Christopher’s Journey.

Christopher’s urine catheter fell out yesterday (the balloon holding it in place had deflated), so the Dr’s decided to give him a 24 hour trial to see how he would go. Unfortunately, Christopher didn’t wee as much as the Dr’s would of liked (meaning that he was not able to empty his bladder fully), so another one had to be inserted today.  Christopher has a neurogenic bladder, with urine retention, which means that the nerves that carry out the normal bladder functions, do not work and his can’t expel the urine on his own. The urology department is keen to put in a vesicostomy, which is when they pull the top of the bladder up to the abdominal wall and create a small stoma for the urine to flow out of. This still allows the bladder to grow as Christopher grows and also allows the bladder to fill (and allow Chris to know what a full bladder feels like) and then it will empty directly into his nappy. The vesicostomy is only a temporary measure of between 3 and 12 months, to eliminate the need for continual permanent or intermittent catheterisation.

Christopher is also due to have casts put on his feet tomorrow to help straighten his Talipes (Club Feet). Hopefully putting on the casts won’t upset him as much as making the splints did! These will be changed weekly for quite a few months, until his feet are straightened and hopefully that will be the end of it, but Christopher may still need surgery at the end of it all to lengthen his Achilles Tendon. Time will tell.