July 7, 2015 "Shunt surgery # 5!"

I can not believe Dr. Elton has been in Rayden's brain 5 times now!!
1- Initial placement of shunt
2-Shunt revision
3-Shunt malfunction
4-Shunt infection/removal/EVD
5-Shunt re-internalization

I pray that this is the very last time we have to go through shunt surgery!

Rayden received a bath, and was pretty calm considering  he hadn't eaten since 1am. The PICU docs and nurses were sad to see Rayden go. They said they had "gotten to know and love him." I may be a little bias, but who couldn't love him, haha! As I sat holding Rayden this morning my mind wondered back to the time just before he was born. I couldn't help but wonder why God has allowed us to go through so much in such a short amount of time. What is His plan? If I only knew, maybe I wouldn't worry so much. Rayden seemed to know something was wrong because he just sat and cuddled with me for a long time. I held my sweet baby as long as I could.

(11:00 am) Pastor Brad arrived just as the nurse came in to wheel Rayden off to surgery. The docs and nurses were standing in the hall wishing him good luck and saying how they will miss him. No matter how many times they take Rayden into surgery, it will never get any easier. I can't hold back the tears when they say "OK, give kisses. Say bye bye." Dr. Elton said the surgery should take about an hour, but he couldn't begin until they successfully started an IV. It seemed like forever as we sat in the waiting room.

(1:30 pm) Dr. Elton arrived to tell us that although anesthesia had to stick Rayden twice to get a good IV, surgery went well. He was able to place a new shunt and tubing. Rayden will be in more pain than previous surgeries because of the new tubing placement and may not bounce back as quickly. He was able to use the same incision in his head but had to create a new one in his abdomen. He also mentioned that the new shunt had a time release antibiotic that would last about 30 days. Hopefully this will prevent a staph infection in the future, but we are not out of the woods until he is at least 6 months away from surgery!! I am going to be on pins and needles for the next 6 months!!!!

(2:15pm) The nurse called us back into the PACU (Post-Anesthesia Care Unit) to see Rayden. She stated that she had given him everything she could for pain and he was finally starting to calm down! This broke my heart. She had given him IV Tylenol, Pedialyte, Sweeties, Oral Tylenol, 3 doses of Fentanyl and finally Oxycodone! He was still jumpy and screaming out in pain every now and then. I just whispered over and over to him that "Mommy is here." Before we left the PACU the nurse and I noticed that Rayden's skin had turned fire red. Before we could really make anything of it, the redness went away, weird.


(3:00 pm) They transferred Rayden to a room on the 7th floor. I was so glad we didn't have to return to the PICU. Upon arrival, the redness had returned. After the nurses and doctors exchanged information they decided to give him some Benadryl. This poor child was all doped up!! Even through all of that he was STILL screaming out in pain. When the doctor saw this he ordered some more Oxycodone. Soon Rayden was sleeping peacefully. If he feels better when he wakes up we will be able to go home.