Decision 2008

It's decision time for Mom and Dad... Today, Audrey had her CT Scan and our meeting with Dr. Price. We left feeling really good but it's not what you're thinking...

6am - Alarm went off and we were slow to get up. I think the anticipation of today really made for a restless night for Shawn and I.
6:15 - Breathing Treatment for Audrey
6:30 - Fed 5 oz of Pedialyte for Audrey because she was supposed to go under heavy sedation for her scan
7:00 - Audrey took her Keppra and Cefprozil and mom and Dad got ready
7:20 - We decided to put Audrey in her car seat just in case she felt the need to throw up, we'd still have time to change her... she throws up every single morning when we put her in her car seat.
7:21 - Audrey threw up but her Daddy's a genius because he covered her with a hand towel.
7:25 - We were out the door and on our way to Children's
8:00 - Checked in at the Radiology department
8:20 - Audrey was called back for her scan - no sedation needed because Audrey cooperated!
8:25 - Audrey was done with her scan (her scan was scheduled for 10am and our appointment with Dr. Price was for 12:30...)
8:30 - We went up to Dr. Price's office to see if they could get us in... she had not arrived yet so we went on an exploration to find the cafeteria
8:45 - Mom, Dad and Audrey ate (Shawn fed me while I fed Audrey - it's all about teamwork)
9:30 - we went back up to Dr. Price's office to wait and wait and wait...
11:30 - We were called back to see Dr. Price and here's what we discussed:

She said Audrey will definitely need a shunt. According to her CT Scan, her left ventricle is enlarged. She said it is our decision to do the surgery either next week or in a couple of weeks. Her biggest concern is that if we wait, and an emergency arises it may be another surgeon that does the surgery. We really like her, she answers all of our questions before we ask them. We are leaning towards doing the surgery next week as opposed to later because we don't really want to put it off any longer. The good news is that since she is so small the recovery time is quick!! If we do the surgery Monday, she'd stay over night and if everything goes well she may be able to come home next day or the following. Dr. Price also said that Audrey should be able to eat from a bottle the night of the procedure. For the next 3-6 months, we will be on high alert for infection and after 6 months, the likelihood that her shunt becomes infected is like 5%. She also said that the daily vomiting will come to an end (thank goodness!!). She doesn't think the hydrocephalus is causing her development because there does not appear to be a lot of pressure and her soft spot is not bulging.
She showed us the shunt and the mechanism that controls the flow is something she helped develop. Other members of the Pediatric Neurosurgeon team have used other devices in the past but are now using her's because it seems to work the best. Dr. Price really wanted us to know that her team takes every measure possible to prevent shunt infections. They do not allow anyone in the operating room that is not assigned to the case. If Audrey was to get an infection, they would have to do a procedure to remove the shunt and place an external drain, she'd be placed on antibiotics and once the infection was gone, they would do another procedure to replace the shunt... It's a big process and that's why they take all the precautions necessary to avoid it!
She said that Audrey will be able to return to daycare within a week. She will be able to go into her casts that Dr. Lund wants to redo within 2-3 weeks. We will follow-up with Dr. Price 2 weeks after surgery.

By noon we were finished and on our way home. When we got home, Audrey was hungry again, so she ate and ate and ate... Then took a really really long nap!!

Decision 2008!