Today was Kaitlyn's appointment for her renal (kidney) ultrasound and VCUG. She did really well. They wanted to do a little sedation, so she couldn't eat or drink for about 4 hours prior to the procedure. She did great with her ultrasound, and as far as the tech could tell, there were no major anatomical defects, and the vasculature looks good.
She then went for the VCUG. In this procedure, a catheter is inserted into her bladder, contrast is flushed through the catheter to fill the bladder, then multiple x-rays are taken while she voids, to see if the fluid refluxes back up to her kidneys or is eliminated properly.
She was such a trooper. The whole catheter placement and procedure was very unpleasant, but she did great! Unfortunately, the test showed that she does have reflux.
Vesicoureteral Reflux is graded from 1-5. 1 being very minimal, and 5 being very severe. Her reflux is somewhere between 3-4 on the left side.
She goes to see the pediatric urologist next Monday to find out what the next step is. I'm hoping and praying that it can be managed with constant prophylactic antibiotics, but we will see. At the very minimum, she will probably have to have yearly VCUGs to check the status of her reflux. The most important thing is to not have kidney damage from it. I thank God that she hasn't had more bouts of pyelonephritis with her reflux being so severe.
I called Anthony when we were on our way home. I was a little upset over the fact that we are moving soon, and all of this is coming up. He reminded me that this didn't come as a surprise to God, and he is going to work everything out. He always does!
As much as I love Kaitlyn, I'm so thankful to serve a God that cares more about my little girl than I ever could. She's in good hands. This I have confidence in and peace about!
2 comments:
I have Vesicoureteral reflux am almost 30 and didn't find out I had it till 2 years ago despite having numerous CT scans to find out what was causing Pregnancy problems, they said I have had it since I was born just never diagnosed till then, but I did get several UTI's when I was really little, the doctor told my mom to not give me baths and to make sure I went to the restroom frequently, it worked cause I didn't really have problems all through my adolescence and teen years, but then I got married and because of intercourse started having problems again, went to urologist and he said I may have Incontinence and make sure before intercourse to use the restroom and make sure bladder is empty, and to take cranberry supplements. Followed his advice and did great, except through pregnancy when I would get one to two UTI's each pregnancy. Then two years ago I went through testing to donate a kidney to a family member and that is when it was discovered, they can do surgery when you are young to fix it but its not as easy to do surgery on when you are older, say a renal doctor and a urologist, I don't have to take antibiotic therapy, but I know when I am getting a UTI so just have to go pick up antibiotic whenever I need it instead of making an appointment whenever the symptoms get severe, biggest things my renal doctor and urologist told me was to make sure I drink lots of water, LOTS, and use the restroom every 2 hours whether I feel like it or not. Whenever I travel I make sure to get an antibiotic prescription to take with me so I know I have it and just in case.
Thank you for the info Danielle. I usually only see the surgical patients that come through, and only have a little experience with the nonsurgical patients. Definitely anxious to find out what the plan is for her. I know there are pros and cons to both types of management. Glad we figured this out now- before she gets renal scarring.
She drinks a ton of fluids, which is good, but I do think she tends to hold onto urine and not go to the bathroom as frequently when she is playing or gets busy. Going to have to watch that.
Hope you all are doing well!
Post a Comment