Over the last week or so Carly has started to show the high pressure signs that we are all too familiar with. We have been fairly certain these signs meant that her shunt was starting to clog again and now another shunt revision surgery in on the way. The operating room schedule has been very busy this week, with no available times for Carly, so she will be admitted to the hospital tomorrow so that the surgery can be scheduled for Saturday.
There is some good news too. Last week Carly had her quarterly MRI to monitor her ventricle size and ensure that she remains tumor free. Although the ventricles did look a bit bigger (verifying that the shunt was not functioning properly) the MRI also indicated that Carly remains tumor free. We got another good piece of news regarding the protein content in Carly’s CSF. Over the last few months this level has been very high, nearly 30 times the normal level. Dr. Gupta told us that when this level is so high they typically see a lot of shunt clogging issues as the protein causes buildup in the shunt catheter. When neurosurgery was investigating Carly’s shunt function this week, they tested this level again and it has dropped by ⅔. It is still 10 times the normal level, but the downward trend hopefully means that soon she will not have to deal with frequently clogging shunts. We are hopeful that shunt number ten will be around for a long time.
Love, Brad
7 comments:
Will be thinking lots of good thoughts for lucky #10.... love you guys! -kim
thanks for always letting us know what's up with little Carly. She is always on my mind. Sending prayers for a speedy successful surgery Saturday.
Thank you for always keeping us up to date. The love never stops flowing in her direction.
Love to you all!
Is there a place in the baby book for old shunts to go? If not there should be! I hope she recovers quickly from this surgery and hope to see you guys soon.
Love and good thoughts,
Kellie
I am thinking good thoughts and hoping and praying that this is the last time that all of you will have to go through this. I am very glad to hear the good news too, of course! You're in my thoughts and will be all weekend, Lots of love heading Carly's & your way!
Thinking of you today...keeping the my prayers as sunny and positive as you all are. Lots of love your way!
XOXO
We'll be keeping the Nelsons in our thoughts today. Let's hope it's quick and painless for the little angel today.
Love,
Kevin and Karen
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