Surgery Update - 10:18am

As soon I pressed the button on the last post, the intercom in the cafeteria called out the wife's name. Turns out the surgery only took little over an hour.

We met with the surgeon who explained the results.

When the catheter was inserted two days after Annabelle was born, her head was obviously 5 months smaller than it is today. As Annie's head grew, the distance between the reservoir and the hole where the catheter enters her head actually expanded. Consequently, the reservoir pulled the catheter out of Annabelle's head ever so slightly and the perforated portion of the catheter was repositioned nearer the actual brain matter than the ventricles. This is what led to the catheter becoming clogged.

They pulled out the clogged catheter and inserted a new one.

Every thing else concerning the shunt system looked "perfect" according to the Doc.

The docs also said that the 3-V procedure went perfectly as well.

Annabelle is still in recovery and only one of us can see her at a time. The nurse said Annie woke up, was moving her arms and watching her. the nurse also said she thought Annie might be in some pain so she gave her the smallest dose of pain killer through her IV and Annabelle fell back asleep. She was sleeping when I went in to see her.

The incision where the shunt revision occurred looks bigger than I had anticipated (it looked every bit as big as the first time). The incision on the top of her head for the 3-V is very small - more like a puncture than a cut.

Once they assign us a room, Annabelle will be moved and the wife and I will spend the day and night here at the hospital.

The docs plan on checking in tomorrow to discharge her and then we come back to his office on Monday to give everything a once-over.

It is a big relief to have this basically past us and the anticipation was of course much harder than the actual event (goodness, it's only 10:30am and we are done).

I asked how they would determine whether the shunt could be removed and he said that there really was no way to tell. Usually, after a 3-V, they will leave the shunt in permanently. Shunts almost never last past 15 years so if we go that long without a revision, the docs will consider whether the shunt is even working and if they might be able to remove it.

The good news is that we now have two different ways for excess fluid to drain and so we are in much better shape in that regard.

Thank you for your prayers this morning - more updates and photos to follow . . .