Taking Risks.....

Everything in life is a risk, right?  Every choice we make has the potential for consequences down the road that we can't possibly anticipate or imagine.  Have you read The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom?  An entire fascinating novel on the subject. 

But I digress.

I belong to a British support group online for parents of kids with kidney disease.  I put up this post this morning:

"Ana, now 15, is approaching the third anniversary of her kidney transplant. The first 6 months were marvelous from her perspective - no dialysis and no pain. Since then she's been plagued by daily headaches that have been diagnosed as migraine. Between transplant meds, inactivity due to pain, and now migraine meds she's gained nearly six stone (had to Google that LOL not a term we use in the states!) and her current medication is making her evil. Next week they are taking a chance and changing her to topiramate, which (rarely) can cause kidney stones, because we are out of safer options. We'd appreciate thought and prayers. (and yes, whatever it is you are going to suggest, we've tried that or it isn't safe LOL)"

Truth is, we are out of safer choices.  After more than two years of headaches and medications that kinda sorta help a little, she's on a combination of Depakote and Keppra.  While they warned us that the Keppra could cause personality changes (it didn't) it's the Depakote that's made less than  her usual pleasant self.  So even though the Depakote has helped a little with the headaches (and by 'a little' I mean they have gone from daily with no break at all during the entire day to daily with some pretty good hours in the evening and one good day a week and she seems less depressed) I think we need to keep looking.

But....

Kidney stones.  Crap.

I know, better than anybody, that you only get the side effects of a medication that you get, and not all of the ones on the list.  The kidney team has a plan to watch out for even the potential for the stones.  But, damn.

We won't be making the switch until she gets some additional blood tests, and since I didn't get the fax for that by the end of yesterday, that will take some time, so maybe by Wednesday?

Prayers appreciated.

DeeDee