Nathan's Doctor Appointment

We took Nathan to his pediatric urology appointment today. It was at the health science center, so of on top of the doctor we got his smart aleck resident and some other person shadowing him to join the party. The doctor viewed the films from his previous procedures and was able to rule out reflux and something else that has a funky name. He's pretty sure it's UPJ obstruction, but it's just a matter of how much the ureter is obstructed. On December 2nd he'll have another hospital procedure done called a lasix renal scan. It involoves a catheter, an IV, and some lasix. Once the lasix are administered they'll see how long it takes him to void. The shorter the time the less the ureter is obstructed. If it's under a certain number of minutes they'll just need to periodically do this procedure to make sure it's not getting worse. If it's over a certain amount of minutes it will mean there's a larger obstruction and may need to operate. The good news we heard today was that eighty percent of the children seen will not require surgery. In the past surgery was automatically performed, but with medical advancements they have learned that some cases clear up over time on their own. Hopefully he won't remember any of this when he's older!