Dec. 10 - Embolisms Again!!??

We had a full day of follow-up appointments at Saint Marys today. I'll go into the details later, but the bottom line is that despite both his heart and the vein of Galen malformation improving, he has increased fluid retention in the brain (hydrocephalus), and so the neurosurgeons believe it is best to do more embolizations tomorrow and try to finish treating the malformation.

When I hear "hydrocephalus," I think of developmental issues, but thankfully since they've been watching him so closely and are aware of it before there are any symptoms, they don't think the pressure the fluid is placing on the brain is problematic yet. Just the same, it's best to take care of this sooner rather than later.

I'll need to get up around 3:45 a.m. to feed Garrett one last time, as he's not supposed to have anything four hours before the procedure. We'll need to be at Saint Marys by 6, although they don't expect to take him for the surgery until 8. We'll spend the rest of the day and Friday night in the PICU. Then we'll probably be on the general floor for the next couple of days.

When he had his last procedure, he had to fast starting at 4 a.m., but it took him so long to wake up from the sedation, he didn't eat until 7:15 p.m. Maybe I should take advantage of the break from nursing and treat myself to a nice, strong drink ... or two.