In order to do a proper followup on my last blog, I had to wait almost a month to get Michelle in with the UC vascular surgeon and nuclear medicine surgeon for consultations. By the time I had the information to do the followup, the holidays were upon us. So here’s an update. Michelle saw a doctor in Nuclear Medicine. They did a kidney function test which showed that her kidney is functioning at full capacity. What a blessing!
He said their first option is to go in and fill the arteriovenous malformation (or vascular growth as we’ve been calling it) with coils. That would cause it to shrivel up and die. If for some reason they weren’t able to do it that way, they would very carefully attempt to remove it from Michelle’s right kidney. Of course, that means there’s always danger of damaging the kidney in the process. And as a last resort, they would take her whole kidney. The doctor said that type of surgery was right up his ally, so he feels confident that they will be successful in removing that arteriovenous malformation with little to no damage to Michelle’s kidney, but of course, there is always a risk.
Michelle’s kidney surgery is scheduled for March 31, 2023. She’s not in any pain or discomfort due to the growth. And one doctor said that due to her Williams syndrome, she’s likely had it her whole life. It only got caught because it showed up on an x-ray or ultrasound. But the danger lies in the growth itself. It’s obviously not growing fast, but if something caused Michelle to take a hard blow to that kidney, that growth could explode.