If you are going to put in all the time of medical school, studying, residency, etc...I can't help but wonder - what is it about urology that calls your name and draws you to that department for a career?
McKenzie had our long awaited and exciting adventure to the urologist at Children's this morning. We waited almost two months so we could see this doctor specifically as he is the ONE at Children's that specializes in VUR (vesicoureteral reflux - or urinary reflux for us common folk). He had a very simple way of explaining VUR - when McKenzie pees, the urine is supposed to flow out of the bladder, into the urethra and out of her body - with VUR, when she pees, some goes out via the urethra but some also goes back up thru both of her ureters (which is supposed to be a one way street) and into her kidneys. So every time she pees this happens. Crazy. Anyway, that is the most simplistic and visual explanation I have been given yet.
So here is your update: McKenzie will stay on the amoxicillan, one time a day for one year, in an attempt to ward off any additional bladder or kidney infections. Next September, she will be sedated for her second VCUG and ultrasound, to see if she has outgrown her VUR. She has a grade 3 on both sides (you can have it on one side or the other, or both) and its based on a scale of 1-to-5...1 being mild and 5 being severe. Based on her grade 3 - she has a 50% chance of outgrowing it.
If she does get a UTI while on the antibiotics, "all bets are off" Dr. Holmes said, and she will need to have surgery to correct the problem. If she remains UTI free and her scans in September show she still has NOT grown out of it, we'll decide what to do them - he said in most cases it is recommended they do surgery after the one year mark, as you don't want them on antibiotics daily for two full years, etc...he didn't really want to get that far ahead, so it was left right about there.
He also said that Mason has a 30-50% chance of having this as well - even though she has not had a UTI that we are aware of - so we need to figure out if we want to subject her to the VCUG to see if she does have it. I need to find out more about why we would subject her to this test without reason - I know there are long term consequences for UTIs and kidney infections that go untreated - but since we're not aware that she has had one, I don't know if the VUR itself causes long term complications. More info needed on that one. This test is hard w/McK, I cannot even begin to imagine Mason having to endure it. Just cannot...
Anyway, that's about it. After her appointment we made our way to Paul's new office in Rancho Bernardo so he could get a quick McKenzie fix - thanks to this lovely new job of his, he had not seen her since Sunday night when she went to bed. He leaves before they get up in the morning, and has gotten home after they go to bed this week. Mason has been feeling it and pulling out all the stops to stay awake and magically appear from her bedroom when he does get home. I hate to send her back to bed after just a couple of minutes with him - but she definitely pays the price the next day, being tired and grumpy as a result - which means more drama and a frustrated mama!
Okay, off to finish up details for Halloween tomorrow!! Check back for pictures after our parades at school - and ofcourse this weekend I'll post trick-or-treating moments. Maybe Charlie will surprise us and come home to celebrate with us tomorrow???? Wishful thinking...sigh...
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