Today Jesse and I meet with the nephrologist at CHKD. I had psyched myself out for a visit on par with urology. Luck for me I was wrong :). And as Mike just said, “It shows the importance of getting a second opinion when your gut is giving you a bad feeling.”
We arrived at 1:30pm on the 5th floor which is the surgery doctors office floor of CHKD. This is also the same floor as urology. But when I tried to check in at the overall surgery check in, they waved me onto the Kidney Center, saying that they do their own registration. My first thought was this could be interesting.
The lady behind the window got us registered, and we began the molding process. I know doctors have lots of patients to see and we all take varying degrees of time, but after awhile of waiting with a 3 year old… well it gets frustrating. (Actually it’s frustrating on any level because we all lead busy lives).
We were taken back around 2:30pm (hour after the appointment time), and Jesse was weighed. 13.6kg, woo-hoo!! And exactly 3 feet tall!
At 3pm, we met with the doctor. I really, really like her. She told me that the kidneys don’t work 50-50 as urology had said. Instead one side on a healthy person might function at 60% and the other side 40%. She also told me that Jesse hasn’t lost any kidney function, one side does 30% (the left) and the other side does 70%.
She did say the size was impressive in the first scan, but looked better in the latest ultrasound.
And she explained the flow test, Jesse had on February 10. The test was watching to see if it took her left kidney longer than 20 minutes to empty. Her kidney emptied in 15 minutes, meaning there was no obstruction.
I told her about the urologist wanting to put stents in. She looked at me in shock. “That is a temporary fix that in the end might do more damage than good.”
She did have questions about if we were doing to make scans look better or to make sure she still had flow. I told her my main goal is to keep Jesse from being in pain. I also explained that currently Jesse takes bactruim on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to keep infection from getting into that kidney. And right now she isn’t in any discomfort.
Her recommendation is to take Jesse’s scans to a group of pediatric nephrologists in Richmond. She meets with them once a month to discuss cases. I am so glad that she has this group to talk with. It makes me feel like she is getting a second opinion too. She also might have Jesse on bactruim longer, due to little girls like to hold their urine. Her comment about little boys was hilarious. “Their ureters are longer and there are trees outside for them.”
She also has requested that Jesse have ultrasounds of the kidneys. I asked her if we could coordinate with her other scans, and she happily agreed.
I am so glad we saw her. I really feel good about her, and that she really has Jesse’s best interest at heart.
This is GREAT news!!! It really makes a difference when the Dr. doesn’t jump to any crazy conclusions, is thorough and really shows towards the best interest of your child. I’m so glad things are moving in a positive direction for you guys! Its about darned time!
Yes it does 🙂 I feel like with her we are on the right track to making sure Jesse will not have too much trouble with that kidney, and if she does… this lady will work to find a good answer. How’s Meggie? How’s Bill’s back?