Kidneys

Did you know that your kidneys can reflux? And that there's a scale measuring the reflux? And that having kidney reflux in the 4 or 5 range usually requires surgery? And that kidney reflux is detected by inserting a catheter in you-know-where, filling the bladder with liquid, and watching the kidneys do their thing on an X-ray?

Well, they do; there is; it does; and it is. And we found out all about it today.

You may (or may not) remember that early last year, Buddy had 2 UTIs (urinary tract infections). Standard operating procedure after a UTI is to send the child to our nearby children's hospital to have the kidneys checked out. And so there we went. His kidneys were poked and prodded and it was determined that, on the kidney reflux scale, his kidney reflux was a 3.

Today, we had a follow-up kidney ultrasound and cistogram (the thing with the cath) to find out if the reflux had progressed or abated. Two screaming fits (one during the ultrasound, one during the cistogram, oh, and one during the taking of the blood pressure . . . so make that three screaming fits) and four hours later, we were informed that his kidneys look good and his reflux appears to be in the same range as before, meaning no surgery is required at this point. We'll return for yet another visit to the urologist and his ilk in six months to again assess Buddy's kidneys. Who knew kidneys could be so exciting? And so, um, draining?