Brady's Surgery (2/6/15)

At Brady's last kidney test in December we found out he'd have to have surgery on his right kidney.  He was born with hydronephrosis (found at my 20 week ultrasound) and had a blockage in both kidneys, causing them to drain slower than normal and causing them to be inflamed.  The left one has progressively gotten better but the last 2 tests showed that the right one hadn't improved enough and would need to be repaired.  

Tony and his dad gave Brady a blessing the night before the surgery.  I was really upset because they didn't schedule him until 1:40 in the afternoon and I knew he wouldn't be able to eat all day...I still think that is torture for a toddler...especially this one!  That morning he slept in- thankfully until after the other 2 kids had eaten breakfast.  He was actually happy all morning, despite only getting to have Sprite.  We kept him busy with his favorite shows and toys.

The 3 of us headed for the hospital around 11:30 since we had to be there early to check him in.  We dropped the other kids' stuff off at Tony's parents' house where they would sleep that night.

He loved the fun cars and wagons at the hospital...this is before he realized what was going to happen to him!

When we took him back to the exam room to get him prepped for surgery he lost it.  Just taking his blood pressure and the simple things were too much for him.  I think he's been through enough tests that he hates doctors or anything that even looks like one.  They gave him some oral medication that helped him relax and since it was naptime he ended up sound asleep, snoring, within a few minutes.  I carried him back to the surgery area then had to hand him off to the anesthesiologist.  It was sad to send him off.  Tony and I went and grabbed lunch since we knew it would be a couple hours.  I had a small breakdown at lunch...I think the whole thing just hit me all the sudden.  We went to the waiting area and hung out there the remainder of the time.  The surgery ended up taking about 2 1/2 hours.  The doctor came to tell us that the surgery went well and everything had been repaired.  It took another half hour or so before we were able to see him in the post-op area.  He was pretty out of it for awhile.  I held him but he wouldn't really wake up.  Finally, they got us up to his room where he slept some more.  My parents came up and brought us dinner and visited for awhile.

 

 

Brady slept pretty well during the night but we were up a few times and then he was up for the day around 7am.  He was finally feeling hungry so I ordered him some French toast sticks and he ate.  He watched a few shows and I tried to entertain him the best I could but he really just wanted me to hold him.  It was hard to move him much because he was hooked up to a bag for his urine, his IV, and his heart rate monitor.  I was able to rock him in the chair for a little while.  As soon as the doctor came in to talk to us he was getting really agitated and I assumed he was in pain, but he ended up throwing up all over.  We got cleaned up and then after a short nap he was like a whole new kid.  He wanted to get out of bed and RUN!  We unhooked him the best we could and I took him for a few walks in the little car and then down to the playroom which was so great!  By mid afternoon we were DONE being there and he was obviously feeling good enough to go home so they released him and we left the hospital.  Primary Children's is such a great hospital...they took such great care of Brady (and me!)  We were pretty glad to get out of there, though.  We ended up stopping by my parents' house and then headed home.

I took a balloon with us to the hospital and had it in his room when he woke up.  He loves balloons and didn't want to let go of this the whole time!

They sent Brady home with a stent that was attached to his kidney, came directly out of his incision  and drained into a second diaper.  It made diaper changes a little bit high maintenance so I took some time off of work so I wouldn't have to have my mom do it.  He had it for 11 days.  Two days prior to his removal appointment I had to put a cap on it to make sure it didn't hurt him when it wasn't draining.  Thankfully it was fine and we took him back up to his doctor at Primary's to have it removed.  I was a little nervous about it but he snipped a stitch and just yanked it out.  It started spraying fluid immediately which was a little crazy, but apparently normal.  Eventually it quit draining and by the end of the day he was able to take a normal bath and wear ONE diaper! 

He has been a little sore but he was only on narcotics for about a week and then he's just been on Ibuprofen/Tylenol since then.  He will have to have a follow-up ultrasound in April...and then hopefully we'll be done with this whole thing!