Catching up

Sorry for the delay on the full update, Summer had a rough afternoon, so I hadn't had the chance to get my hands on the laptop until now.

Overall, the surgery went well. Dr. Browd made me quite nervous when he pulled Jason and I into a conference room to update us after the surgery since last time we talked right in the ICU waiting area. Turns out he just thought it would be easier to talk where it was quiet since the waiting room was pretty busy. He was right, I'm sure, but it gave me a bit of a scare.

Everything went pretty much as planned. They went in through the same incision, although they left a bit more hair behind this time. Her skull had healed almost completely shut, so they had to open that back up again.

They did encounter quite a bit of scar tissue during the procedure, including the dura mater being stuck down on her brain after the last surgery. This puts her at risk for seizures, but Dr. Browd thought it was quite unlikely she'd have any. Just to be safe, Summer will be on seizure meds for the next three months to give her brain a chance to heal before we wean her off them. We won't know until then whether the surgery has caused her to have seizure problems or not.

They think the cyst was actually two globular cysts, one inside another, and the catheter that is in there now goes through the membranes into both cysts, so it should work for draining any fluid that these cysts put off in the future.

She had to get a little blood during the surgery, and was pumped full of IV liquids, and she's still a little puffy from all of that, even 24 hours later.

Jason and I were both amazed by how good she looked the night of her surgery, and into this morning. The immediate swelling was minimal compared to last time. Or maybe we just knew what to expect so it didn't seem as bad.

She was talkative at various points through the night and seemed generally happy. The morphine made her comfortable enough to sleep well on her own. She really liked the nurse we had last night. I woke up a few times to see them chatting away and not needing me at all. Summer is generally not a fan of nurses, so that was pretty surprising!

Over the course of the day, she has puffed up quite a bit more (as is normal), but her eye did not swell completely shut like it did last time. She has been rubbing at her eyes and nose, which doesn't help the swelling. They gave her some Benadryl a little while ago and that seems to have helped.

I am not sure where the Ommaya reservoir is located on her head. We can't see it due to the current post-op swelling, but I'll ask the neurosurgeon in the morning if he's in the group of doctors that come to check on her.

She's been a bit uncomfortable this afternoon - the oxycodone/tylenol combo is not quite enough to keep her comfortable, and they won't allow ibuprofen until tomorrow. We'll probably get her some morphine to help her sleep through the night.

She's been understandably cranky, but we're glad to be out of the ICU so quickly. Hopefully we'll really be home in 3-4 days this time. They did say the recovery might be a little longer this time around, so I'm not sure. I'll have to ask in the morning.

I'm sure I forgot a million things, but I'll post again tomorrow.