urologist with brooke

Having a child with a history of urinary track infections has not been fun! Besides the fact that she has been miserable during the actual infections, the process of getting the urine samples (via catheter) has been so invasive and traumatic for her.  I think she had 5-6 infections before our pediatrician recommended going to a pediatric urologist. The last two infections were far apart, so I wondered if it was necessary (especially after ruling out an anatomical issue months ago with the VCUG test), but I went for peace of mind.  I made sure the urologist (Dr. Kay) had all of Brooke's previous medical records, and had to make a special trip to Cook Children's to pick up a CD of images from her VCUG and renal sonogram.  When the doctor walked it, I felt like he hadn't even looked at her records.  I was super upset.  He simply said, "What's going on?".  When I explained the issue, he said that her bladder was probably colonized with the bacteria, and that the infections were probably never fully clearing, which is why they kept coming back.  It kind of made sense, but some of the infections were really far apart.  Anyway, his solution was to give her a low dose of antibiotics for a month to make sure we cleared out her bladder, and then if she got another UTI, we would do further testing.

Although I was super hesitant to put her on antibiotics for a month, he also explained (just as Dr. Joki did) that kids with a history of withholding and constipation seem to struggle with UTIs. And since we were still struggling with getting her to poop, I figured this would buy us some time to make sure her withholding wasn't a contributing factor to any other infections.

So, although I was not a huge fan of the doctor, I decided to follow his advice and fill the prescription.  He also advised me that I needed to have her empty her bladder every 3-4 hours.  Brooke can hold it forever, so I have to keep track of the time and make sure she is going to the bathroom on schedule.  Hopefully this doesn't mess with her, but I am trying to do my best given the situation!

During the month of medicine, we also made huge progress in the pooping department!  We had tried all sorts of treats and prizes, but these Care Bears finally did the trick.  Once she earned the first one or two, everything clicked. She literally earned the other 10 bears in a matter of 2 days.  My friend Daleth had given me advice about "risk vs reward".  She told me that once Brooke realized that the reward was better than the risk (of going potty), she would get it, and that's totally what happened.  By the end of the round of antibiotics, I felt like we had the potty issues under control, which was a huge relief to me!