Urology Appointment

Yesterday Dylan had his follow up urology appointment.  This was his first visit to the new Urologist at UCLA.  It has been a little over a year since he had his last kidney ultrasound and VCUG (which was all done in San Diego with the previous doctor).  The doctor reviewed Dylan's previous films (from last Dec.) and told me that it appears that the VUR (vesicoureteral reflux) has resolved on the left side but is still present on the right at about a grade 3.  There are 5 grades of VUR and he said that Dylan had a mild-moderate case.  He will see us back in one month for a VCUG (a procedure where they inject dye into the bladder with a catheter and see how much of the dye is backing up into the kidneys when Dylan urinates).  This test will tell us where we are at with the reflux and if any intervention is necessary.  He told me that if urine is still backing up he would like to perform a deflux procedure.  This was good news because it is a relatively easy and minimally invasive procedure where gel is injected around the ureteral opening to create a valve function and stop urine from flowing back up the ureter.  This is a short procedure that is done on an out-patient basis.  This was good news to hear because the previous urologist suggested a reimplantation of the ureters which is a full-on surgery.  I will hope and pray that Dylan has outgrown the VUR and that no intervention will be necessary and he can go off the daily antibiotics. 

We also talked about Dylan's hypospadius and undecended testicles.  Unfortunately those will both have to be surgically corrected but luckily it will all be done at the same time.  Right now it isn't urgent to fix these issues and the doctor wants to treat the reflux first. 

On a good side note Dylan weighed in at 17lbs 6oz!  I was very excited because he had lost about a pound and got down to 16lbs when he was sick a few weeks ago and it usually takes so long for him to gain it back.  Whoo Hoo!!!

  Please ignore the messy room in the background.