Selah saw one of the neurosurgeons in the group Thursday afternoon. Her appointment was scheduled for 1:45PM, but the neurosurgeon had an emergency surgery, so he didn't get to see Selah until 4:30PM. After thoroughly examining her, he decided that it would be a good idea to do a CT scan of Selah's head to take a look at the shunt, brain, and ventricles. He also ordered a sonogram of Selah's abdomen. Unfortunately, by the time the neurosurgeon ordered the tests, the radiology center was closed, so we have to go back tomorrow (Friday) at Noon to get both of these tests done on Selah.
Selah must fast for 3 hours prior to the sonogram of her abdomen, but I think she'll be just fine. She's fasted for 10 hours before, so that makes it feel like 3 hours will be a cinch!
For those who are unfamiliar with VP shunts (like I was!), the shunt is placed in a ventricle in the brain, and it has , which drains excess CSF (cerebral spinal fluid) into the abdominal cavity (peritoneal cavity), where it is reabsorbed into the body. (A simple explanation of hydrocephalus is the presence of an excessive amount of CSF in the ventricles of the brain, and if not continuously drained, it will make the head swell and cause all sorts of problems.) The VP (ventriculoperitoneal) shunt runs from the brain, outside the skull, and then the tubing is tunneled down under the skin, along the neck and chest all the way down to the abdominal cavity. In infants, they put several feet of shunt tubing so that as the child grows, the tubing will unwind and grow with the child so that they don't have to replace the shunt each time the child grows significantly.
Some of the possibilities with stomach pain after a VP shunt is placed include scar tissue, infection, cysts, discomfort from the CSF fluid draining into the abdomen, discomfort from the shunt tubing in the abdominal cavity, and there's also a possibility that the shunt tubing can wrap around an organ, such as the liver, and cause extreme pain.
Several people left comments regarding constipation, but this is not pain due to constipation. We have Selah on Miralax, which has kept her regular in her bowel movements. This pain is different, but the good news is that Selah has had a really good, calm last 24 hours. (Ever since I posted the prayer request regarding Selah's tummy issues, things have been good!!! Thank you, Jesus!!!) Wednesday night, Selah only woke once at 3AM, and then she went back to sleep after I patted her for a few minutes. When I woke Thursday morning, I was REJOICING that I had gotten almost 8 hours of sleep!!! HALLELUJAH!!! Oh, it feels just delightful to have a full night's rest, and it makes my heart smile to see Selah not having these pains. I am so grateful for your prayers, and sooooooo thrilled that God gifted us with a good chunk of peaceful rest and 24 hours of pain-free time!
I pray God healed whatever was causing Selah's tummy issues, but if there's still something going on, I pray that the CT scan and sonogram will reveal any possible issues. Thank you for joining me in lifting Selah up to our Father. I'm so grateful for all of you. I really am. There's nothing more powerful than prayer, and I feel so very blessed to have an army of prayer warriors always standing in the gap for our family. Thank you from the depths of our hearts.
PS Don't forget about the GIVEAWAY! If you want a chance to win a free book, be sure to leave your comment on THIS POST by 11:59PM Friday, April 1!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
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