Hi I am a first time mother of a 7 month old little girl that was just diagnosed with Stage 2 Vesicoureteral Reflux. My Pediatrician keeps telling me not to worry until we go to see the Urologist but a mother just cant do that..LOL So i was wondering if any other mothers have gone through this and if so can you give me brief outline of what is to come??
Thanks
~Bridget~
I can understand your concerns at how difficult it must be to "not worry about it". Yeah, right. I don't know of anyone that has this officially but I am wondering if it's what my brother had. At any rate, are you on maintance antibiotics? Is she doing okay with that? I would try and keep her immunesystem strong with acidophyllus(since antibiotics kill off the good bacteria in your gut)and her body will be working hard to build it back up to the point where she could be likely to pick up different bugs. Also, there's a capsule out of cranacton(sp?) When my kids were under a year I would give about 1/4 or less in some juice of something like this. You might just want to familiarize yourself with the concept. From what I've read, it has a good chance of correcting itself. Is that the feeling you get from your ped? Hope so. I included a little info I got from surfing but I'm sure you're already ahead of the game. Take care, LaurieK
http://www.urologychannel.com/pediatric/vur_treatment.shtml
The key to the nonoperative management of reflux is to buy the children the time to outgrow the reflux without getting into infection problems. Certainly with a high likelihood of spontaneous resolution, most children with mild-to-moderate reflux should be given a chance to outgrow their reflux. While we wait for this to happen, they are protected from urinary infection using low doses of preventive antibiotics. After an 1- to 2-year interval of treatment with antibiotics, reflux is reevaluated with VCUG. At the same time, doctors check the kidneys with ultrasonography to be certain they are growing properly and no interval damage has occurred.
Bridget,
My daughter was born with the same problem. When she was 3 months old she was hospitalized for 8 days because it caused a major infection. The IV and catheter were the worst. Fortunately for us that was the only REAL emergency. It's very common for the child to be on antibiotics for a year. The urologist will re-evaluate her and very often they grow out of it, as mine did. Now I can't tell you what the bad side to all this is because I honestly didn't go through the surgery to have it corrected. However, the worst that can occur in the meantime will be urinary tract infections and side effects to the antibiotic. I suggest you have her eat 3 yo-babys a day. It replants the good bacteria the antibiotic kills off and will keep her immunitites up. My doctor told me to give Chloe that. Also lots of clear liquids. Lots of water! If the sitution were very serious the doctor would not tell you "don't worry". Keep positive. I hope Mabel will be perfect soon. =o)
Hi Bridget,
My daughter was diagnosed with kidney relfux at 9 mos. She had only one bad UTI. It did not go into her kidneys (big sigh of relief). She is now 2 yrs old and has had no repeat infections. She was on antibiotics (Sulfatrim) for a year and a half. She sees a pediatric specialist at Shands every 6 mos. At 3, she will have another test (I wish I could remember the name of it) where she will drink a contrast and have a certain set of xrays done again.
I was terribly worried about this! My cousin lost 1 kidney to this disease as a baby (30 yrs ago). I was very relieved after seeing Dr. Garin. He evaluated the xrays again and answered each and every one of my questions. He also told me that most babies outgrow this. So far, this seems to the truth as my daughter has had no more infections and was taken off the antibiotic 3 mos ago. But, my doctor did say this runs in families so my 6 mos old will be tested in the next few months.
Good luck and just try to get that appt ASAP so you can get all your questions answered and concerns put to rest! I forgot, my daughters pediatrician said I could give watered down cranberry juice to help with infections.