Update 3/19 5pm: Kevin’s resting comfortably at home, relatively low pain, with some tubing coming out of his side that goes to a bag that we really want to see having to be emptied on a frequent basis, because that will mean his kidney is coming back to life. The plan (yes, Doctors have plans too, although in my experience, my plans seem to have a better chance of succeeding than theirs) is to give the kidney some time to get working again, which might take several weeks, and then have an operation to reconstruct his seriously-scarred-up “internal” tubing (the ureter), hopefully to take care of this problem once and for all. We are told that the surgery is much better today than it was 3.5 years ago when he had it first done, which makes you wonder how much better it might be 3.5 years from now? Don’t think he wants to carry that bag around for 3.5 years!

Meantime, in a few days Kevin can resume pretty normal activities, and yes, he can even ride a bike with a tube sticking out of his side (although as you can see in the picture, it’s pretty flush, not some sort of Frankensteinium contraption). Of course, you’re asking the question, where does the “bag” go? Normally you’d attach it to the inside of a pants leg (which is going to be disappointing to Kevin, since he never wears long pants, but having that bag poking out the bottom of shorts? Don’t think so!). But on a bike ride, as ridiculous as it seems, it just might end up in a jersey pocket.

Update 3/19 11am: Things look much better today for Kevin. After the unsuccessful attempt to install a stent last night, this morning I arrive at the hospital to find he’s already had the alternative procedure done, an external drain that immediately released 400cc of fluid from the blocked Kidney. And Kevin looks like someone who’s had 400cc removed from a blocked kidney. Relieved.

Hopefully he comes home shortly, and hopefully we’ll soon see lots of stuff exiting the tube coming from his side. The outlook today is immensely better than yesterday. 🙂