Daniel update #5

Yesterday (Friday, June 3rd) was our final visit to the urologist (Stateside at least) to discuss the results of the tests Daniel had done Wednesday. Daniel was afraid that he was going to be having tests done again, but we assured him that we were only going to be talking to the doctor this time. The urologist confirmed what they had said at the hospital - that Daniel's kidneys look perfectly fine, but he does have minor vesicoureteral reflux.

One thing we were wondering was what caused the reflux. Sometimes there are underlying problems that can cause this sort of reflux. The urologist said that in Daniel's case, the left ureter (the tube from the kidney to the bladder) enters the bladder at sort of a right angle (instead of the normal acute angle), and that can cause reflux. In this type of case, about 75% of children grow out the problem by age 5-6. Meanwhile, they want to put Daniel on a low-dose antibiotic (to keep him from getting UTIs so the kidneys don't become infected) and have a VCUG done every year until he grows out of it. If he doesn't grow out of it, surgery would probably be necessary.So the good news is that there is nothing seriously wrong as far as they can tell. The bad news is that we still don't know what is causing Daniel's back pain. The reflux does not cause back pain, so we are back to square one in that area. After having all of the tests that he's had so far, it does not seem to be anything very serious, but we still want to somehow discover the cause. We are beginning to suspect some sort of food intolerance - perhaps gluten or wheat. When we return to India we will start doing some experimenting with foods, and may also have him tested for celiac disease. We will keep you updated when/if we figure out anything further.

We have heard from so many of you telling us of your concern and prayers. THANK YOU! We could especially feel the prayers Wednesday during Daniel's tests. The Lord gave us all a great deal of strength and peace, and we know it was the result of prayer. Thank you so much for supporting our family in that way.

P.S. If you are reading about the ongoing saga of Daniel's health issues for the first time, you can find the earlier updates here:
Update #1
Update #2
Update #3
Update #4