For anyone who read my last post, my daughter had a UTI I didn't catch for a while. I still have no idea how long she had it before she got on her antibiotic and I'm wondering if that could be the reason her kidney looked so bad at our appointment on Friday. Her urologist says she's going to need surgery and ordered a lasix renal scan that she had done today. It's my understanding that the test today was performed to find out how soon she will need the surgery. I'm no professional, but even I could tell the right kidney wasn't working well. The left kidney emptied pretty much all the way out, and the right kidney hardly emptied at all (if any from what I could see). The girl doing the imaging pretty much confirmed that my speculation about the performance of her right kidney was bad, but said she couldn't tell me anything else. I'll find out results tomorrow, hopefully.
I'm just really worried about this, and wondering if anyone knows what the surgery is like, what the recovery time is like, or if you have any advice for me to prepare her and myself for this (before, during,after). I know the doctors can tell you what to expect and how to plan to a certain extent, but it's different when you're the patient or the patient's parent/loved one. If you have experiences, good or bad, please share them with me if you have the time. I want to know what the worst case scenario could be, so don't be afraid to share those experiences PLEASE. I'm more freaked out by not knowing what can go wrong. I need to know how sever this can be, since obviously I didn't realize it at first and overlooked her UTI. Thank you so much.
Also, I can't stay in school this semester with surgery. How can I stay home and care for my daughter without being penalized with financial aid and academic status and make sure i can go back when she's healthy? It just doesn't seem right that this could mess everything up for me with school. There's nothing I can do about this. I have to be with her.
This link may have some useful info. Looks like recovery time is about a week, so you may be able to miss a week of classes and not have it affect you much. That week will be quiet so you can probably review a missed lecture on-line or self-study, do your homework etc.
http://www.umm.edu/pediatrics/ps.htm
Hope that helps!
This is a website where you can find online support groups that can answer your questions better.
I don't have any information on hydronephrsis, but I wanted to suggest that you call your financial aid people and see if there is something like the FMLA that will allow you to miss the semester to care for your child and then return to school the following semester without penalty.
Good luck! Prayers for you and your daughter!
For you financial aid question call your lender and ask for a forbearance. They should be able to give it to you since you will be out for medical reasons. Good luck to you and your daughter.
