I have been on such an emotional roller coaster today. We had an appointment for an MRI for Samantha at 12:45 today. As soon as the tech brought her back to us Travis asked if she was able to tell us anything and she said no but her body language told us so much. Then when we got to the office to see our neurosurgeon we didn't even wait 2 minutes before we were called back. They came in right away and told us that she needed a second shunt in her 4th ventricle and it needed to be soon. She showed us the scans from the beginning of May until now and there was a huge amount of fluid that is causing her head to grow and pushing on her cerebellum. She told us that she was surprised that she was not showing more symptoms for how much fluid was there. So when her main doctor came in we decided to have the surgery tomorrow. We are not completely sure of a time yet but right now it is around noon with us being at the hospital around 11 am. If all goes well we would be able to come home on Saturday. It was just this Monday when we went to visit the nurses on the 6th floor and one of them joked about Samantha's room being open. I never thought we would be back on that unit within the week. I was watching this video tonight on the day she was born and it is amazing to see the pressure on her head before the first shunt was placed.
This was one of many videos that Travis made so that I could see her better since I could not be with her much on that first day. It is amazing to me just how much her head changed 24 hours later after the first shunt was placed. Tonight I have noticed somethings that were small signs of all this taking place. She isn't focusing on things as long or as much as she was a week or two ago. She has been extremely fussy today and can't get more than 30 minutes rest at a time. She has started to startle easily again like she did when she was just a few days/weeks old. We had put her on medicine for reflux but the doctors think now that that was just from the pressure in the 4th ventricle and that she most likely will not need it after this surgery. All in all it is a wonderful thing that they were able to catch this and we are able to get it fixed. The bad thing is that she will have two shunts now leading down into her stomach. This means more chance of infection or shunt malfunctions. This is also a more dangerous surgery to do because of where it is located. All day when I have started to cry I have had to tell myself... Look how far God has brought her. She is a miracle. Look how far God has brought me. He is a miracle worker! Your prayers and support have been simply indescribable! You are amazing people and I am so blessed to have you all in my life. Please pray that there are no complications during surgery tomorrow. Also that this shunt will work successfully and that there will be no chance of infection for either shunt. If one shunt gets infected, both would have to come out and it would be another 3 week or more hospital stay with an external drain until the infection cleared up. God knows what He is doing and I am so glad He is in control. I am a mess- wouldn't even know where to begin if it were all up to me! I will try to update tomorrow. Love, Stephanie
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