The Call

Last night at around 6 p.m. we received a phone call from Dr. Liu with the results of Lizzie's most recent ultrasound of her kidneys. Now first off, this is not a normal thing for us to get called by the doctor this late on a Friday night, so already we are surprised. Then, she proceeds to tell me (Steph) that although the results of the test show that the swelling in her left kidney has not gotten worse, it unexpectedly has not gotten better either. Puzzled by these results Dr. Liu sought the wisdom of a different urologist than the previous time (for the first ultrasound a couple of months ago). This urologist (whose name escapes me) specializes in pediatric urology.

He said that to be sure of what is going on we need to have a test performed on Lizzie using a cathetor. He informed Dr. Liu that it could be that Lizzie's body is doing something, that although not normal, is still fairly common, called reflux. Generally fluid travels from the kidneys, down into the bladder and out the body. It is possible that what is occuring in Lizzie is that the fluid is going from the kidneys, down into the bladder, and back up for round two, and eventually out. The problem this presents is possible infection if not treated with antibiotics.

(Aside: from what we have read online on infant reflux, it is a problem of a valve not working properly, that in time could correct itself, or worse case...surgery can be done to fix the valve...sound familiar?).

Anyhow, the cathetor test needs to be done within the next 6-8 months. Dr. Liu being the great pediatrician she is knew that Lizzie will need to go in for a cathetor procedure soon for her heart (we had informed her of that at the previous appointment), so she called up Dr. Shaughnessy to see when we had the procedure scheduled. However, as we posted earlier this month, we haven't had to schedule one yet since Lizzie is doing so well.

Between the two of them they decided that in January when we see Dr. Shaugnessy next we will schedule the cathetor procedure with the cathetor test scheduled directly before it so as to limit the times that Lizzie will be put under, and given antiobotics for heart (since everytime she has a procedure or surgery done she has to have medicine to prevent any infection from moving into her heart, it is standard for all heart patients).

All that to say yet another test on the way, and confirmation that the cathetor procedure is fast approaching. We will let you know more as it comes.

(Also, sorry this is so long winded. Now you know why Allen usually is the one to post on these things.)