Update 9:15 - Surgery Update

From the time I made it back into the ICU (after being kicked out for shift change) Cole had another seizure. When I got to his bed, his Neurosurgeon and his team were at his bedside checking his shunt (inserting a very, very small needle through the skin in his scalp into the shunt) for pressure. They had reviewed the pictures from his CT scan (from just about 30-40 min earlier) and noticed his ventricles were enlarged. They weren't dangerously enlarged, but they were substantially increased. And they couldn't rule out whether it was his shunt or whether his brain was now spreading out to take advantage of the roomier space.

So, they whisked him off to the operating room, electing to remove the shunt and install an external drain (see post from Oct 2007 as a reminder for what they looked like / entailed). Surgery should be quick, although they're adding some agents to his blood to reduce any more blood loss, since he's more susceptible right now, so that procedure may add a few minutes.

They're trying to rule out things now and the shunt is definitely something that can 'control' (as much as anything in the human body).

We had been waiting in the parents room about 35 min and his Dr came up and confirmed the shunt had failed. So weird! Something that had worked fine before during, and even after surgery (yes they test them before the sew him up) had in the space of a few hours malfunctioned. His doctor indicated that seizures could be caused by the pressure, although we won't now until things start to settle down (who's ready for things to settle down - me, me, me!!!) They will also run a culture on the fluid to check for infection. Also unlikely, but certainly worth checking. Shunt infections are not to be trifled with. We have first hand experience with that situation. As far as reinstalling a shunt, that will have to wait a few days (in fact it could be as late as early next week) - it all depends on how he does over the next day or so.

So we're hanging out waiting to be called back to the ICU again. I guess Cole decided since he didn't get his extra hospital days in advance of his procedure, he'd get them added to the back end of his stay. Silly little boy, doesn't he know we'll be up at the hospital in about 2 weeks for a check up :-D