Never a Dull Moment

Connecticut has been completely slammed with snow-over an inch and hour for twelve hours. Very impressive for the first real snow fall, and really lovely to watch from your snugly couch in front of a Christmas tree. Not so pleasant, however, when one needs to go to the hospital via ambulance! Oh yes...Mom took a spin to John Dempsey/UCONN Medical Center this evening.

That left flank pain I reported about earlier got so severe that mom could barely breathe. She called the doctor on call, she took her temperature and blood pressure, and then called 911. Poor thing though she was going to meet her maker going over Talcott Mountain in a blizzard, she was in so much pain. The ER staff was amazing and got her well medicated quickly, took urine and blood samples, and did a CT scan of her abdomen.

Her urine values were a bit concerning, particularly the elevated creatinine, which is a good indicator of kidney function. The CT scan showed that she has hydronephrosis and hydroureter, or "water on the kidney and ureter." She also has a bit of fluid around the surgical scar on the abdominal wall. Unfortunately they were unable to use contrast dye in the CT scan because of her elevated creatinine, because had her kidney really been stressed or obstructed, she wouldn't have been able to excrete the dye causing a whole new list of problems.

Lucky for my mom, her surgeon, "Dr. Gureter" splits his time at St. Frannie and UCONN. He was on his way out when he got the call that my mom was arriving, and turned right around. If I ever see this man again, he's getting such a massive bear hug he might need to see a chiropractor after.

The good news is that her pain is well controlled, and she is putting out plenty of urine, so she doesn't have an obstruction. They theory is that these are complications related to her surgery, and not organic issues in the left kidney (THANK GOODNESS). She'll be admitted for observation until tomorrow night, and then they'll make a decision at that point, based on what repeat CT scans with contrast dye indicate (assuming they get her creatinine under control by then).

So once again, mom proves that the lime light is all hers, but I wouldn't have it any other way!