Christy,
 Do not feel bad that you will have to under go the procedure.
 It sounds like your problem is much related to the partial blockage of the ureter...Surgery is handy for problems that are physical and mechanical in nature.
Opening up that blockage will allow normal flow,
reducing stagnation and promotion of bacterial growth.

 Post op...lots of fluid.....and cranberry ....
flush the system out and get a fresh start....
good luck .
It seems to me chronic bacterial infections would result in loss of energy and ability to re bound.
Hope fully the procedure will do ya good and your capacity will return.
 Dorothy