Now that we have had a few days to process the whole 'you get to go back to the hospital' we both can see a few positives... BUT this is not hiding the fact that Scott is NOT happy about going back under the knife to have his brain messed with. And well I'm not looking forward to staying in a hospital over night again either.
BUT on a happy note: The fact that the excess fluid was caught before it caused any damage or problems is huge! The fact the fluid can be relieve is a relief :). The fact that Scott's going into this pain med free and wont have to take more to mask the new pains he may have, all good. Although it would have been nice to have this done while we were in the hospital or at least been told about it, having it done now is better than having it done as Scott was getting ready to go back to work or the kids just starting school. I'm sure there are more that Scott and I have come up with but I can't think of them now.
Next week we head back to Seattle. I'll continue trying to keep our family blog up to date on the family happenings. GRRRR ARGHHHH!!!!! I'm not sure that any of us were expecting that Scott would be back in the hospital again, but at least this is a planned surgery and not an emergency, which we have learned is much better!!!!! :)
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Monday, August 2, 2010
Back to the Hospital
It was not in the plan to go back for a stay in the hospital, but hey when do things ever go according to plan?
On august 12th, Scott will be going in to have a ventricular peritoneal shunt (VP shunt). This is a long thin tube that starts in his brain with about 2 inches going into the brain and ends in his stomach. The start has tiny holes that absorb the cerebral fluid around the brain then has a larger pocket that holds a magnet which regulates the fluid disbursing into the stomach. This will be located in the back of his head and is sensitive to strong magnetic fields, like if he has an MRI it will have to be reset by the neurosurgeon.
We have to go in on the 11th for a stealth CT before surgery due to the need for different imaging and being able to place the tube. (We won’t have the time for any of these until its closer to the date)
The reason he has to have this placement… The fluid build up that is visible on the right side of his head is only a portion of the excess fluid. Dr. Newell said based on his CT today, there is fluid under the prosthesis bone flap as well. His brain is not absorbing cerebral fluid where the bleed was, which causes the excess. There is also still fluid from the surgery that has not absorbed. They have an option where they do a spinal tap and wrap the head to force fluid to leave the body through the spin. This is a one time procedure, but in Scott’s case they believe the fluid will just return due to the spot (I don’t know how large it is) that is not absorbing and probably never will.
The surgery will take about 1-2 hours with 1-1 ½ hours in recovery, then 2 days in observation. They said usually 1 day in ICU and 1 day in medical room. Oh how fun an over night stay on each floor. We actually visited each floor between the CT & the check up thinking we wouldn’t be back…not sure we’ll do that again…ha…ha…
Scott’s now feeling the 1 step forward, 10 steps back that we felt for so many days in the ICU. It was shocking to hear that surgery was needed again. The post surgery effects were even worse. They said to expect headaches and stomach discomfort for possibly a month as the fluid drains and the tubing finds a home in his stomach. He wont be able to lift anything more than 5lbs for 3-6 weeks and no swimming until the wounds are totally healed. These are all the things we have been doing the past few weeks to get him stronger. At least we had a nice long up hill climb before they down hill today. Let’s hope that the next few weeks all the hills will be nice and small.
On august 12th, Scott will be going in to have a ventricular peritoneal shunt (VP shunt). This is a long thin tube that starts in his brain with about 2 inches going into the brain and ends in his stomach. The start has tiny holes that absorb the cerebral fluid around the brain then has a larger pocket that holds a magnet which regulates the fluid disbursing into the stomach. This will be located in the back of his head and is sensitive to strong magnetic fields, like if he has an MRI it will have to be reset by the neurosurgeon.
We have to go in on the 11th for a stealth CT before surgery due to the need for different imaging and being able to place the tube. (We won’t have the time for any of these until its closer to the date)
The reason he has to have this placement… The fluid build up that is visible on the right side of his head is only a portion of the excess fluid. Dr. Newell said based on his CT today, there is fluid under the prosthesis bone flap as well. His brain is not absorbing cerebral fluid where the bleed was, which causes the excess. There is also still fluid from the surgery that has not absorbed. They have an option where they do a spinal tap and wrap the head to force fluid to leave the body through the spin. This is a one time procedure, but in Scott’s case they believe the fluid will just return due to the spot (I don’t know how large it is) that is not absorbing and probably never will.
The surgery will take about 1-2 hours with 1-1 ½ hours in recovery, then 2 days in observation. They said usually 1 day in ICU and 1 day in medical room. Oh how fun an over night stay on each floor. We actually visited each floor between the CT & the check up thinking we wouldn’t be back…not sure we’ll do that again…ha…ha…
Scott’s now feeling the 1 step forward, 10 steps back that we felt for so many days in the ICU. It was shocking to hear that surgery was needed again. The post surgery effects were even worse. They said to expect headaches and stomach discomfort for possibly a month as the fluid drains and the tubing finds a home in his stomach. He wont be able to lift anything more than 5lbs for 3-6 weeks and no swimming until the wounds are totally healed. These are all the things we have been doing the past few weeks to get him stronger. At least we had a nice long up hill climb before they down hill today. Let’s hope that the next few weeks all the hills will be nice and small.
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