So my son Abel (Rocket) has what is called a horseshoe kidney.
It's one kidney versus two.

Well his right side is the size of a normal kidney, a large golf ball.
His left size was the size of a watermelon, not kidding.

He is 24 so he has never had a cat scan or anything like that, so no one ever saw this.

As he started loosing lots of weight, started complaining more about different left side pain, they finally took a look....

So yesterday he had them reconstruct it, merge a bunch of clogged drain tubes into one large tube going to the bladder and then...get this.
They drained 750 ML of fluid out on the table, and there was another quart and a half in his bag when I got there a few hours later.

Kids been walking around with 3 or 4 quarts of processed piss in his kidney...talk about having the urge to pee....geez

So he is in the hospital, surgery went well, he is hooked up and draining from both a catheter and an external tube.
doctor had never seen this before...

This was crushing his intestines, his leg muscles, his leg nerve pack, his main artery to his leg.....all left side stuff that made him walk funny for years.

Hopefully, things will be much better for him overall.
He is however in a lot of pain, and bored silly, while on pain meds also.

We hope to get him released Sunday.

Rich

Best of luck, seeing your child in the hospital is the worst!!!!!!

Send him here,, once he is up to it I'm sure the gang will make fun of him and make his days much more enjoyable!!!!

I had a kidney removed at age 1. I was diagnosed with hypertension in 1958. Unheard of as in 1958 they didn't know very much about high blood pressure or the causes. I had a kidney that was blocking blood flow. The doctors did an exploratory surgery and removed the seized kidney. The doctors saved my life by guessing and being curious and moving forward on a hunch. I spent the better part of my first year of life in a hospital. I have a huge scar from the left side of my abdomen to the right. Looks like railroad tracks. No kidding. With todays advancements he a great future ahead. Tell him to take it easy and let things heal before he wrecks anymore cars.

Hoping the best for your son.

I hope he will do well. I have been through something like this with a drandaughter. She made a full recovery and has no problems now - Good Luck

Good to hear that you had him thoroughly diagnosed, and corrected his medical problem. I wish him a speedy recovery to excellent health !
Marty

Best of luck to your Son. It's good they were able to find the problem and take care of it. Get well soon.

...."ROCKET"..has my prayer's & blessings!

Good news and hopes thoughts a prayers for a speedy recovery for your son Rich.

He must be feeling much better already!

you would think so, but not really.
The rest of his internal organs are all moving around now so there will be some internal bruising for a bit as things reposition...

That Kidney took up quite a bit of room....

Rick....just 5 holes from laser surgery....no railroad tracks...

rich

My older sister had a similar problem last summer. Ya got two so they popped one out & she's none the worse fo wear.

Hope all turns out well.

He looked much better today. all tubes out, eating and sitting up.
He is coming home tomorrow.

Jp, he actually has one kidney called a hotshoe kidney...
So removal of half is a major deal.....can be done, but it's a big deal.
Is two kidneys that never separated in the womb....so it's one big kidney on both sides of the body.

They fixed him, all is looking good.

Good news Rich and Rocket

He will be blasting off in no time!!!

That's amazing. More so is that he'd been walking around and dealing with that pain for so long..

Glad all went well. He's gotta be a tough bugger.

Hey guys, this is rocket, I'm alive and well.
I have had three knee surgieries, along with a reconstructive jaw surgery, and let me tell you, this hurt exponentially worse than all of them.
One thing I can say I have gained from this whole experience is that I know longer have any dignity or shame in a hospital anymore. After have all sorts of people poke and prod me and stick things in places that should only be used for evacuation. Over all with was a very degrading experience. But I am very glad that they were so thorough with the diagnostic procedures and figured out exactly what was wrong before they cut me open. Medical marvels today are just amazing.

Thanks everyone for the thoughts and prayers,

-Abel (rocket)

Somewhat bewildered that with the symptoms described, particularly 'walked funny for years' that no one bothered to work this up and do a CT scan...

Rocket, I'm glad you managed to get your renal issue worked out! I hope you never, ever know what it means to find yourself in complete renal failure. It's a hideous nightmare that you'll never wake up from. Like you, I had terrible pain for three years before it was finally discovered that my kidneys were shot. Dialysis is a living hell. Believe me when I say that you're the luckiest! I'm incredibly happy for you!

And yeah, modesty is the first thing to go when you become a professional patient. I'll take my clothes off for anyone at any time now. Sometimes I forget I'm not supposed to do that. Meh.

-marcus

Wow, she must be REALLY old!