Exhausted But Home

Internet was flaky up there this time around. Tyler is just fine. I went to our Pediatrician on Wednesday for a weight check and she didn't like the look of his bump and his fontinel was full. He still has a pretty nasty head cold to boot. She asked if I had called the neurosurgeon yet. I said no, I was waiting to see you before I did since his full fontinel is new today. She asked to call and did. She was concerned enough that it was decided we should have him seen by Neurosurgery. So we rushed back for one Dr office, packed the suitcase we put away 4 hours early, and was one the road for Dartmouth.

With Tyler in the car the trip somehow grows to take 2 1/2 or more instead of 2 hours. We usually have to stop to feed him or something. We finally got to the Emergency Department (ED) around 5:30. They were full with more traumas coming by ambulance and helicopter. It took a better part of an hour to get a bed. Usually they try to get the infants in ASAP. Once we got in things went rather quick for an ED. Tyler blew through an outfit and I didn't have any spares on me, the MRI was ordered and done within a 1/2 hour, he didn't finish his bottle before the MRI began and was wake through it, and the PEDI Dr and Neurosurgery Resident came to see us all in about an hour and half. Tyler was funny in the MRI. I had to hold him still and give him a finger to suck on. I could see his eye through the mirror set up and his eyes shot to what ever side the big bangs started and track them to the other side. He can hear.

The MRI showed that his ventricles are about the same post operative size-good. The cyst is still smaller than pre-operative size but slightly larger than post-operative-hmmmm. On exam, he was alert and his eyes responded correctly and he eats very well-great. The suture line doesn't leak-super. The neurosurgeon resident gave us the option to admit him for observation or take him home and watch him ourselves but give a call to the office in the morning to talk to Tyler's surgeon. We kept the baby of course and stayed at David's House the rest of the night.

I talked to his Surgeon Thursday morning. She came in on her day off to read the films from the MRI. Long story short, we can't do anything until the cold is gone. Which gives us time to see if the cyst is really growing again or if the cold causing the fluid to back up. A cold will increase chest pressure because it's harder to breath. With increased chest pressure other body systems will also become more pressurized. So we are waiting four 3 to 4 weeks and repeating the MRI. From that picture we can decide if we can leave him alone, poke more holes in the cyst, or if we have to shunt the cyst, or shunt both the cyst and ventricles. It is very reassuring that his surgeon doesn't just want to go in and shunt him. He isn't a simple case, he is actually a "complex hydrocephalus" case. This is medical terminology not just a description of Tyler. He has more than one cause and no clear answer to fix it. We could shunt too early or the wrong area and cause even more problems. The surgeon is hoping that this is all due to the cold or if she has to go back it, just to poke another hole in the cyst. In the mean time, I get to enjoy juggling a newborn and 2 year old in the comfort of my home.