Wednesday Abby Status

From Ryan this afternoon:

Hi everybody,

Here’s the rough news:

Abby had a rough day yesterday. She was having a ton of spells so they tapped her head and pulled 11 CC’s of fluid out. That’s a lot. Still though, she continued to have the spells and her head circumference didn’t go down much. Plus, her fontanel which is her soft spot started to feel a bit full even after the tap. This supposed to feel soft again since we took some fluid but it doesn’t. The fact that her spells continued is cause for concern because this means the spells could be caused by something else, like maybe another infection. She just got through those other ones and now there’s a possibility for more. So the nurses pulled some blood from her to do a full work up and check for all kinds of things. She was also looking a bit puffy, not like the good weight gain we want to see. That means she’s retaining fluid. She has been given the Lassex to help her pee and an enema to help her poo but not much was moving. That was the story during the afternoon…

Here’s some positive news:

When I got there around 5PM, her spells slowed down a bit and by the time we left she wasn’t having too many. Maybe a couple an hour which is a lot better than before.

At 3AM we called Karen, our nurse (whom we love by the way) and she gave us the good news that she did the ole number 2 like there was no tomorrow. She peed a lot as well. And she immediately started to act less lethargic and seemed quite a bit more comfortable. Was her constipation the cause for the spells and not the fluid in her head? We don’t know. It seems like it for now.

Some more news is that the Neurosurgeon came to look at her and decided that we should put the shunt in sooner rather than later. So, on Friday our Abby is going to have yet another and very serious surgery. We’re looking at this as a good thing because if all goes well this is the last foreseeable surgery that she will need for a while. We know there is an incredibly long road yet and are aware of all the variables with Abby, but we remain hopeful that this will be all she will need from a surgery stand point for at least a while. The concerns of this surgery are infection of the spinal fluid during the surgery and blockage of the shunt after it’s in. If the fluid gets infected there is a good chance for even more brain damage. If it gets blocked and the shunt can’t transfer the fluid out of her brain, we obviously have to take it out immediately. By the way, the official name of what is going on with Abby’s head is Hyrocephalus. In the mean time, click on this link to learn more. It really explains it well for us common folk.

Hycrocephalus

So…here we go again. My Goodness. Abby is such a fighter. I appreciate every single prayer that is offered on her behalf. Keep them coming this week.

Love,

Ryan and Kelly