Our Redirected Flight

Our Redirected Flight

Saturday, January 29, 2011

The Story of the Shunt

A good luck kiss from my big brother!


Daddy loading me up


In the preop room watching the fish tank and waiting to go into surgery.



Sleepy from surgery



A little over 24 hours later and we are home!! (don't know if you can see it but his fontanelle is already sinking in quite a bit, also it is becoming complicated to get a picture without big brother wanting to be in it too:))
A side view of the shunt

Grayden did amazingly well with his shunt surgery. He was taken back into the operating room around 8:50am on January 26th and was finished and in the recovery room by 10:15am. It was one of the most difficult things that I have had to do thus far, sending him into the OR and trusting in the neurosurgeon. He slept most of that day and the few times he did wake up, he woke up crying and you could tell he was in pain. We provided him with pain medication for the entire day and through that first night. The next morning, however, he woke up happy as can be, with a big smile of his face! We were discharged and sent home around 11:30 on Thursday. Grayden spent the next day at home with Grandpa Jeff and continues to amaze me with how well he is doing. He has been smiling and giggling a lot!! So now we just wait and hope that things continue to go well. We are hoping for no infections and for the shunt to be problem free.
If you are interested in seeing a diagram of what a shunt looks like and where it is that it is placed, follow this link.

8 comments:

  1. So glad it went well and he's a happy boy again!

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  2. So so glad it went well and you got to come home so quickly! Lewis's fontanel sunk in like that a lot at first. It still does sometimes but his crazy hair covers it up!

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  3. The stress leading up to it is so tough, but that first smile after it's over makes everything right again. So happy he's doing well!

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  4. Glad you guys are doing great. It is crazy how fast they recover from surgery!

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  5. Thanks for sharing your pictures. I am glad to see him looking so good. Have you noticed slight changes in his demeanor and/or abilities since the shunt? Dr. was explaining to us that it is really subtle, but we would probably notice a difference once the pressure was relieved. Makes me wonder what we are missing out on now.
    (Sorry I am logged in to my other blog, but the is Gabe's mom Katie...)

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  6. That is WONDERFUL!! Seriously it sounds like he's doing fabulous - Jet was very sick still and sad the next day so what a blessing! Thank you for the update - I'm so happy to see you all at home and recovering. :)

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  7. Kelly glad to hear the surgery went smoothly.

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