Tuesday, March 26, 2013

A Different Approach

Carly has been up and down since her last surgery, with waves of neurologic discomfort. The last shunt did last a bit longer, but it has slowly been showing signs of becoming obstructed and she needed surgery this afternoon. Dr. Gupta wanted to try something new that could potentially extend the time between her surgeries. The procedure is called a third ventriculostomy, and he made a hole at the base of the third ventricle to provide another avenue for Carly's CSF to exit her brain.

To make the hole he first needed to remove a nodule that was sitting in the way. We have been monitoring this nodule, and another one in a different area of Carly's brain on the last few quarterly MRI's. The nodules have been fairly stable in size, but the neurosurgery team has recently deemed them concerning and likely tumor recurrence. Dr. Gupta said the nodule he removed today did look like tumor and we should get pathology results in the next few days. He was able to safely make the hole in Carly's third ventricle with minimal bleeding. Because this procedure went well and was free of excessive bleeding he also performed a shunt revision. Two parts of the shunt were visibly obstructed and replaced, and she now has a fully functioning shunt #40 in place. The surgery took five hours in all, but Dr. Gupta was happy with the outcome. Carly is resting now in the PICU and will hopefully have a quiet night. We hope that this is just what she needed to feel good.

Love, Brad

15 comments:

lance said...

Change is good and I hope this new approach will bring more stabilization. Sending lots of love and healing vibes your way.

Hugs,
Lance and Mark

Beth said...

Always in our thoughts and prayers..... God bless!
Love, Carly's East Coast groupies

Catherine said...

Hugs to the whole Nelson family! Always sending comforting and healing thoughts to beautiful Carly.

Love, the Nichols

Katy Leigh said...

sending lots of love to you all!! xoxo

robin said...

lots of love to you guys!

robin

Rick said...

All our love to the whole Nelson family.. and super vibes to our amazing little friend, Carly.

Love Rick, Carrie and Logan

Paige said...

Lots of love and healing vibes to you all. Hoping for bright, sunny days ahead! xo

Susan said...

Thinking of you all. Sending lots of love and healthy prayers Carly's way!

Anonymous said...

I pray that you all experience peace and healing.

Susan Hartwig

Anonymous said...

Thinking of you all...hugs and kisses!
Julie

Mindy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mindy said...

All of our love to Carly! And to you all, of course. Please keep us up to date on Carly's progress.

Maya said...

Brad & Christa, been thinking about you guys & Carly...hoping she is having a great, long stint of no complications!
Hugs to all,
Maya & family

Kim said...

Please update soon. You and your family are in my thoughts and prayers!

bark collar said...

Lots of love guys