Medical Update - 1/18/09

First, Club Feet:

The wife took Annie in for her weekly Club Foot clinic this past Thursday. If you recall, the doc only casted her left leg last week so we were curious as to what this week would bring. While wife and child were waiting in the exam room, you guessed it - the left cast slipped off (I think this is the fourth time now? . . . .)

The doc decided not to cast her again and so we are cast-free until the foot surgery on March 24th.

I must say, it is very nice to pick up your darling sweet little baby and not get *clunked* by two pieces of plaster. Annabelle is baby soft and smooshy from head to toe just like you would expect a baby to be.

The doc set a follow-up appointment for this Tuesday just to monitor her.

Friday was a big day. We had a 3:30 Physical Therapy appointment followed by a 4pm Occupational Therapy appointment. We had to cancel the 3:30 Infant Therapy appointment as we were double-booked. All that went out the window Thursday night though . . .

The Latest:

The wife and I have negotiated the past 16 years of marriage on the "whomever feels the most strongly about a subject - wins" strategy. Sometimes it takes a while to discover who feels more strongly . . . but the system seems to work for us.

Over the past week or so, it seems like Annabelle's head has gotten bigger.

Of course, babies change and grow so fast that we are constantly trying to guess if a change is normal or SB-related. Annabelle's fontanel is not swollen and her behaviour hasn't changed (although she has been sleeping a little bit more lately) so I didn't get overly worried about it. The wife felt more strongly though.

Thursday night, Holly said she was going to take Annabelle in to see the pediatrician first thing Friday morning. Drop me off at work - then show up unannounced at the Dr's. Did I mention she felt strongly?

The next morning, the pediatrician agreed to see them at 2pm. In the meantime, the receptionists suggested that the wife walk down the block to the Neurologists office since swelling would be a sign of a shunt malfunction which is really the Neuro's expertise.

Holly packed up the wee-one and headed over to the Neuro's office but of course, they wouldn't see her without a referral and so it was a waiting game until 2pm.

The Pediatrician took a look and confirmed that Annie-Lu's head had gotten relatively larger but was not overly concerned. Just to be on the safe side, he sent them down for a low-grade MRI that would not require anesthesia.

After viewing the results, the doc came to the conclusion that Annabelle's shunt was not draining properly and that a revision was in order. The urgency right now is one of days - not minutes and hours. So we set up a consult with the Neurosurgeon for 9:30 Tuesday morning.

The pediatrician felt that the surgery would take place this next week which probably means Wednesday or Thursday.

Typically, this procedure requires a two-night stay in the hospital afterwards so we can look forward to three days at Children's this week.

I have more info to share on the details of shunt malfunctions etc and of course how the wife and I are handling things but this post is probably long enough for now.

This news has been somewhat unexpectedly hard to bear and I think a lot of that has to do with the difference between discussing medical procedures for your child who is still in the womb vs actually sitting in the Dr. office holding your laughing, gurgling and cooing daughter in your arms and discussing surgery.

But that is for another post . . .

Your prayers and support are much appreciated!