Drs' Appt Update

Owen has had a few Dr visits lately that I thought I would share with everyone now that I have a few minutes (thanks Columbus!!).

When I was in my mid 30 weeks of pregnancy, it was discovered that Owen had a UPJ during one of my weekly visits to the perinatologist. A UPJO is a Ureteropelvic Junction Obstruction. In lamens terms he had a kink in his drainage system from his kidney to his bladder. The perinatologist made it sound like it was not really that big of a deal, so I didn't mention it in any of my earlier posts. I was told that most times it resolves itself on its own by the time the baby is 18 months old and that he would just have to be monitored a few times by renal sonogram to make sure of it. This happens a lot of times because the baby is scrunched in the uterus and when they get out the kink works itself out. In fact, they thought that it was a good thing that we knew in case he ever presented with a fever, then they could check for a bladder or kidney infection earlier rather than later. So we went on with our lives. They say that it doesn't hurt people who have it.....but how do they know?? He had a sono when he was just a few days old to get a baseline of his kidneys and the blockage. We had another sono when he was about 3 months old at our local hospital. The radiologist there thought that things had gotten a little worse, so we were referred to a pediatric urologist. He had to have a test done--a VCUG--to check to see if urine was backing up into his kidneys. The test was very difficult to be a part of because they had to shoot dye up his urethra and watch on the cameras to see how things reacted. Fortunately, the test showed that there was no back-up, plus the urologist said that she didn't think the original sono which prompted the test was really all that bad. We left feeling much better with another follow-up at 5 months. At that appointment, the sono continued to get better.....so we had another appt at 9 months.

My mom came with me to this sono....it was much harder to get completed because he did not want to lay still! plus they were more than 30 minutes late at the hospital! After the sono we had an appt with the doctor. Unfortunately things had gotten a little worse with his left kidney. He had hydronephrosis pretty severely....which is not what we wanted to hear! The doctor wants to have another sono done at about year old. She wants to wait until he is at least a year old because when babies start walking, they begin to start holding their urine....didn't know that either!!...which could greatly affect the hydronephrosis. Depending on the results of that sono, he may need another dye test--a renal scan. This is where they inject the dye into the blood and watch how it travels through the kidney to the bladder. It can answer a lot of questions about the blockage and if the doctor thinks it will get better on its own or if he will need surgery to repair it....and that is something that we don't even want to think about!! So, now we wait and pray.....his appt is scheduled for Dec 1st....and we hope for good news! So please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

We also had an appt to have his birthmark looked at by a dermatologist. It has turned into more of a mole, so we just wanted to make sure about it. The dermatologist said that most times with birthmarks that large that they usually surgically remove them! What!! So, we go back to meet with a plastic surgeon in March to get his opinion on the situation.....I can tell you that I'm not sure I could handle 2 surgeries within months of each other!!!

So--there are our Dr updates:)