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So as last year my New Year's Eve has been spent visiting my Wife in hospital with yet a other kidney infection/blockage.
Spoke to the consultant today and he's proposing a Nephrostomy as a solution to the problem - there are others but this seems the most favourable and less invasive.
Does anyone have or know anyone that has had this procedure and how it effects day to day life?
Recovery time from surgery etc.
As a curve ball my wife is also paraplegic (permanent wheelchair user) and only has the one kidney.
Thanks
Bumpity bump, anyone?
My wife has nephrostomys on a couple of occasions in the past, procedure iirc is reasonably quick and performed under local anaesthetic and carried out in the radiology department - free to leave fairly soon after and back up to the ward/home.
day to day impact? Obviously a degree of impact to take care of the exit wounds - you’ll become a dab hand at changing dressings (easy) and for her it meant having a bag(s) collecting fluid strapped to the leg and you have to be careful of the tubing when bathing/dressing etc.paranoia over the bags and general health issues led to us using a wheelchair for getting about in public and made full use of accessible facilities.
The hospital sent us home with about a weeks worth of dressings and supplies and then got a medical supply company to contact us regularly to keep us well stocked (all foc).
once she was on the mend the nephrostomies were removed removed and replaced by stents which were eventually removed altogether.
The procedure itself probably takes about 30 mins, with some faffing to get you in position and the equipment ready. If it’s straightforward, usually just done with local anaesthetic, and should be essentially recovered from the procedure later that day, obviously depending on how unwell you are before needing the procedure!
As mentioned above, you have to change the dressings, and obviously be aware that there’s a plastic tube attached to a bag hanging out of your side, and take care not to pull it out.
If it were me, I’d like to know what the long term plan is. If it’s a kidney stone causing the blockage, is there a plan to treat it?
Nephrostomies can get infected, blocked if they’re in for too long, so routinely need changing in hospital every 3 months or so if they stay in long term. This is usually pretty quick and not that uncomfortable.
I’m not your doctor. Not professional medical advice etc.
Thanks all - appreciate the replies.
She ended up having it done yesterday as an emergency procedure as the infection got worse and her kidney was in danger of rupture.
She seems in good spirits at the moment and it seems to be doing the job.
Looks like she'll be in for at least another few days whilst they get rid of the infection.
Just checking in, hopefully your wife is on the mend and on the road to recovery.
Thanks @davemental she's doing ok thanks.
Came home over the weekend and has spent this week resting/recovering in bed.
District Nurse has been to change dressings and remove stitches which has helped with comfort levels.
She wants to try and get a bit more mobile over the weekend - even if that's just getting downstairs and on/off the sofa.
Antibiotics are messing with her a bit though - vivid dreams and the occasional hallucination.