Urology Update

On Wednesday, we took Kaitlyn to meet with the pediatric urologist in Bismarck. The original thought was, that we would attempt the Deflux procedure, keep her on her daily antibiotics, repeat the VCUG in a few weeks post-procedure, and see if it worked.  Dr. K said that he would be happy to try Deflux, but told me that it was unlikely to work with Grade IV reflux, and he has seen so many patients come back after the procedure, he only recommends it in children with Grades I and II.  To be honest, I half expected this response, as her doctor in Oregon felt much the same way.  Since it is fairly low risk, and there is no surgery involved, he left the option up to us to try. He was very hopeful that it would work on the right side, as she only has Grade I reflux at this time.

The next option would be robotics.  This procedure would require 4 laparoscopic sites or "puncture holes", a guided robot does the surgery, and the healing time is a little faster, but there are some added risks.  The procedure is still so new, that the success rate is fairly high so far, but there is really no way to see the long-term effects because the procedure has only been around 4-5 years.

The last option would be a complete ureteral reimplantation. It would be an open procedure, the surgery would be a couple of hours long, the healing time is longer, but the success rate is 98%. I felt like he might be pushing me toward robotics, as he is the one that does all of them for the area, and it is less invasive. I finally asked him, "If this was your daughter, what would you do?". He said, definitely the open complete reimplant. He said if robotics wasn't successful, she would be back getting the full surgery anyway, and there was just not enough data at this point for him to know what the long-term success of it would be. That was good enough to persuade me to do the complete surgery. He also said, that since he is going in anyway, he will do it bilaterally (on both sides). The probability is high that she would eventually develop worse reflux on the right, and we would be back in to do another complete surgery, therefore causing even more scar tissue to develop, and increasing the risks for complications later. She will have to have a VCUG every year for a while, to make sure there are no issues, but she will be able to come off of her daily antibiotics right away. She will have to be in the hospital for 3-4 days, and the healing time is longer. While I feel bad about that side of it, I do feel like we are making the best decision for long-term success. Her surgery is scheduled for August 6th.

We are so thankful for all of the prayers on her behalf, and would ask for them to continue. Pray that God will guide the doctor doing the surgery and the staff caring for her. Also, pray that she will have strength to go through it, and a swift recovery with no complications.

(To read previous posts related to this, click on "Kaitlyn's Kidneys" under "Tags" on the sidebar)