Leo Clement

Well, thank goodness that's over. Leo is home and almost back to his normal mellow self. He was a trooper for the surgery; breathing on his own again with only the LMA tube giving a little assistance. He's setting all kinds of new trends at the 'Hitch. The PICU experience was interesting.  It had a  more laid back vibe then the NICU, and Leo had a whole room with even a picture window. But no place can compare to home.

Leo came out of surgery and he is spending the night in the hospital in the PICU (pediatric intensive care unit).  His shunt replacement went fine although he is in a grumpy post-op state (as he should be) and when not on a few pain killers he is taking some milk. PICU is quiet.  We didn't think it would be given that so many tragic cases go through there, but it's more mellow than the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit), at least now.  Maybe kids aren't going out and hurting themselves right now to scare their parents.  Thank God! Anyway, as far as Leo's parents are concerned our nervous temperature is down considerably from NICU days but it is still a trial to watch your baby go off to surgery.  On his release forms I always want to sign "take me" instead of my signature.  Nevertheless, we handed him over to Dr. Durham and her professional team knowing full well they are damn good at what they do.  During the surgery we sat on the wonderful cafe pa...

Bada Boom. The 'Hitch gets things done. Leo is going in for surgery tomorrow at 10:00. We decided on least invasive measures first, so he will be getting his shunt revised. They will switch out the valves, changing his meduim flow valve to an adjustible one. Also during the surgery they will check that all the other parts of the shunt are working as they should be. The idea is that with the magnetic valve they will be able to adjust it as needed according to his fluid pressure. The medium flow valve just doesn't drain fast enough to keep up with his CSF production. He makes about 200cc of fluid a day. That's like one can of cola!!!

It's amazing how many times during one's daily interactions the brain comes into conversation. Almost as much as God. We all know we take the Lord's name in vain. It's a fact of life. I've been known to exclaim, "Jesus!" in annoyance just as often as the next person. Same goes for the brain. "That's retarded," or "What am I? Brain dead?" Etc, etc, etc. "Playing with a half a deck" was always my favorite. Kind of ironic now ain't it?

However you say it, it's on our minds...And very literally in Leo's case. Another run to the 'Hitch today determined that our little dude is not assimilating the fluid fast enough. The neurosurgeon was able to tell this by checking the shunt. She inserted a needle into the valve on his head and drew the CSF through a clear tube into a syringe. Since she got a full syringe of fluid, that proved that the valve works; then she held up the tube to see if the fluid would drain. It's a one way valve so if the fluid went down in the tube, that proves that the shunt in indeed still working and not clogged. And it did drain so the shunt is fine. However, the problem is that the fluid is still building up in his head.