dear mr h-that was a long day

DEAR MR H-THAT WAS A LONG DAY

mr h
thats a picture of you at 6 months old holding a dinosaur kale leaf from the garden at your house
you seemed to like the rough texture of the leaf
when i wasnt looking wink wink you took a bite out of the leaf
dont tell anyone ok

for those who dont know mr h is my 6 month old grandson who has chronic kidney failure or chronic kidney disease as its officially called
he had an urethral obstruction that developed in utero which backed up his urinary system into his kidneys which left him with severe kidney damage
it took just a few minutes to open the obstruction when he was born
the system is flowing normal now
however he was left with two severely damaged kidneys
so that
one day in the next few months or years he will need a kidney

except for the kidneys and its drainage system he is a normal happy pleasant growing well developed 6 month old

so
how do you explain all this to him
heres how i would do it

mr h
we spent a long time with your doctors yesterday spending a total of 5 hours with getting your checkup with the cardiologist and the carpenter plumber electrician urologist and the architect nephrologist

i was so impressed with how you could lay on that table for an hour to get your echocardiagram
then your ekg
granted we helped you with toys lights funny noises bottles to detract you
i must say you were pretty good
you got an a on the two exams

no residual problems are present from all that fluid backed up when you were born
that heart muscle that was too big from pumping against high pressure is all back to normal
no further problems are anticipated
that was a long 3 hour visit

i did think about my nephews grandson who has congenital heart disease how he must have gone through this exam multiple multiple times his first year of life
thank goodness it seems he might have that laid back pleasant smiling personality like you have

i thought of ways to explain to others and you whats wrong inside of you
heck
sometimes when i hold you you smile look up at me and grab my beard and glasses
how i think can you have anything wrong
you just look so normal

you are normal except for your farm
ill explain

lets say there is this farm up in the hills
there is a long driveway to the house
there is a creek that flows along side the driveway
the house has 2 back doors that open to a road
one to the right the other to the left
the road go to these two separate barns

now let suppose some beavers dammed up the driveway midway from the mailbox to the house
that blockage backed up the water up the driveway above the obstruction to the house
it damaged the house
then
it backed all the way up the two roads to the two separate barns
damaged them lets say about 60 % damaged so they could still be used but you know that one day
they would both collapse and couldnt be used

so thats your kidney and its drain system when you were born
your creek was backed up all the way to the barns

so
first thing was the beaver dam was broken up
it only took a few minutes to do in your case it was an in and out catheter

then the water all flowed down the creek so that all the backed up water was gone
everything was flowing good
however
your house was damaged
livable but it will one day need some roof repair and the back doors need to be redone
that would be your bladder

then
the roads to the barn are damaged
they need to be repaired some
so the roads would be your ureters

now to the damaged barns
the cows can live there and the hay can be stored there
however
one day that will both collapsed and cant be used
the barns would be your kidneys

so
some day a new barn will need to be brought in with its own road
the old barns will not be torn down since they might be used some even though they are severely damaged

that new barn will be donated by someone like a friend a relative a stranger or someone who dies and their family gives it to you
these folks have two barns but only really need one of them
the new barn will be your new kidney
it will save your life

so
one day when the electrician plumber carpenter urology does his repair work on the house and the roads when the architect the nephrologist says the old barns are about to collapse
mr h
she will say ok its time to fix the infrastructure and the house and doors so we can move in your new barn
then
in will come the barn movers with your new house and put it into place
they will be your transplant surgeons

when will that happen mr h
it seems its when we hear creaking in that old barn structure giving signs its going to all collapse
the longer we wait the better it will be for you
but
we cant wait too long though

so mr b
its all like a farm

the organicgreen doctor