Dylan had urinary tract infection when he was a newborn. After he was cleared, he did a kidney ultrasound which thankfully showed that his kidneys were normal and healthy. But nevertheless, he was recommended to go through the MCU a couple of months later.
Dylan’s PD gave us an option. To do the MCU at a private hospital or he can arrange to have it done at GH. His wife is a PD at GH and she could help us arrange for the necessary tests. He does not recommend that we perform the tests under insurance as,
- Dylan contracted UTI as a newborn, when he was not under coverage.
- He can always write the report in a way so that Dylan is eligible for the coverage, but that would leave a record in his insurance file which may impact his coverage later on. And he think that this is not a good idea as Dylan could be normal.
Thus, he recommended that we perform the tests at GH.
- It is cheap, and will cost almost nothing to us.
- If the tests proved to be something more severe, his wife can arrange for consultation with the nephrologist. Subsequent tests & treatment at GH will be very inexpensive also.
- If the tests proved to be normal, then Dylan would have a completely clean insurance record.
So after months of waiting, we finally went for the MCU at GH.
What is an MCU?
An MCU is an x-ray test of the bladder as it fills and empties. An ultrasound of your childs kidneys and bladder may be performed immediately before or after the MCU.
The MCU allows us to look for ‘reflux’. This medical term describes the abnormal passage of some urine back up the tubes (ureter) to the kidneys when a child urinates (wees). Normally when a child passes urine all the urine drains down from the bladder through the urethra.
Reflux is important because when present it can potentially damage the kidneys. In the long term this damage if severe may cause high blood pressure and renal failure.
Source
It is actually a very simple tests. But because i chose to have it done at GH. It became a very painful procedure – FOR ME!
The GH PD said that I will need to admit Dylan the day before the exam. BUT I would be allowed to go home to sleep at night. I just need to make sure that I arrived back at GH really early in the morning.
However on the actual date, the nurse refused to let me go home. Later I learned that GH is going through ISO certification. So everything is following PROCESS. And I have to stay overnight at GH. And I have prepared NOTHING for the stay.
But I think the main problem was, I was mentally not prepared for the stay. I am not used to staying in open wards. Going to shared toilets & bathrooms. Really shared bathrooms – Men & Women. I am not used to sleeping in a non aircon room, with almost no fan. I am not used to seeing suffering, really suffering children. I am not used to hearing children crying all the time complaining of pain.
The section that Dylan was saying is the nephrology ward. And next to it is the leukemia children’s ward. But this is GH. The only thing separating the wards is just some board – Not even a wall.
Luckily, Dylan is oblivious to all these. In fact he seemed to be enjoying his crib. He sleeps in a playpen and he found the crib exciting. He was busy climbing up and down the crib. Cruising along the rails, and waving and saying hi to his neighbors. He hardly slept at all that night. He slept about 11pm ++ and was up before 5am! Oh ya, I have no place to sleep as well. I have to share his crib or sleep on a chair.
This is not the blog for me to rant about my sufferings. So I will not drag on here.
The most important thing is – Dylan did the MCU and it showed no reflux. Everything seems normal! YAY! He had been on daily antibiotics since he was 10 days old. Now I can say bye-bye to the nightly antibiotics feed.
He have a DMSA scan scheduled end of this month. I am going to cancel it! No need for that anymore.
Finally after months of uncertainty, I finally know that my child is fine.

Please always be well, my baby.