A couple of weeks ago, Benjamin had his first follow on appointment with his consultant. This was to talk about his illness at Christmas and his nuclear kidney scan.

He had to be weighed (16lbs!) and the nurses attempted to get his blood pressure, but the little monkey didn’t want to play ball. We then went through to see the registrar consultant that we will see over the next few years.

I did expect to be told that this was our final appointment, so was a little disheartened to find out he would need checkups every four months for the next three years or so. However, I am glad that after everything that happened, they’re keeping a close eye on him.

Basically, his one kidney is working a little bit harder than the other (41%-59%). This is within the normal remit for kidneys, and as there does not appear to be any scarring on his kidneys, they’re not too concerned.

One thing that may be an issue in the future is kidney reflux. This isn’t too serious, but means the valves which drain urine from the kidneys to the bladder don’t work properly, so urine can flow back out of the bladder and up towards the kidneys – this can lead to an increased risk of UTI’s, which is what made him poorly in the first place. Because of this, we will need to monitor him for any signs of a water infection – any unexplainable fevers etc mean we need to get a urine sample (we have plenty of pots and bags!) and a visit to the doctors or hospital. He also needs to be kept completely hydrated, more so than most children, and any signs of constipation need to be treated immediately.

He will need to see the consultant every four months until he is three or four, and will possibly need more scans on his kidneys to make sure there is no damage that isn’t showing up.

Apart from that, they’re very pleased with how he is doing, and they reminded us just how lucky we have been with him!