Aubrey slept great through the night on her first night after the Bilateral Ureteral Reimplantation surgery so I was really hopeful that she would have a speedy recovery. The nurses were all great about keeping her medicated and comfortable. I was also very impressed at how respectful all of the hospital staff was during the night and trying their best to make sure that Aubrey stayed asleep when they would check on her during the night. In fact they were so quiet there were times when I didn’t even realize they were in the room. The next morning Aubrey woke up and requested breakfast, she was a little hoarse but I think that was due to be intubated for so long during her surgery. She only nibbled on a few things but I was happy that she ate and kept the food down. As the morning went on Aubrey started to complain of more pain but I think this was because the caudal block they had given her during surgery was starting to wear off. The nurses were trying to discourage her from using anymore IV morphine because she wouldn’t be able to use this at home, so we started to try the Tylenol with Codeine. It didn’t help as much but it seemed to take the edge of the pain off and make her comfortable.
By noon the doctor had called to get an update on how she was doing after her bilateral Ureteral reimplantation surgery. He decided to take the catheter out and see how she did before deciding on whether or not to let her go home. To say this was a major ordeal was quite an understatement! The minute she heard they were going to take the tube out she flipped, I tried to calm her as much as possible but the fear had already set in and there wasn’t much I could do but reassure her it would be ok. The nurse was great and tried to be as gentle as possible, but Aubrey was already so worked up. I felt so bad for her, but I knew as soon as they took the tube out she would feel better and would be able to move around more. The whole removal took about 15 minutes but once it was over she felt so much better. I went down to the gift shop and bought her a little squishy caterpillar to hold and this seemed to help a little.
After about an hour Aubrey decided she needed to go to the bathroom, I was extremely nervous because this would be the first time since surgery she had gone on her own. I was afraid it would be excruciating for her but she was such a strong little girl. Although it hurt a little she was ok and actually made it to the bathroom without any accidents. The doctor had warned us before hand that her bladder might not be able to hold urine for long and it’s common for even potty trained children to have accidents for a few weeks after the bilateral ureteral reimplantation surgery. We were prepared and brought along pull-ups which Aubrey was not happy about. She just didn’t understand why she couldn’t have her big girl underwear on. After we went to the bathroom Aubrey asked if she could walk around so we let her go up and down the hallway a few times. She loved it, but it didn’t take long for her to get wore out so we went back to the room and laid down.
If there was one thing that Aubrey couldn’t get enough of, it was all of the visitors and gifts that she received while in the hospital. She felt so special and I was so happy that everyone came by to say hello and help her stay distracted from the pain and boredom of being in the hospital.
After Aubrey went to the bathroom again by herself and her telling us she wanted to go home, we decided that we would go ahead and let the nurse know we wanted to be discharged. They were great about getting us up and out of there in less than an hour. My husband loaded up all of Aubrey’s balloons, stuffed animals and candy and pulled the car around for us. I was nervous about how Aubrey would feel on the ride home but she actually slept almost the whole way home. We stopped and got her prescriptions and then finally we were home. You never know how comfortable your bed is until you have to sleep in a chair in the hospital. Aubrey slept with me and my bed and my awesome husband slept in her bed so we would have plenty of room to move around. The first night home we were all exhausted and even Aubrey slept right through the night. I know it’s going to be a little while until Aubrey is back to normal but it’s so nice to be home and know that all of this is now behind us. I am so thankful that we decided to go ahead with the surgery, as hard as it was to see my baby suffer and hurt it was worse to watch her get sick month after month. We will go back to the doctor for a check up in a few weeks and then a follow up VCUG in a couple of months to make sure the kidney reflux is gone. But for now Aubrey is recovering and enjoying her time relaxing with Willow and Abby, our dogs.
If your child is going through the same thing as Aubrey and you have any questions, please feel free to reach out. I know how scary it is and it’s always nice to have someone to talk to about it. I researched online before her bilateral ureteral reimplantation surgery and read so many horror stories and that’s why I decided to write about our experiences. The surgery was not a walk in the park but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be and I am so glad that we decided to go forward with it. Thanks for listening to Aubrey’s story.