Waiting to hear about surgery

[Leilei]

New member here, I was diagnosed with an excessively dilated left ureter by accident in November during a follow up CT scan. I had suffered with nagging pain in that area for awhile however I had a hemi colectomy last year so it was chalked up to that. I had a nuclear renal scan and the urologist said my left kidney was severely blocked that I had a UPJ obstruction (no stones) and had about 10% function in that kidney. He said the usual course of action would be to remove the kidney but he wanted to try improving the function with a stent first. I had that placed and just had my 2nd nuclear scan yesterday. I twisted my neck to unnatural proportion to see the screen during the scan and though I don't know how to read a scan i could clearly see only one kidney and the bladder lit up. My follow up appointment with the urologist is next week just wondering if anyone else has been through a similar situation and if the stent has corrected the issue or if they ended up losing the kidney. Thank you in advance.

[wagolynn]

Hi Leilel,

I am afraid, each case is different, making it difficult to extrapolate from one case to another.

I think, trying the stent will only have been considered if there is a reasonable chance of the kidney recovering but it will have to be, wait and see, I am afraid.

Best wishes.

[Leilei]

Thanks I'm just getting 'antsy' I think, I have another week and a half before my follow up appointment for my scan and I called my urologist office to see if I would be getting my stent out at that time and they said no. It was a little disheartening because I was told I was going to have it in for 4 weeks and at my next appointment it will be 8 weeks. Compared to some stories I read about stents I've been lucky and its only been rather annoying but I still would rather have it taken out. ...I think.

[wagolynn]

Within reason, the longer the stent is in the more likely the duct will have grown into the new shape, and therefore keep its shape once the stent is removed.

[Leilei]

Well had my follow up appointment this morning. Apparently my function improved by only 1% which according to my urologist is not really any improvement. He said the usual course would be pyeloplasty but its not recommended with kidney function under 20%. He is recommending removal of the kidney, I was a little distraught so he booked me an appointment 2 weeks from now for my decision so I have some time to think about it. Basically I can have the kidney removed or he will do the pyeloplasty but I could tell he was not keen on that. .....I know people live perfectly normal lives with only one kidney but I'm just really confused now on what to do.

[wagolynn]

You could try a second opinion but I would expect the same reaction, 'pyeloplasty not done with only 20% function'.
There is no point in you going through the stent removal if they are going to operate anyway to remove the kidney.

The hospital PALS service should help you to get a second opinion, if that is what you want to do.

With the stent not improving the kidney function, and the pain you have had removal looks like the only way to go.

Best wishes.