Flashes of Hope

I just received these pictures in the mail yesterday of Teddy. They were taken at Children's Hospital of Philadlephia, by Flashes of Hope. Flashes of Hope is an organization who takes pictures of children who are fighting some kind of childhood illness or disease.

For many of you who do not know, Teddy was diagnosed in August of 2007 with vesiocureatal reflux, commonly known as VUR or kidney reflux. Basically what this is his urine flows back into his kidneys because his ureters are are shorter than normal. It is graded on a 1 to 5 scale. The 1 to 2 grade being that the problem will correct itself, and on 3-5 grade being it will have to be corrected with surgery. VUR also causes bladder infections in children if the urine gets too backed up. Teddy was diagnosed with grades 3 reflux on the right side and 4 on the left side. He had a procedure done in April of 2008 which is working but did not full correct the problem....it did bring the swelling down, so as long as he stay UTI free, he should not need surgery right away.

For more information on VUR visit the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia website.