Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Selah's Wednesday Report

I didn't have a chance earlier to give you all an update, but wanted you all to know that Selah is doing well.

Today was a rough day, not because she has a hole in her skull, stitches in her head and tummy, an IV, and tubes coming out of all kinds of crazy places, but because of constipation, of all things! Selah battles constipation daily at home, so she takes Miralax in her bottles to help her stay regular, as it's really important to relieve extra pressure in her belly so the cerebral fluid that drains from her brain via shunt will have space to deposit into her belly.

Pain meds also cause constipation, so that coupled with Selah's "normal" constipation issues, made for a really painful day of cramping and constipation. Poor baby girl! I picked Selah up and held her twice (despite the orders to not hold her much) today to try to soothe her, but nothing helped. She screamed with tummy pain while we tried to help her, but nothing worked. The neurosurgeon's nurse practitioner was concerned about messing with Selah's electrolytes if we used an enema or other laxative (other than the glycerin suppositories and Miralax), so we were at a stand still (pun intended!). Since Selah is losing fluids externally through the shunt drainage and catheter, we have to be really careful with regards to helping Selah be able to poop so that we don't get her electrolytes out of whack.

Finally this afternoon around 4pm, after a day of struggling with horrendous tummy pains, Selah pooped! Woohoo! She felt soooooo much better afterward, and then she was able to settle down and sleep peacefully for several hours. Praise God for bringing Selah comfort, as it was extremely hard not to be able to do anything to console our hurting baby girl.

My parents visited this morning, my friend Carrie (Rowan's mom, who made the beautiful quilt in memory of Chrissie) visited this afternoon (and brought homemade brisket, rolls, potatoes, and even homemade truffles!!!), and now the kids are coming to visit tonight. Whew, it's been a long, hard day, but I pray Selah will not continue to have such painful tummy issues, and I praise Him for the relief Selah got this evening.

Oh, Selah had a CT scan this morning that showed a significant decrease in the hematoma, but the ventricles are still collapsed. The neurosurgeon on call stopped by this afternoon to let me know that Monday would be the earliest date for the shunt replacement. He increased the rate of drainage on the hematoma catheter as well.

Thanks for praying, we are truly grateful!!!

Sent from Lorraine's iPhone

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