Garrett Post-Surgery Update: 3 Months

We have the car ride down a science. The dvd player, his favorite movies, a pillow and blanket, the medical "folder" of reports and information we've collected and the stroller he barely fits in (but he's too heavy to carry). And of course plenty of treats and toys. We made the trip to UCLA yet again for Garrett's 3 month post-surgery VCUG, which is the study that detects and measures any urinary reflux. The goal of the surgery in February was to correct the reflux so as to spare his badly damaged kidney in hopes of allowing it to grow and develop as much as possible and to justify not removing it.

The good news is that his condition is improved. The bad news is that it's not gone. The results of his VCUG show that Garrett still has VUR Grade II (which is an improvement from the previous Grade IV). This, his doctor explained, is not a totally uncommon outcome from this particular (reimplantation) surgery. Unfortunately, it means that there is still significant urinary back-up in his left ureter and it does reach the left kidney (which is already impaired). Long term, it is not advised to leave this untreated, but for now we have decided to "wait and see". There is a possibility that as Garrett's body continues to heal and grow that his condition could improve. If it doesn't, then we will have to re-evaluate our options and weigh those against removing the kidney.

So, we will continue to give Garrett his antibiotics prophylatically and hope for the best. We will follow up in six months and undergo another similar study as the VCUG (called a Urodynamic study) that also measures the pressure being applied by his bladder to ensure that is not contributing to the problem. The information we gain from the study will help determine the future steps we take.

Thanks again for the thoughts and prayers. Garrett continues to amaze us with his courage and resiliency...and growing collection of Transformers (at this rate, I think they will have to create a line extension to keep up with us). We will post any new information as it comes.