Living with Pediatric Urology Issues

My daughter was diagnosed in-utero with hydronephrosis of her right kidney at my 16 week ultrasound. They also told me she had a duplicate system on the same side. All this was so new to me and I must say I was frighten. 8 hours after she was born doctors took her away and performed her first VCUG and they determined that she had Grade V reflux of the bladder on the right side. This was the cause of her hydronephrosis. I was told that she will be put on antibiotics daily and I should fine a pediatric urologist But most likely this will be something she would outgrow by age 2.

After 3 attempts of finding the right doctor I finally found the one that finally understands me, my daughter and her condition. It turns out that she had a lot going on at the same time and no one was giving me any clear answers. At 8 months she got her first breakthrough infection and was hospitalized for 9 days. It was decided then that she would undergo deflux to see if it would help sustain her until she was 2 years old (which is usually the time when most children grow out of the reflux). But unfortunately the deflux did not work and she had 2 more breakthrough infections. At 22 months she underwent reimplantation surgery. WOW, I was not prepared for what she went through with this surgery. She had tubes coming out of everywhere, including an epideral in her back for pain management. She was in a lot of pain and discomfort and became frighten of doctors. She made a good recovery. We went for her post-op VCUG and things looked good and the surgery seemed to have worked.

We went for her bi-yearly follow-up and to my total disappointment her reflux was back. I felt like I was stabled in the heart. I was so upset because it seemed like I had put her through the very painful surgery for nothing. The doctor suggested that we leave her alone and see if she would get better on her own. She continued on the antibiotic and was encouraged to potty train. So we did.

We went back a few weeks ago for her next bi-yearly check up and there was no change. So, the doctors and us (her parents) have decided that she should undergo the deflux again. I really do hope that it works this time. If it doesn’t she is going to have to undergo a much bigger surgery then the one she had previous. It scares me because she already has a deformed kidney that doesn’t function at 100% and if she gets another infection it will just keep scarring the kidney.