Medical Update

Both boys were dianosed with bilateral hydronephrosis in utero, the big concern is that it may cause reflux of the urine into the kidneys. They were watched closely in the NICU, and since we have been home from the hospital.

By watching closely, I mean, they have both been on low doses of antibiotics to keep them from getting any urinary tract infections and yearly we have had to go to Children's Hospital for a test called a VCUG (Voiding Cystourethrogram). They catheterize the boys, let them empty their bladders, and then shoot dye into their bladders, they then watch, and take x-rays of them voiding the contrast to see if the fluid backs up into the kidneys. If you've ever had your child catheterized, you know it is not fun. It wasn't fun when they were itty bitty boys in the NICU, and it isn't fun now that they are 26 and 22 pounds of fighting fury!

Last year's test gave us really good news. Ryan's grade V ( of V) kidney reflux had gone away! Okay, I have to admit we were EXTREMELY skeptical, but we went along with it, we took him off his prophylactic dose of antibiotics, and kept our fingers crossed. Generally grade V Vesicoureteral Reflux requires surgery to fix, so we were shocked that he could have out grown it, but we really wanted to be optimistic. In the last year, he's been off the antibiotics, and he's had no UTI's! YEA! Evan's test still showed Reflux, (grade III) but Evan hasn't grown as much as Ryan so we were still hopeful that he could grow out of it. Evan stayed on meds.

Well, this year we took our babies with a sudden and SEVERE case of white coat disease, (and scrub disease) to get their annual VCUG's. The crying started as soon as the nurse came to take histories and for Evan, didn't stop until he was asleep in the car on the way home. It seemed to take an eternity for his procedure to be completed. As Ryan and I paced the hallway, Scott struggled to hold Evan pinned to the table, while Evan screeched and screamed in his ears. In an effort not to scare the other kids in the waiting room, (5 or 6 walls away) they tried in vain to dampen the screams coming from X-ray 4, by closing a bunch of doors that they usually leave open. Even when Ryan and I were in the X-ray room, I could still hear Evan alternating whimpering and shrieking.

Ryan did really well, the hardest part is always getting the cath in, after that it's uncomfortable when the dye goes in, and when they turn him but after the initial fear, and pain wear off, it's not that bad. (easy for me to say) Anyway, in between singing Levon (which is our current favorite song) and whispering gentle loving words, I would glance over my shoulder and look at the monitor. It didn't take me long to see what I didn't want to see.

The Radiologist confirmed it. Ryan's reflux is still there, grade IV at least. How he remained without any UTI's this year, I'll never know. I guess it is possible that he had some infections and we never knew about it. Evan's news is much better his reflux is downgraded to grade I. I have confidence that he will outgrow it given time. We see the Urologist in January, I suspect Ryan will be back on antibiotics, and we'll be back at Children's next December for another round of VCUGs. I hear we can be sedated if our Doctor orders it, oh, and the boys can be too.