Tyler & Hill: Hunter's Pyeloplasty & ABR

On March 21, 2012, Hunter went to Primary Children's Hospital to have a Right Pyeloplasty (Kidney surgery) and an ABR (Auditory Brian Response).

We had to be at the hospital at 6:00 am. The nurses got him all weighed in and got him in his cute little hospital clothes. We met with all the doctors and the anesthesiologist.

Surgery began about 7:30 am. The first thing that happened was the inspection of the ear and the ABR. Hunter's left ear tube was completely blocked so Dr. Meier removed that ear tube and inserted a new one. His right ear tube was blocked slightly but the doctor was able to clean that one without having to put in a new one. They also preformed the ABR. This test was done to test for hearing loss of any kind. If there was hearing loss then it could tell us if it was in his ear or in the connection between the ear and the brain. About 30-40 minutes after Hunter went in for surgery the audiologist, Adrianne, came out to give her report. The ABR was NORMAL!! I cried. That means Hunter can hear and his brain is getting the message in a time frame that is considered normal! Woot! Woot! He can hear my voice! Adrianne said they tried to do an OAE test which he failed. The OAE is the hearing test that most kids get; the one with the probe that gets stuck down the ear canal. Hunter has failed this test time and time again; thus the reason for the ABR. She explained that he could be failing for a number of reasons one of them being that he has ear tubes. However, the ABR is a much better test to test the hearing. And he CAN hear!

Then at 8:30 the kidney surgery began and lasted almost 2 1/2 hours. Hunter had to have a pyeloplasty on his right kidney because he had a UPJ (Ureteropelvic junction)Obstruction. That means there is a blockage in the area that connects the renal pelvis (part of the kidney) to one of the ureter tubes that moves urine to the bladder. We discovered something was wrong with his kidney at my 20 week ultrasound. We have monitored it since then. The pyeloplasty involved removing the ureter tube from the kidney and reattaching it to a new location on the kidney and then removing the portion of the kidney that was affected. The doctor had to do some reconstructive work to his kidney where the work was done. He was stitched up from the inside out with hundreds of stitches on the inside and then glued together on the outside. He had a drain tube that stuck out of his backside. This tube allowed the kidney and the area around the kidney to drain while it was healing. This tube was removed before we came home from the hospital. He had a dressing on the outside around his tube. It was held in place by this bandage with laces (see photo below).

At 11:00, Dr. Snow (urologist/surgeon) came out and told us that the surgery went really well. Hunter's kidney drained well during surgery so he was able to put a different tube in to drain than anticipated. We were anticipating that we would take Hunter home from the hospital with a drain but because he responded well to the surgery and his kidney flushed well they were able to put a tube in that would come out before going home. What a relief!

about 20 minutes later, I headed down to recovery to see him. Only one parent was allowed in recovery so Tyler waited in the waiting room for us and we met up with him when they transported Hunter to the surgical recovery floor.

The surgery was on Wednesday morning and Hunter was released from the hospital on Friday. I stayed with him and Tyler went back and forth from home to the hospital. He took good care of Justin and Fisher while I was staying with Hunter.

Here are some photos:

Here I am with Hunter right before he went to the OR. Hunter looks so sleepy hear because they gave him so Versed. This causes him to be drowsy, have less anxiety, and have less memory of the event. It really worked on him. Right after this picture was taken we walked down a long hall with a nurse and then had to hand him off and part ways. This was difficult for us.

This is what I first saw when I was taken to the recovery room. My first few thoughts were: 'Look how big he look in that bed.' and 'He can hear!' I waited here for about 30 minutes for him to wake up and he never did so they decided to transport him before he woke up and was mad.

Once we got out of recovery and up to the surgical recovery floor we got all checked in and just waited for Hunter to come out of the anesthesia. It took a long time for this to happen. He would start to cry and moan when it was time for his pain meds and then once he got the morphine in his IV he was right back to sleep. He never did open his eyes the day of the surgery. I was worried he would be up all night. But he slept great. The day after surgery wasn't much better. He didn't really wake up until that afternoon. His vitals were good so they weren't too worried about him. Poor little guy was tuckered right out. I finally got him to stay awake for about 40 minutes that afternoon when I let him watch Mickey Mouse and a little CARS. His hands and face were so puffy from all the fluids from the IV. He wouldn't drink anything after he woke up.

This was Hunter's 1st dressing change. It was quite red from all the blood. So the bandage was stuck to his entire back and it opened in the middle to allow for a large pad. It then laced up just like a shoe. This type of bandage was used so that the dressing could be changed without constantly ripping tape off of his skin. It worked pretty slick.

Here is a picture of the tube hanging out of his back. It looked like a long flat fettuccine noodle.

This is what the bandage looked like all cleaned up and tied.

On Thursday evening we were able to get Hunter out of bed and take him for a wagon ride. We went up and down the hall and even outside on this open patio. It was good to get him off the IV so we could start getting him to drink something.

Once Hunter woke up he played with some of his favorite toys from home. Here he is in his hospital crib. He never rolled from his back or side.

The day that we left the hospital I finally was able to get him to drink something. He wouldn't drink so I brushed his teeth and then he wanted a drink. The red spots on his forehead are from the probes used during the ABR.

This picture was taken right before the tube was removed. The tube was held in place by a couple stitches. The doctor snipped the stitches and applied a small amount of presser on the top side of it and pulled it right out. It was inside of his body about 3 inches. It was pretty amazing to watch. The hole where the tube came out was left open. He continued to drain from it a small amount over the next 24 hours. They don't want to stitch it up and create a pocket where infection can grow.