Bella's Surgery

We finally got to meet with Bella's surgeon last week after months of tests. At her last VCUG (http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?pg=voidcysto) They found that her kidneys were both severely backed up and that the left kidney was worse than last time. She still has a cyst on the right kidney. 


(http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/378075-overview) 
(http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec11/ch148/ch148b.html)
These talk a little about Bella's Condition


Her surgery date is Monday Sep. 13th. What they're going to do is reconnect the extra ureter tubes to the bladder (possibly make one long ureter) and completely remove the cyst. It's a pretty complex surgery because she's so tiny. They will have to make a cesarean type incision, which is good because they won't be cutting through any muscle. This will allow her to heal more quickly. We'll have to spend about a week in the hospital.


The good news is that they don't need to remove the top half of her left kidney, drastically reducing our hospital stay! Phew!


The bad news...she will most likely have to come home with external drains in place. They will have to go back and remove them after 2 weeks or so....this freaks me out! How in the world do you stop a 22 month old from pulling it out!


I'm nervous because Joe can't take any time off and his mom will be back in school. I will be flying completely solo at the hospital! 


The best news is this will be the LAST surgery ever!!! She'll need about 6 months of intense follow-up and then 1/year. I'm so excited!