The Boy is fast asleep in his very own bed, in his very own room, that was just built for him out of a large upstairs sunroom here in my parent's house. The room wasn't doing much anyway. Just collecting junk.
Getting him to that point wasn't very easy, and he ended up just falling asleep, after about an hour of trying to fight the power with Daddy and then with me, as I read to him. Not what I'd prefer--I'd rather he come by his solo sleep honestly (as in, with honesty on my part instead of my having to sneak out) but it worked.
Not sure if it was the fact that he was so tired and just had to fall asleep some time or if he knew that Mom means it when it's bedtime. Usually Daddy and Grandma have better luck in convincing The Boy to do things, if they are things that need convincing (using the potty before an outing, today's episode of having to pee in a cup for the doctor, or just plain calming down) but I have a history of bedtime success with him.
We'll see how long he stays there and how often we have to bounce him right back, versus when we just give up and let him come in with us in the middle of the night. Because, you see, that would be an improvement. Just having him go to bed on his own and allowing us to have some time to ourselves is a good thing. And once we get him to bed initially, the sleeping longer in there will come.
In other news, we had a nephrology appointment today. The doctor said that according to his urinalysis, and comparing the one from this month to the one from last month's oncology visit, he was doing fine kidney-wise. He had bloodwork done, and comparing the urinalysis and bloodwork will paint a clearer picture. Last month he had +1 protein in the urine, which isn't great but is only a slight deviation from normal. A person with normal kidney function may still get that sometimes. This month he didn't have any. I asked the doctor about his peeing habits, how he really only goes about 5 times a day. I also told her that when he is sick, he is great about wanting more fluids and we always make them very available to him. She said that it sounds fine, as long as he doesn't get dehydrated. A kidney patient needs to be concerned about that. She suggested a watered-down lemonade as an additional drink option for him, if he does need to drink more, but that if he drinks enough, not to worry.
Likely after his next appointment, she will up the dose of his blood pressure medicine a little bit, to account for his growth. The fact that he is growing is another sign that the kidney is doing fine. But the kidney itself has to grow and compensate, and that puts him at greater risk for higher blood pressure, hence the medication.
After seeing the doctor, we did have to get the labs drawn. She said that next time, we'll sync it up with the hem-onc lab so that they can just do it up there. Poor boy was confused, though--he sat in the chair and gave the nurse his finger, saying "this finger" for a finger stick, but of course since they needed more blood, it had to be an arm vein. Grandma decided to get the boy a lollipop for during the procedure. Not that it took that long, but he was already in a Mood, so it was certainly a welcome distraction.
We are in kidney watch mode. Nothing imminent, nothing severe, just watching. The kidney doctor only needs to see him twice a year, so we're not TOO concerned. But we still need him to be monitored, and it's great that everything is in one facility where tests that oncology and nephrology need are done once and not twice.
It's also great that the cafeteria has such good grilled cheese.
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