Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Don't have all the details yet but...

Maggie is going to have surgery. They will be detaching her ureter from the bad kidney and taking out the piece where the blockage is. The kidney now has some damage, swelling way beyond what it should be, so they will remove part of that and then reattach the ureter. They will place a shunt in the ureter that runs from the kidney into the bladder so that it doesn't grow closed during the healing process. Then unfortunately they will have to go back in and remove the shunt later. They hope for her to make it to 6 months of age. I guess they are basing that on how bad the kidney looks and how many infections she gets. She does have an infection now and she started a different antibiotic yesterday. We only saw the nurse practicioner who will be talking to the doctor and calling us back tomorrow with more details and a time schedule. Right now there is no change with Natalie's according to the renal US. They may schedule her for the nuclear scan again, like Maggie had on Friday, in the future.
They still would not sedate Maggie. They have to be 60 weeks old and they subtract how many weeks early they were, so Maggie was nowhere close. I was very upset and told them they had better get it right the first time! They hit the first vein and she only had to be catherized once but that was bad enough. Man she cried and it just broke my heart. And again it was a very long day.
The pediatric urologist no longer takes our insurance and they are the only one around here. They told us we would have to pay for the visits: $118 times 2!!!!! I said I don't think so. Just have the doctor call me and we will look for someone else to treat them. They went back and talked to the office manager and the nurse practicioner and only charged us $80 total for both girls. They were very nice and said they would work with us because our girls really needed help. DUHHHH.... Our medical expenses so far have been astranomical!!! I have a stack of bills that I can't get the nerve up to even look at and figure out a payment plan. Some of the letters are starting to get nasty so I know that I have to tackle this soon. O.K. I am rambling....sorry, just tired and worried.
Thank you all for your prayers and comments. I really look forward to reading them and the emails that you send me. Please continue to pray for my girls health.

1 comment:

Laura said...

I am so sorry the results were the need for surgery. I know every part of you is saying that this is unfair, I mean after all you went through to get them here! It stinks. I am praying for your girls. Is it just one that will need the surgery? Have they ruled out the need for both? I hope that this will be the answer to a happier baby, and an easier time. When it is going to be?

If there is anything you need please let me know. Remember to claim all those expenses on your taxes. Also a lot of doctors will reduce bills and give payment plans. Thats is such a huge stress too!