Thursday, February 19, 2009

A tale of reflux

Remember way back in November when Brody had the surgery on his kidney and bladder area to fix his Grade V reflux?


Today was the day that we went back to see if the surgery actually worked.


We had an early 8am renal ultrasound.



Brody was quite terrified of it. The only procedure he has to go through that doesn't cause pain, and he was terrified. Although, it's also the only thing he goes through for which he is awake, and not under general anesthetic, so maybe it does make sense.


Regardless, I think he scared himself to sleep during the 15 minute ultrasound.





Then we visited Dr. Furness in his offices.

Who reported to us that in fact Brody's kidney looks












fantastic!


The surgery worked?, I asked.


Yes, he said.

The surgery worked! The surgery worked!



No more daily antibiotics!



No more worry about breakthrough urinary tract infections that could damage the only kidney we have!


Then the doc told me that the kidney swelling had gone down, because the reflux was fixed.


Wait, what? I don't recall you telling me that his kidney was swelling, Doc. I remember you saying it was bigger than normal, because it was doing the work of two kidneys or something.

The doctor just smiled.


Frankly, this is another reason I love this particular doctor.


Because if he had told us that Brody's kidney was swelling, I don't think I would have slept.


Need to know. Careful phrasing. Bedside manner. Customer service. We love Peter Furness.


I dropped B off at school and stopped at a diner for a little breakfast. After I ordered and stopped moving and sat still, I started to shake and had the nearly uncontrollable urge to cry.


The kidney issue has always been my Achilles heel with Brody. The kidney that is now safe.


I held it together. Barely.


But I can't be in a bad mood today.


I can't stop smiling.

How does one celebrate a renal success?


A toast with cranberry juice? Champagne and cranberry juice?

9 comments:

4meonly said...

Yay!!! That's great! Even crying is ok...b/c they are tears of JOY!!! Champagne and Cranberries sounds pretty darn good! :)

Greg (Accessible Hunter) said...

thats great news, really great!

Jacque said...

Hooray for Brody's kidney being fantastic!

pattinase (abbott) said...

Just great news.

Hef said...

The surgery worked!!!!!!

I'm celebrating with you. Hug that cutie for me.

Dawn said...

I seriously got goose bumps reading that! I am soooo happy for you and Brody!!!

Lolita Breckenridge said...

Thank you, one and all, for the lovely wishes. Still basking a day later. . . xoxo

Tracy said...

Horray for a good kidney!! Maggie has lost her function of her right kidney so now she only has one kidney , her left and it has grade 1/2 reflux in it. So I know what you mean. We know that Maggie has some hydronephrosis in it but hopefully if she can outgrow this reflux then hopefully that will go away too.

The champange and cranberry juice sure sounds good.
There is nothing better then good news about a single kidney!LOL.

www.caringbridge.org/visit/margaretreed1

Mommy2JL said...

Wow! So much good news for me to catch up on lol
Congratulations again!!!