Shunt surgery

 Carly had her shunt surgery Wednesday, October 13, 2010 at Cardon Children's Medical Center. We arrived at 11 for a 12:30 surgery. First it was pushed back an hour. Then he came in and said it would be another hour. After 2 hours behind I asked about how much longer it would be. They said another hour or more. So finally at 4:15 the anesthesiologist came in to talk to us. He gave Carly some versed to calm Carly (it knocked her out) and they took her back at 4:45. Then we waited. 

Dr. Moss came to the waiting room at 6:20PM to let us know that Carly was out of surgery and that it went well. He replaced the shunt and tubing completely and placed a new programmable shunt with a siphon control valve. The shunt was partially obstructed so it was very good that we went ahead with the surgery. Before the surgery he said that if it was his granddaughter or daughter that he would not do the surgery right now. I still had a feeling that something wasn't right and we decided to go ahead with it. I asked him after if my instinct was right and he said yes, definitely. See, mom's know best!!! 

We went to go see her and let me just say that she looked so much better than her first surgery. She was OUT! She didn't actually wake up until almost 9 and when she did she was not happy. She was trying to pull out her tubes and IV. We got her calmed down and gave her a sippy then she threw it all up. Daddy had to go home to the other two kids so I stayed the night with her. It was pretty uneventful. She actually slept pretty well and I got a little rest. At 5AM they came and got us for CT. We went back to sleep after CT and after being cleared to leave we headed home at 3:30PM. It is so great to be back home although she has been little miss cranky pants. Its time to get back to life as usual and hope that things improve for Carly. Next thing on the agenda...no infections!!!

We have been truly blessed by the amount of love and concern that our family, friends and complete strangers have shown for us and Carly. Carly's life is nothing short of a miracle and we feel blessed to be her parents. 

 Waiting patiently...

Waiting not so patiently...

 Knocked out with versed heading to surgery

Finally seeing Carly after surgery

Splotchy red face

I guess this makes going to the PICU a bit more welcoming!

We actually really liked this PICU. Cardon is a very nice hospital and best of all, its brand new!!