Tuesday, December 7, 2010

To shunt or not to shunt...

Neurosurgery appt was a little rough today....we waited for 1.5 hours just to be seen and then when we were seen, the doctor said he was ready to put in her shunt. We knew this was probably coming, but we still aren't ready to do it. We met him in the middle with this...he said there is a chance that her fluid will stabalize, but he didn't seem too confident. He ordered an immediate CT scan....and after the office ladies argued with the insurance company, we were able to send her in for one right then.

The scan showed that her ventricles have enlarged again and he is worried about pressure on her brain. So, because we aren't just ready to go ahead and do the surgery, we made an appt for next Tuesday when they will repeat the CT scan and see where we are then. If we all agree at that time, her shunt suregery will be next wednesday. Again, shunting is the case with 80% of SB kids...she's just so little and has been through so much.

On a brighter note, we also had her urology appt. today...he just did a quick check and gave her the thumbs up...for now. He has also ordered another xray and u/s of her bladder and kidneys next week and scheduled a f/u appt in 2 weeks.

All in all...nothing really new...just progression of what we already knew.

2 comments:

  1. Jen,
    The whole shunt thing just plain sucks...and I don't know if this will bring you any comfort at all, but I've often thought the shunt surgery would've been much easier for us (Maddie included) if it would have happened early on. Instead, we went through it when she was 8 months old...Old enough to have her own little personality, old enough to get scared...old enough to completely fall apart when she couldn't find me. There's never an easy time for this, but it does go really quick, and it was so much easier than the stress and anxiety leading up to it. And, although I fought like crazy to keep her from getting one, I am so completely grateful that she has it, and it's working perfectly to keep her little noggin exactly as it should be. Hugs and prayers for ya'll!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jen,
    We are in the exact same boat today. We also had our neuro appointment and were told that next month if Grayden's ventricles increase he will also more than likely get a shunt. I am having a really hard time dealing with it, even though as you said we knew all along it was a high probability. Hang in there, we are sending positive thoughts your way.
    Kelly

    ReplyDelete