Another visit to Primary Children's

Kennedy was scheduled for more tests at Primary Children's Hospital after having two UTIs in the last two months - and after the surgery last fall to fix her reflux. With the most recent one we ended up spending nearly three hours at an after hours appointment with the on-call doctor to treat her 103 degree fever! I've been talking to her to prepare her for what's going to happen with the tests. Here's almost a word for word account of what she told grammie earlier this week: "first they're going to put the jelly on" (for the ultrasound) "and then they take pictures of my tummy. Next we go to the other room and they put the catheter in. That part hurts. Then they put the dye in. (then I reminded her that they will take more pictures with the x-ray machine) And then I get a sticker!" She also told me that Macy can't come to the hospital "because she's too small."

Videos coming soon of: Kennedy before the appointment talking about it, but she's a little distracted by the toys in the waiting room. I'm amazed that after all she's been through, she still seems to have no fear of doctors or tests. It's just another way that she amazes me and proves she's not a typical two-year old. Pamp also brags how amazing she is to the ultrasound tech in the second clip of her test. The last movie is the child life specialist (she was so great with Kennedy during the procedure) showing Kennedy on a doll what will happen during the VCUG test. For all the preparation that we did, and as calm as she was up until the minute they started to clean her, Kennedy still cried and was very uncomfortable during the x-ray test - just like a two-year old should be! The day after she was saying, "I cried at the hospital. My tummy was hurting a lot." I just keep telling her that it's all ok, and that I'm so proud of her! I'll get the movie files from Pamp and post them ASAP.

So, the good news is that the surgery was successful and her kidneys both look healthy. The bad news is that she has developed grade 2 reflux on the left side now. Our options are surgery, or a low dose of daily antibiotics for the next year. We chose the latter option because 80% of kids will outgrow this condition. We'll have to repeat the tests again next year to see if there has been any change. If she gets another infection while on the drugs, we may need to evaluate the treatment plan.