Shunt Revision

We took Nicholas back to the ER yesterday for another CT and x-rays. The ER doctor had neurosurgery diagnosis him this time and it was a shunt malfunction. I told the ns about Monday's visit to the ER and the flu diagnose. He said that parents of kids with shunts usually are right when there is something wrong and know more about them than the ER doctors. It is nice to know I knew what I was talking about and was right on Monday, but I really think the ER docs need to know this too. The neurosurgeon was able to tap out 50cc of cerebral spinal fluid and his soft spot went down and he was acting like he felt a lot better. The ns said that since he was able to get fluid out the part in his brain was working and the problem was with the tubing. He was admitted to the PICU last night. They did surgery this morning and found a blockage in the tubing. They were able to replace it and they put it in a different spot in his abdomen. Nicholas has 2 cuts on his tummy- one from removing the old tubing and one from putting in the new. The good news is that they didn't have to go into his brain. They still had to prep his head so half of it is shaved. The poor guy's hair just grew back from the last revision. He was off the vent right away which is so wonderful. I was worried about that since he had such a hard time coming off of it last time. They are giving him a little oxygen but he was satting 97-100 with it not on his face so he is good with his breathing. They want to keep him in the PICU for at least 12 hours so he may or may not spend the night there tonight. I will know more later and hopefully he will be home in a few days.