A Visit to the Hospital for Hydronephrosis Check-up

Juan Or waiting for his turn at the ultrasound scan waiting area.

This is really an outdated post. Mommy was very busy during last year's December, so is late in putting up this update on Juan Or's status of mild bilateral hydronephrosis condition. Previous postings on this matter can be found here and here.

This visit to the hospital was on 16th December 2009. As usual, the procedure was to register Juan Or's attendance at Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (HUKM)'s paediatric clinic, after which Mommy took Juan Or to the Radiology Department for ultrasound scanning. The ultrasound scanning service costs RM20. While waiting for Juan Or's turn for ultrasound scan, Mommy happened to meet another couple with a near 12-month old baby boy who also has the same condition as Juan Or. And same as Juan Or, that baby boy has already been confirmed not to have any urinary tract blockage though the mild kidney dilation is still there. So that baby boy was also on trimetoprim medication up to the point of appointment, just like Juan Or. Along the way during the waiting time, Juan Or 'made friends' with an Indian boy of about 8 years old who is also waiting for his turn. The Indian boy seems to be fond of Juan Or at first sight. On the lighter side of the waiting period, Juan Or was very active and playful, walking and running around and even refused either Mommy or Grandpa in wanting to hold his hand while walking as shown in this video:

Finally, Juan Or's turn for ultrasound scan came and Mommy took him in. The moment the sonographer showed Juan Or the probe (yes, haven't even touched him!), Juan Or already started crying! Mommy knows Juan Or hates to have strangers do things on him, but what to do, that procedure has to be done. So as the scanning went on, Mommy held Juan Or to try to keep him as still as possible, but Mommy saw the scan image on the screen was constantly shaking! Oh dear! Finally, the sonographer conlcuded that the observation was the same as the last check-up, i.e., there's still a little something there but definitely, the dilation is gone already!

After the ultrasound scan, Mommy took Juan Or to the pediatric clinic section for consultation. Luckily the waiting time was not as long as the ultrasound one, but then Juan Or was already asleep in the babystroller by the time his turn came. So the paediatrician decided that Juan Or no longer needs to be on medication anymore. Hooray! Then the paediatrician did a milestone-development check-up on Juan Or, asking Mommy questions such as how many words can Juan Or say, it is more than 10 words, and whether Juan Or is already able to properly hold a pencil/pen. Juan Or's weight measurement was 9.8 kg, to which the paediatrician thinks he is still underweight. So the paediatrician recommended that Juan Or needs to be fed more solid food besides the 3 to 4 times of milk feed per day. In Mommy's head, Mommy was pondering on how to get Juan Or to eat more food since Juan Or refuses food or eats very little only once he is back home from babysitter's house. Mommy thinks probably why Juan Or seems to have better appetite when at babysitter's house is that there is another 3-year old boy whom the babysitter is also taking care of, so the competition to eat may be there. And Mommy also knows the babysitter did not purposely make the food look more attractive just to get Juan Or to eat more, yet he has better appetite there.

After that, the paediatrician opened up Juan Or's diaper (to which Juan Or was rudely awakened from sleep, so he cried loudly!) to check his penis if there is any abnormality associated with the hydronephrosis to which there is none. Finally, the paediatrician was done and Mommy took Juan Or out who was still crying.