A Short Stay at the Hospital to get her Kidney Fixed

Elizabeth goes to the Hospital

About a month before her second birthday, Elizabeth had another test of the function of her left kidney. The tests were done at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.. That's also where her doctor, Pamela Ellsworth, works. Dr. Ellsworth thought the results of the test showed that Elizabeth needed to have an operation to correct the problem with her kidney, unilateral hydronephrosis. The only symptoms of the problem that caused Elizabeth to complain is a pain in her back once in a while. The pain was probably caused by the significant swelling of the kidney pelvis (where the connections are) which was due to the inability of the kidney to drain through the ureter to the bladder.

We scheduled the operation for Wednesday, December 15, 1999. Elizabeth knew that surgery was planned and she discussd it with anyone who was willing to talk to her about it. Although she is just a couple of weeks past her second birthday, a number of people have said that her language skills are more like a four year old. She can create multiword sentences using both adjectives and adverbs appropriately and she enjoys a good conversation.

We drove up to the hospital the night before the operation, as we needed to be there early the next morning. We stayed at David's House. This is a house located a short distance from the hospital for children who are patients and their families. It is run as a non-profit organization with lots of support from many volunteers. (We stayed in the pig room.) David's House is a wonderful place to stay, filled with toys, a huge kitchen for all to use, and many comfortable rooms. Both Abigail and Elizabeth loved it and David's House made our stay much easier. Volunteers often come in to cook meals. We had chicken, scolloped potatoes, and lasagna while we were there. If we wanted to cook for ourselves, the refrigerators and pantry are full of things to eat whenever we wanted something. Most important for the kids, the counter was covered with boxes of homemade cookies.

Early the next morning, we walked the half mile to the hospital. It had snowed that night, so there were of a couple of inches of new snow on the ground - the first snow of the season. With the new shon to play in Eliabeth wanted to walk, too. She walked almost the whole way to the hospital. We found the office to sign in and then we went to the surgery prep area. Elizabeth was a real trooper- always excited and ready to see what's next. At least until they wanted her to take off the ballet costume she had worn. After a sedative to calm her, the ballet costume was off and she was in the operating room with mom.

The operation was done in two parts. The first part was a test used to identify what needed to be done. The test showed that the rest of the operation was needed , so the surgeon continued. The whole operation took about 3 hours. Wendy was there when she fell asleep before the operation and we were in the recovery room when she woke up. She woke up saying 'I don't want to do the surgery now." But it was to late - it was done!

It appears it was also done well. The doctor thinks that the narrowing in the ureter has been removed and the kidney will return to a near normal function. Tests over the next year or two will let us know for sure.

Wednesday night, Jen (who takes care of Elizabeth and Abigail during the day) and her mother came up to the hospital with Abigail. Elizabeth was already thinking about playing. The Dartmouth hockey team came through with a load of stuffed animals for the kids in the pediatric wing. Although they were ready to give her 2 or 3 of them, Elizabeth only wanted the little purple bear holding a baby penguin. Barbara Power had sent a stuffed panda bear which she also liked. But her favorite was a red haired doll that the folks at David's House gave to Abigail and Dad to bring to her. It was the doll with red hair, like Elizabeth's, that she wanted on the pillow next to her that night. Wendy stayed in the room with Elizabeth over night while Dad and Abigail returned to David's House for the night. There was another girl at David's House just Abigail's age becaue her brother was in the hospital. She and Abigail played checkers and watched reruns of the "Bewiched" TV show.

On Thursday Dad and Abigail returned and we put Elizabeth in a special wheelchair with all of her her tubes and equipment and we toured the hospital. We all went to the hospital cafeteria for lunch. Elizabeth ate some cottage cheese, cucumbers and tomato. She has also eaten a few cups of ice cream. Abigail and Dad returned home Thursday night to take care of the dog and prepare for the return.

On Friday, Abigail and Dad returned to the Hospital, where they learned that Elizabeth could go home that afternoon. Her tubes had been removed. She was eating and ready to go. The night before Elizabeth and Mom had toured the hospital looking for Christamas trees. They found quite a few of them. Their favorite was in the mail lobby. It was decorated with fruits and vegetables! Ab and Dad found Elizabeth and Mom in the big entrance Mall, where Elvis Presley was giving an impromptu concert. He sang a number of his songs as well as some seasonal favorites. Back in the pediatrics ward, Santa Claus had arrived. Elizabeth got yet another gift. Finally, Elizabeth put on her dress and her stomping shoes. She called some of her friends to tell them she was going home and we left. Instead of sleeping on the trip home, she spent the entire time playing games. Her favorite was "call 119." She made this game up at the hospital. She would lose her hands under a blanket, then she'd say 'I've lost my hands. call 119." We'd have to call 119 to get help finding her hands. We always eventually found them.

Elizabeth is now home. The only thing she doesn't do much of yet is walk. She still has some pain, but another day or two and she should be dancing again.

You can see earlier stories of Elizabeth on previous nursery pages.

The Front Door

Last Updated: 12/16/99

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