well after. Thank you for posting this!
[Reply]
We are praying for a quick recovery. She looks so sweet and happy in all the pictures. Glad to hear she is doing so well!
[Reply]
Glad to hear she’s recovering nicely! God is good!
Celee
[Reply]
I’m glad that all went smoothly for your little princess. Praying that recovery is quick and without complications.
[Reply]
Thanks for the update. What an answer to prayer! Praying for no further complications.
[Reply]
So thankful the surgery went well. Praying for her recovery and future health.
[Reply]
Glad to see there was plenty of princess treatment for the princess
Really glad the surgery went fine and is OVER!
‘Lucy’
[Reply]
I’m so glad everything went well. We prayed for her yesterday, and I thought about you guys this morning.
TJ always gets the royal treatment after each of his surgeries too. The other kids love to give it, as much as he likes to get it
[Reply]
I’m glad the surgery went well, and that she is recovering.
The whole nausea/surgery thing is a *pain.* Maybe it’s inherited, since it affects all the women in my family!
[Reply]
My husband and I have been praying, my siblings and I have had a lot of genetic issues (As disturbing as it is, doctors believe my parents may have been related without knowing it, as we don’t know my fathers father.) None of us ever actually had to have surgeries, but between the four of us kids there were always hospital and specialist appointments, especially in the early years, and regular 2am hospital visits because someone isn’t breathing or isn’t responding. We became very accustomed to the local hospitals at times, as we would go through stages of weekly appointments for a few months at a time.
So while I can’t relate to the surgery, I can relate to the ongoing problems these sorts of issues, especially genetic and birth ones, can bring, because they tend to come bundled with other issues, and they’re rarely truly ‘gone’. I’m relieved to hear they discovered those other issues in surgery, so you can be aware of them now.
I remember for me, my hospital trips were one of the few times I got to spend real time with my dad, one of the few times we got to talk as he always took me, and it was an all day affair two or three times a year for most of my childhood. I actually came to enjoy them, and when you become one of those kids that staff recognises, it’s so much fun
. Of course hospitals aren’t all fun, but with just a little bit of work, they can have fond memories along with the stabbie machines and stingy liquids and owie lights lol. Then sibling jealousy is the only concern.
[Reply]
Glad to hear it went well. We have been in and out of the childrens hospital here near us for several years dealing with eye issues and surgeries. Thank goodness all were outpatient. My Savannah never had problems with the anesthesia, but there are several different levels of it, and I guess we never had to have real indepth anesthesia. Here is to it working and being a success!
[Reply]
I send you prays for your daughter and your family. Glad to hear that she is doing well.
[Reply]
Praise God Kimberly, isn’t He gracious and good? I am glad that His hand was with those doctors.
Please keep us updated♥
[Reply]
I recently found your blog and I just love it. Our daughter had the same surgery a couple of years ago and has had to recurrence of problems. The recovery tends to be pretty smooth, but be prepared for the “bladder spasms” which can be very painful. It helped my daughter to hold her hand and remind her to breathe through the pain and not hold her breath. Good luck to your little sweetie!
[Reply]
I am so glad she is feeling better. I have a reaction to Anesthesia similar in that I get very nauseous and puke for a while. poor thing. God is good though and I am glad all has gone well.
[Reply]
Praise God!
[Reply]
So glad it all went well. My first born had a similar issue. Reflux in her ureters, and bladder,and an enlarged kidney. She even has two ureters on one kidney. She had surgery at 11 months old and has been well ever since. I pray that Savanna also will be well and that her low functioning kidney will get to work now that the reflux is fixed.
[Reply]
SO SO SO glad it went well
. Your family CONTINUES to be in our prayers. Love from WI.
[Reply]
Hi, my name is Hannah and I’m the mama of five (soon six) in upstate NY. I will be praying for your daughter as this is an issue that hits close to home for us.
I’m sitting next to our five year old son who was born with grade 4 and 5 reflux in each kidney. By God’s grace, and after two operations he is doing great today with his one lousy working kidney and one fairly good working one.
Blessings to you,
Hannah
[Reply]
Hello! As soon as I saw this post I immediately thought of my daughter Nia. She is 6 years old and about 2 years ago out of nowhere she started having accidents and UTI’s every few months. She has been to see the nephrologists and they say her bladder is shaped abnormal. She has been put on a laxative and has must empty her bladder on schedule. If you don’t mind sharing, what were your daughter’s symptoms? And when did they decide surgery was the best solution? Thanks so much!
[Reply]
Kimberly @ Raising Olives Reply:
August 27th, 2010 at 6:43 am
The doctors have been talking surgery since before Savannah’s second birthday. Before Savannah turned 2 she woke from her nap one day unable to walk. She wouldn’t put any weight on one of her legs. Turns out she had a UTI. After a VCUG which revealed grade 4 reflux, our urologist recommended surgery. We got a second opinion and decided to wait and see if she would grow out of it.
Savannah had her second UTI shortly before our baby was born (7 weeks ago). This time the more conservative urologist said that it was time for surgery.
I hope that is helpful to you.
[Reply]
[...] Update on Savannah’s Surgery [...]
[...] – Vesicouretreal reflux info – Doing research about Savannah’s surgery, prognosis, recovery and [...]