(Abby and Mommy before surgery)
Over the past 8 days or so Abby hasn't been feeling well. Lots of sleeping, some occasional vomiting and neck stiffness. As usual for us when Abby seems ill, it's a guessing game trying to figure out where the real problem lies.
Yesterday morning I felt a fairly large lump on the back of her neck, superficial to her VP shunt tubing. Our pediatrician set up an appointment for us with our neurosurgeon after examining her.
This morning when we arrived at Children's they checked her out and quickly hooked her up to a pulse oximeter (measures O2 saturation in the blood and heart rate). Because her heart rate was in the 50's, things started happening very quickly.
Within minutes they took her to CT/X-ray. Once the doctor reviewed the images of her ventricles Abby was whisked off to surgery within 30 minutes. (Her lateral and 3rd ventricles were significantly enlarged)
She came through surgery without any problems with her heart rate or anesthesia. Her shunt is repaired with new tubing and a new valve. The doc told us it is possible the device could fracture again in the future because of the location it was placed. If she needs another revision some time down the road, he will be forced to place a different type of shunt up higher on her head... it's a more involved procedure, which is why he didn't do it today.
(getting comfy after surgery)
It's 9 pm and Abby is resting comfortably after getting pain meds. If she does well tonight with her feeds and doesn't show any signs of infection/complications we expect to head home tomorrow.
We are so very thankful to the Lord for leading us to an answer for Abby's illness and a caring group of people who helped bring relief.
Sitting in room 690 with my girl resting peacefully beside me is so wonderful. Knowing that she feels better and hoping that we will start to see the "real" Abby soon has truly lifted a heaviness from my heart.
Thank you Lord for your faithfulness!
7 comments:
Your faith, love and attitude are amazing through all of this, and Abby is such a trooper- I love you guys so much and am praying for you all!
Praising the Lord for answered prayers...!
Oh my darling Patty and Patrick,
What an ordeal you all have been through! My heart aches; but God is good, and I praise Him that this was fixed in time and that Abbers is on the mend.
Bless you for your faithful love and vigilant advocacy for Abby.
oh Patts... I'm so sorry that she had to go thru another surgery, but thanking God for some answers finally.
So glad everything went well, I hope Abby feels much better after this. We love you all! Prayers for quick healing. Abby is so blessed to have such a wonderful family.
So thankful that the drs were able to help Abby. I hope and pray she does get back to herself and you all get back to what your normal looks like. I was looking at all the other posts here and it is so true how no matter how hard you try to tell yourself to savor the moments, they still fly past us. I think of you all often and try and check on you guys here as much as I can. You all are such an encouragement to me in your daily walk, and faith in our Mighty God.
Thank you for sharing with us.
Sandy Littrell
Abby's gone through a lot!!!
Katy
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