FYI when I finally post those - I'm going to adjust the dates so I don't have 3 or 4 posts all in a row - so look back at the end of November.
So those are my excuses and I’m sticking to it!
In the meantime I’ll leave you with a couple of pictures.
We just celebrated our 1 year anniversary of Nick's shunt placement (at 3 weeks old). I blogged about it, but Nick was home for 5 days before we were headed back to the hospital to be readmitted and to have brain surgery in the morning. I remember it like it was yesterday...
In the scheme of spina bifida related surgeries, the shunt placement is probably the easiest, but the most stressful. Alot of stories of shunt placements are just like ours, finally getting home, getting settled and then needing to return to the hospital. The actual surgery only takes 1 hour. But I learned that a one hour surgery does not equal a one hour wait time. I waited for 3 hours in that horrible waiting room, exhausted and worried and just waiting for Nick's name to appear on the computer screen before we were told he was in the recovery room. My father waited with me. I probably would have been a mess without him.
We did find out that alot of the waiting time was trying to get another IV in Nick (he went through ALOT of IV's). But at the time I had no idea. Now I know for next time - because with spina bifida there is always a next time. I really didn't like his shunt scar - now it's covered by hair and no one knows it is there. And Nick bounced back so well from the surgery.
We were told that if he can go 1 year without a shunt revision (needing to change the shunt - usually because it gets clogged or infected) then chances are it would last. What last means, I am not quite sure. But we had it a year!
