VCUG

It was this morning. We talked about what would happen during the procedure last night and Emma was pretty upset. During the drive to it this morning, she was quietly sobbing in the back seat. Getting her out of the car was pretty bad and then into the office from the hallway was no better. I was able to talk her down, which was a huge relief. I was afraid I was going to have to carry her in, crying. That would be Emma crying and me.

The doctor and the two p.a.'s who helped were wonderful. They explained every step of the way before and during the procedure. The procedure itself was not nearly as bad as Emma feared it would be. When they first started with the catheter, her whole face screwed up into a little ball but then that part was over.

As soon as they had her turn from side to side (while taking the x-ray), the fluid shot up to both kidneys.

"That's reflux."

I was so sure that it wouldn't be.

We're now waiting to hear from our pediatrician about the severity and where we go from here. Reflux is graded on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the most severe. They gave us a copy of the films and her right kidney is definitely much worse than the left. I've been studying images online and all I can tell for certain is that the better one is worse than a grade 1. The doctor did say that children Emma's age rarely outgrow reflux. From what I've read, treatment can range from prophylactic daily antibiotics to surgery. If you pray, please send up a word or two that she won't need surgery.

grades of reflux