A little more detail

Right now Randy is resting comfortably. He was a bit groggy (more than normal) after surgery yesterday, but had perked up by 2 am when it was time for his CT scan. Thankfully his nurse let me off the hook and went down to the scan with him so that I could get some sleep on this wonderful pull out (did something drip on your screen). The neurosurgeon on call this weekend (she knows Randy well too) said that the left ventricle is slightly smaller, but the right is larger. She wants a repeat scan on Monday. So no Sunday discharge like we hoped for.

After surgery yesterday, Randy's neurosurgeon said "I have good news and bad news". Of course my heart stopped beating instantly. I am going to try to explain it the best I can.

Background info: Randy has one shunt with two catheters attached; one that goes into the right ventricle and one that goes into the left ventricle. The left ventricle is the one that is greatly enlarged over his baseline. It is like 5-7 times bigger than his normal. The right ventricle was only slightly larger than it has been in the past. His neuro was amazed that he was not presenting symptoms. He does think that this has been slowly building up and within a few weeks he would have been symptomatic.

Good news: Both catheters were clogged and would not flush at all. He was able to clear the left catheter (the larger side) and get it flowing. I can't remember if he changed the catheter, but I'm pretty sure he did. He also said that the left and right ventricles appear to be communicating (fluid flowing back and forth).

Bad news: The right catheter is tangled in blood vessels. It would be risky to try to remove the catheter. He did reconnect the catheter in the slim chance that it started to work on its own again.

So what does this all mean? Well, if the ventricles continue to communicate then the left catheter will work just fine. If not, then he will have to endure another craniotomy and go in and create a path for them to communicate. I do NOT want him to have another craniotomy. It is a big surgery. He has had one before. It took him a while to heal, and he lost so many skills after the surgery.

Pray for my baby.