Thursday, January 15, 2009

What's Happening Now

The meeting with the new urologist went well. My dad was impressed and thought the doctor was both an academic and a good clinician.

The new urologist wants to do a couple of things to determine the best course of action. The first is another renal scan, happening tomorrow (Friday), to be sure there are not any additional obstructions, which is possible but unlikely. Next he wants to get the results from a urine culture that was done in his office to see how well Susannah is responding to the antibiotic she is on; it may be possible to continue with it at a lower dose. We will know more about that tomorrow afternoon when the results come in. The last thing is he wants to get a good look at her bladder. The size of her bladder will be very important when it comes to how soon he can reimplant her ureters. And he wants us to consult with a nephrologist to monitor the sodium issue.

The best news is that the sonogram showed that her kidneys are definitely smaller and there does not appear to be any debris in her ureters as there was before. (The left kidney is currently bigger than the right.) He does not think there is any danger of her kidney function suffering in the long run nor does he think that the first urologist did anything wrong.

It was a long day. We left the apartment at 9 am and got home about 4 pm. Dad's on his way back to Chattanooga now and Anne Louise will help out tomorrow with the renal scan as Ben is out of personal days at work.

That's what we know for now. Susannah had some avocado for lunch and is taking a nap.

2 comments:

ben said...

thanks for the update. it is sounding more and more positive. i'm glad you're back.

R and L said...

Beth and Ben ~
I can't believe how much you have been through. Little s, as always, looks like such a touch (plumper!) cookie and it's just shocking how much is going on in her little body. I am thinking of you guys and understand this must be so hard to see this sweet peanut going in and out of the hospital. I know you guys are strong for s and she is showing it! I wish I could be there in person but I am sending much love (laced with snow) from Chicago! xoxoL