My Brad-Monkey and the Case of the Uncooperative Right Kidney!

...Well really, it isn't so much "the right kidney" as it is the valve that connects the ureter from the bladder to the kidney.

Let me explain.

My oldest, my awesome, smart, wicked cool Brad-Monkey began having some pain when urinating last November. I figured he may have a urinary tract infection (since I have had one of those stinkin' little devils before), so I took him to the pediatrician who confirmed it. No big deal, was sent home with antibiotics and we were good to go for about two weeks or so.

Then, the UTI came back! Poor baby.

Back to the doctor we went, and this time more antibiotics ensued, but before we left, he set us up with an ultrasound at Lakeland Regional Medical Center as a precaution to make sure all plumbing works correctly, and that there is nothing wrong causing the UTI's and that this is all a fluke. OK no problem! End of November, ultrasound was done. UTI was gone and had stayed gone, so I thought this was all just a "waste of time". My boy was fiiiiineeee. Fine-O-fine.

Ultrasound results came back to his pediatrician - he has a duplicate collection chamber in his right kidney. Say what? I asked the pediatrician what this meant, he said usually nothing at all, just a medical fluke, only meant that he has two collection chambers for fluid in his kidney instead of one. We will go ahead and use this little guy as our guide for the next set of "explanations":

So, his pediatrician wanted us to follow up with a pediatric urologist - to be on the safe & clear side. Okay! So, next appointment set... We are now at February 2nd, 2010, because that is the soonest that I could get with this particular doctor that he referred us to. We saw him after he himself arrived an hour late to the appointment and he agreed that Brad did have a duplicate chamber, but he wanted to make sure that when the urine collects in his bladder and he urinates, that the fluid does not shoot back into - or "reflux" - into the kidney, causing infection. He then ordered what is called a "VCU" test. This was done on February 19th at St. Joseph's Hospital - and lets just say Brad was not happy. At. All. Catheter + 9 year old boy = not a fun experience. The test involved placing a catheter in, filling his bladder with "blue dye" and then taking many x-rays to see what the fluid did & went. Took all of a half hour, then a stop to Dairy Queen for my big guy and we were on our way home. Results would not be known until our next appointment with the urologist, which was yesterday...

*sigh*

The whole time I told myself "Brad is fineeee", he wasn't. As it turns out, the fluid does come back into his kidney and collects, due to a non-functioning valve in the right kidney's ureter that connects to his bladder. This is what has been causing the multiple UTI's. What threw me (and Bradley) back was when the doctor said that "Not to worry, we'll just do surgery and it will be corrected". What? Surgery? I had no idea that this was at that level of seriousness. Speaking of levels... the type severity of the reflux is scored in levels, or grades, measuring from Grade I (not serious, barely any reflux at all) to Grade 5 (major, severe reflux, ER type situation). Brad's severity measured between a 3 and 4. So, this is why he has to have surgery.

Talk about a wake-up "stop the presses, what just happened here" call.

To top it all off, the doctor said the "S" word (surgery) in front of my Brad-Monkey. My first born. He immediately began freaking out, crying, thinking he was going to die (he wasn't). The doctor was great with him when he saw his anxiety and answered all his questions ("Am I going to feel anything? Are you going to cut me open? How much? Where? Will I have a scar?What tools are you going to use?" Yes, he asked what tools the doctor was going to use. He's too smart for his own good.) When he was done with the questions, he just wanted to know where/when/how long, and wanted to talk to other people who have had surgery to find out how it works and what happens because honestly, Hans & I have never been "put under" for any type of procedure.

When I got through talking to the doctor today, asking the questions I didn't want to ask in front of Brad & scare him, this site basically sums up all that I learned about the procedure he is going to have done. http://www.ucsfchildrenshospital.org/education/ureteral_reimplant_surgery/index.html

And so it begins... yesterday and today I researched the different hospitals that we could have the surgery done at, and we settled on having the procedure done at All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, FL. The new facility just opened January 9, so everything is brand-spankin' new. Each room has a 42" LCD TV, games/Disney Channel/Nickelodeon, phone, sleep area for the parents, and filtered internet on the TV for Brad. Plus, a 2nd floor rooftop play area & ICEE machines (yep, only the best, haha), video games, and a breakfast cart that comes around each morning that they can take whatever they want from, and however much that they want - donuts, eggs, bacon, toast, etc...! Here are some photos I found online:

  

The surgery is scheduled for Monday, April 5, 2010, time still unknown - they will call me the Friday before to let us know what time to be there. He will be in the hospital at least until Wednesday, maybe Thursday. Afterward, he will be out of school until the following Wednesday or Thursday. I have already applied for FMLA at work, and Hans has four weeks vacation saved (wow!), so he is taking off two weeks. 

I will definitely be keeping everyone posted, and ask that all of you add us to your prayers. We can use them! This is going to be a rough few weeks.

Thanks!

The Reller Family