A Visit to the Hospital: Mild Bilateral Hydronephrosis

On 18th February 2009, Grandpa and Mommy took Juan Or to the hospital (Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia) for follow-up check on his mildly dilated kidneys (mild bilateral hydronephrosis).

Some history on Juan Or's condition:

When Mommy was 5 months pregnant, the sonographer detected mild dilation on both of Juan Or's kidneys. Mommy was worried whether it was anything to do with Mommy's lifestyle of eating habits that cause this, but luckily the doctor assured Mommy that this condition has nothing to do with Mommy's part and that since the dilation is mild, hopefully the dilation will gradually disappear by itself as time goes by. By the time Mommy was in the 37th week of pregnancy, the ultrasound scan result indicated that the kidney dilation was still there, but still in mild stage.

Finally when Juan Or was born, particularly when he was 4 days old, the doctor did an ultrasound scan on his kidneys and found the condition to be still the same. So the doctor prescribed trimetophrime (which Mommy googled in the internet and found that it is a man-made antibiotic usually prescribed to urinary tract infection patients). Then the doctor recommended for follow-up check when he was 2 months old. And again, the result was the same. No improvement, and neither did it became worse. So the doctor recommended that Juan Or underwent MCUG test at 5 months old. In the MCUG test, some fluorescent dye was pumped into the urinary tract to see the source of blockage. So before the dye could be pumped in, the doctor had to insert a tiny tube into his penis. Boy! Juan Or cried and cried that day. And Mommy cried too! Mommy felt so pitiful for this little baby who had to endure such pain and discomfort at such a young age. However, the MCUG had to be aborted because the tube could only be inserted partially. Even a few paediatricians tried reinserting the tube, but failed. So in the end, Juan Or only had to do ultrasound scan and continue with his trimetophrime medication. The doctor explained that people with hydronephrosis has higher risk of getting urinary tract infection, so has to be on antibiotics as a preventive measure. Otherwise if there is infection, then the kidneys will be scarred and can interfere with the development of the growing kidneys. The doctor warned that the worst case scenario is that heavily scarred kidneys can lead to impaired kidney function. Oh...how scary!

Without fail, Mommy fed Juan Or with trimetophrime once every night. For the sake of Juan Or's health, Mommy is willing to do anything no matter how inconvenient it may be.

Things started showing a little improvement when Juan Or was 5 months old. The ultrasound scan result indicated that the dilation has reduced a little and the kidneys are growing normally. But Juan Or still had to continue with the medication.

So currently, at Juan Or's 9th month, the ultrasound scan result indicated that the dilation has reduced a little and the kidneys are growing normally. Mommy felt relieve.

On the lighter side, this time, Juan Or cried and cried when the sonographer placed the probe on his abdominal sides. In previous times, Juan Or acted cool when the same thing was done on him. Whatever happened to this baby? Has this baby become anti-social? Even when at the paediatrician's consultation room, Juan Or cried most of the time, except when the doctor gave him a toy to hold! The paediatrician also made physical examination of him including testing him on his behavioural development. The paediatrician hid a small purple colour teddy bear under a pillow, but Juan Or was uninterested and cried instead! Then the doctor dropped another toy onto the floor to see whether Juan Or's eyes followed to which he did. The doctor also commented that Juan Or's body weight is still in the normal range but seems to show a downward trend. So the doctor recommended that butter be added into the porridge or whatever food that Juan Or eats, and that Juan Or can eat more cheese. Later, when Mommy and Juan Or was out from the consultatation room, Juan Or was still crying. So Mommy placed Juan Or back into his stroller and let Grandpa do the pushing while Mommy went to get the next supply of trimetophrime. So along the way, Juan Or slept like a log....which brings to what conclusion? Juan Or was SLEEPY all along throughout the ultrasound scan right up to the paediatrician's consultation! That's why Juan Or was so fretful and in such bad mood! Even when Mommy transferred Juan Or from the stroller to Mommy's lab (when sitting in the car to go home), Juan Or was still fast asleep.

Mommy's baby.......zzzzzzzz.......Mommy will go buy butter and cheese to fatten you up, ya? Mommy loves The 'B'.