The Wilkinson Family Blog: Home at last!

We are finally back after a long day - two days really - at Emanuel hospital. Grady was a real trooper and made it through the procedure just fine.

We checked in yesterday at 7 am and finally went down for the procedure at 9 am, by which time Grady was very hungry and cranky since I wasn't allowed to feed him after 5. It was especially hard to leave him because he was so upset. They popped the ureterocele on the ureter connected to the upper kidney. There wasn't a ureterocele to pop on the lower right, which is where the reflux is happening. The ureterocele on the left side was flat - which explains why that kidney has been functioning normally - and so nothing needed to be done over there. We have an appointment with the urologist in a week to talk about the procedure and what this will mean, but it does seem nearly certain that he will need surgery for the reflux. I've been told by a good source though that this wouldn't happen until he is older - usually around 2.

Grady was a little groggy from the anesthesia for about an hour, and then had a little trouble staying awake and eating for the next hour or so. After that, he was back to normal. He is a very resilient little guy.

little trooper

They were overbooked at the pediatric ward, so we ended up sharing the room with another little baby. The baby's family was there when we arrived, and then they were nowhere to be seen for the rest of the time we were there. I guess it was lucky for us, but I felt really bad for the little girl. Here are a few shots of our tight quarters. The first has the cot set up, the second has the two chairs.

I'm bad at estimating space, but I think it was about 7 x 7. Matt didn't stay the night, wisely, because it was tight quarters even for just me, and very difficult to nurse.

This morning, we had to wait around until 1 pm for Grady to have a follow up ultrasound to make sure that everything looked okay. Everything did look okay, and we finally got the okay to leave around 3. What an ordeal for a 1 hour procedure! Hopefully popping the ureterocele on the right will help with draining and reflux.

Here is Grady chilling out, ready to go home!