Dr. Wellons came in this morning and so far all the cultures since Wednesday have been negative so he plans to replace the VP shunt in the morning. He is raising the "pop-off" point on the ventriculostomy (drain) today to allow more fluid to remain in Jack's ventricles so we have to watch Jack not only to keep him level but also to see if he develops a leak around his ventriculostomy. Around 3 am, he will clamp off the ventriculostomy and some time in the morning Jack will have a CT scan. If the ventricles are collapsed, surgery will be cancelled and we'll have to wait for them to fill up. If the ventricles are about the same size as they were, Dr. Wellons will get the same size catheter and route it through a slightly different location. This is apparently the best scenario to avoid repeat infection. If the ventricles are smaller, Dr. Wellons will have to use a smaller catheter and thread along the same path as the old shunt. Either way, he says that if Jack makes it throug!
h the nex
t 6 months without another infection, his chances of infection drop dramatically.
In possibly unrelated bizarre good news, Jack slept last night without his Bipap. He only dropped his saturation twice and only to about 81. He has obstructive sleep apnea which should be unrelated to any pressure or fluid in his head so it really makes no sense that he was able to breathe so easily last night without any pressure support. He did have "blow-by oxygen" on for part of the night but I don't think he needed it. I turned it on before he went to sleep just so we would have it until we turned on the Bipap.
Thanks again to everyone for all your thoughts and prayers and visits and calls and emails and diapers and food and trucks and batteries and planes and helicopters and books and cards and balloons and socks and Puffs Plus and I'm sure I've left someone or something out. We appreciate everything and are overwhelmed by the support.
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2 comments:
Jack,
Good luck on your surgery tomorrow! You will never remember me, but I will always remember you. I was a nursing student that took care of you for a day. You inspired me to get on the internet and learn about Apert syndrome. You're a strong little man and you have such wonderful support from your family. I very much enjoyed helping take care of you!
- Laura
Thank you, Laura. Thank you for taking the time to learn more about Apert syndrome. It means a lot to us that you would choose to learn more about something that will most certainly not be on any exam including your state boards. We enjoyed meeting you. As much as we liked Jack's nurses, you were the only one that he actually flirted with!
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