Not so fast.

After my last post the neurosurgeon came up and suggested that we go ahead and remove some fluid to hold Tyler over until we can re-group and plan another go at surgery. In our meeting on Wednesday the option of a direct tap to remove fluid was tabled because repeated taps have been known to cause brain-damage (30+) making it a bad long-term answer. In our current case a few taps until a more stable drain can be installed is considered fine.

Once they got a whiff of infection they hit Tyler with broad spectrum antibiotics. He was deteriorating rather rapidly. The main suspect is his PICC (Central IV). The symptoms fit either increased inter-cranial pressure or sepsis. We knew we needed to treat the pressure and as much as they don't like passing out antibiotics waiting 36-48 hours for a culture would put us way behind the 8-ball.

The Dr. pulled 12ml of fluid from the Ventricles Tyler's head. It was brown in color which indicates that the clots are breaking up. It is possible albeit remote that the tap today may have bought enough time to get us beyond needing the drain. During the festivities today they also did a lumbar puncture and got almost nothing. The unofficial story is that this goes to proving the theory that a clot is preventing the fluid from leaving the brain and going into the spinal column.

We have an ultrasound planned for Monday morning, and will meet again and go over our options. The cultures will come back in 36-48 hours. Sharron and I are betting it's not infection. Any takers?