In the days since Carly's birthday she has continued to be under the weather. The antibiotics may have been helping her pneumonia, but she continued to be really weak, sleepy and had little interest in eating or drinking. By yesterday morning we decided we couldn't put off a shunt surgery any longer. She went to the O.R. yesterday afternoon and Dr. Gupta replaced all of the shunt hardware. This time he tried something different, replacing the belly catheter with tubing that is typically used for drainage of abdominal cavities. The tubing is a lot larger in diameter, with an area that is over 6 times larger than shunt tubing. The hope is that this larger area will prevent the tubing from clogging, giving Carly more time between shunt revisions.
Carly has been recovering well, with things being a little more complicated because she is also fighting off pneumonia and a case or rhinovirus (the cold.) Because of these other issues, Carly spent last night in intensive care (the PICU.) We are still there now and will be here for another night. If she shows improvement tomorrow she will be sent home to continue her recovery there. It is good to be trying something different that shows promise at helping address the shunt clogging issue. Hopefully this is the beginning of a long stretch of better days for Carly.
Love,
Brad
6 comments:
Sorry we missed seeing you at the lake at Christmas. You continue to be in out thoughts and prayers. With kind regards, Susan, Dave and Emma
Yes, a very long stretch. I hope so. love, Val
Keeping you all in my thoughts and prayers! I hope that sweet Carly feels better soon.
Your mom, Sue, gave us an even more detailed report today when she called Marge and Park but the slightly-more-nimble Gail answered the phone. Carly is certainly tough, but we think her mom and dad are even stronger. And we understand that Kemp is keeping everyone's spirits up.
Love,
Greg and Gail
we missed you all terribly this week. lots of love to the 4 of you and hopes that this new tubing does the trick. we love you. xo
We look forward to meeting you, especially this little angel who is so often in our prayers. Mary Ann and Bob
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