December 12, 2006

December 12, 2006 at 07:30 PM CST

Tuesday evening... We are home at last!
The past couple of days have been full of mixed messages and some confusion on our part. When you see 3 residents, 1 CRNP, 1 pediatrician, 1 chief of surgery with his side kick and 9 nurses who all tell you something different, things start seeming a little fuzzy. Some times you just have to nod your tired head and continue asking for what you think is best for your child.
Abby is doing much better than Friday and Saturday, but still not fully herself. She continued to run a fever through the night and was given Tylenol and Motrin together to bring it down each time. She rested much better than the night before. Today she has been ‘talking’ more, moving around and responding to tickles with a bigger smile. This morning we were told she would have to stay until she was free from fever for 24 hrs before we could go home… they did blood work (which we never found out the results) to look for the source. They also said they might have to tap the shunt to test her CSF (brain fluid) for infection. Then a few hours later the chief neurosurgeon came and said we could go home. Go figure. We are very thankful to be home!
Abby has not had a fever all day until we got home. At the moment it’s not high and she is sleeping peacefully. The plan is to return to Children’s next Tuesday for CT and to see Dr. Oaks. I think we will discuss possible surgery. Hopefully she will be completely well by then and we can make plans to get this over with! We are still praying that she won’t need the shunt, although we’ve been told that it is a very slim chance.
Thank you for all your prayers!! We really need wisdom to know when and if she starts showing signs that we should worry about. They told us to watch for subtle signs such as lethargy, sleepiness, ‘not acting herself,’ retching/vomiting and headache. Some of these she might normally exhibit after she has a seizure, so it’s difficult not to overreact. We are leaving it in His hands.

…”The mountains are His, the valleys are His, the stars are His handy work too. My God is so Big, so Strong and so Mighty there’s nothing our God can not do!”