Archive - January 2007

When my oldest was little, he loved the moon. He would search the night sky saying, "Where oh where moon be?"  Even now, when he spies a full moon he says, "oh look, there’s my friend the moon!" So on Tuesday when I spied the full moon rising over the houses, with bare wintery trees framing it, I thought of Boo and took this

How was I to know that it was not just any full moon, but a Full Wolf Moon. How appropriate for my Wolf Cub Scout.  From The Farmer’s Almanac Full Moon Names:

Full Wolf Moon – January: Amid the cold and deep snows of midwinter, the wolf packs howled hungrily outside Indian villages.  Thus, the name for January’s full moon.  Sometimes it was also referred to as the Old Moon or the Moon After Yule.

Hat tip to Dawn at The Nature Corner

We started off this morning in the predawn hours. We bundled three sleepy children into the minivan, covered them up with blankets and started off on a 45 minute journey to Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The sun was just turning the sky blue as we passed the US Capitol. The beauty of the lit dome against the morning sky did not go unnoticed. We navigated the streets of DC along with other early morning commuters, remarking how happy we are to live 5 minutes from Philip’s office. Arriving at Walter Reed, we felt lucky to find parking after driving around the lot for only 10 minutes. Pumpkin Girl’s renal ultrasound was scheduled for 8 am and we signed her in at almost exactly the required 15 minutes early. She was a little nervous about the procedure even though this would be the third one she has had. The first one came a little over 2 years ago. After Rebecca died from urosepsis, we found out that she had a condition called vesicouretal reflux (VUR). It’s a condition that is quite common in children, chances are you already know someone who has or had it. Most children will outgrow it, others, like me, will require surgery. With proper medical care, it does not have to be fatal. With proper medical care, Rebecca could have survived her urinary tract infection. But that’s a post for another time. Because VUR runs in families, we had our 2 surviving children tested, as well as Bip shortly after he was born. Pumpkin and Bip both have it and have been treated with daily antibiotics to ward off infection. Pumpkin’s reflux was mild and today we were checking to see if her kidneys continue to be free from damage. We were relieved to hear the great news – her kidneys look as good as they did a year ago. We can now take her off her meds and the VUR should give her no more problems. In every way this is an answer to our prayers. However,prayers are often not answered in exactly the way we had hoped. While Pumpkin’s kidneys are healthy, they do not have appeared to have grown over the last year. Her doctor is not overly concerned because it is difficult to get an accurate measurement on something that small. So while we do have good news, we can not put this completely behind us. Pumpkin will have another renal ultrasound in one year. Until then, we will continue to trust in the Lord and thank Him, the Great Physician, for the prayers he has already answered.