question about shunting

[lolathechecker]

ok, so the neo says that we are not going to shunt her right away. we are going to do the back closure and wait until a few days later to see if her hydro goes down. he said it is pretty mild and may go down on its own. has anyone ever heard of that happening? i hadn't, so i was just seeing your opinions. he said its up to me, and that if i wanted them to, they would go ahead and shunt her at the same time as the back closure. so now im wondering if i should just go ahead and have them do it anyways, because i dont want to put her through 2 surgeries if i dont have to.:confused:

[Dodger67]

Yes.
Me.
I don't have HC even though I was born with a slightly raised pressure. It went down to normal within 3 days.
Wait to see what happens.
Don't fix what ain't broke!

[Michelle]

That is exactly whats going on with Jack (8 weeks). He actually had moderate HC when born and they performed the closure surgery and kept an eye on him. They repeated his head u/s at 10 days old and he didn't have HC then and therefore we still have no shunt. His next head u/s is April 24. I agree with Dodger...don't go ahead with the shunt if she doesn't need it. If she needs it, they'll catch it. I was worried that 1 morning we'd wake up and he'd have HC, but it would be much more gradual than that and they will definitely let you know what to look for. We also go to the pediatrician every Friday and get his head measured to make sure there haven't been any dramatic jumps. I hope this helps and congrats on the great news!

[Spokie]

Hi. My son's shunt was also done as a separate operation - to check first if it is really necessary. Just don't leave it for too long! They can usually tell within two weeks...

[mommy2cnj]

Used to be, (oh, back in '95 or so), they used to think that individuals with shunts placed in a secondary surgery would accept the shunt better, as well as the shunt functioning better. Never realized this is no longer the case, until Lola posted the above message. One may have thought my 2 children would have clued me in sooner (I'm not a true blonde, either! :P) My oldest has had 1 revision, while my youngest has had numerous; both kids had the shunts placed along with the back repaired at a day old.

[lolathechecker]

That is exactly whats going on with Jack (8 weeks). He actually had moderate HC when born and they performed the closure surgery and kept an eye on him.

ok, im glad to hear that someone else is doing the same thing. the doctor says she has a one in three chance that it will go down to normal on its own. so im still praying.:D

[kali]

hi my son also showed low HC at birth he had both operations seperate,2 weeks apart. he is now 9 years old and has the same shunt that was put in at 2 weeks old. by the way my son didnt show signs of HC increase until after the closure of the back. I pray your son will be the one in three

[nanna]

Hi, My grandson had mild HC at birth and he was left to see what happend. Now at three and a half weeks he has been booked in for a shunt at the end of the week.

[Barb]

Good luck with his surgery :)

[Bigwilli]

Our daughter has mild Hydro at birth. They closed her back and waited 2 weeks to see if the pressure went down (it didn't) She is doing great with the shunt now with no issues. I have another story where someone waited 3 months. Personally, I wished they would have done it at first and not got our hopes up. I was dissapointing bringing her home for 2 weeks then turning around for another operation.

[Barb]

We waited four months and to this day think it was my worst spina bifida related parenting mistake. I have always wondered if it caused some of the delay we see now. I would have done it from the get go knowing what I know now....hindsight

[Summer25]

I was shunted at a week old. My back surgery was done right after I was born. When I was little my mom met a family that had a little girl with hydro when I was in the hospital for one of my many surgeries.The doctors had the "wait and see approach," but the baby just laid there. She wouldn't do anything. Mom said when they brought her out of surgery she was a whole different baby. She was smiling and laughing and focusing on things. So, it does makea difference.

[Dodger67]

It would have been as big a mistake to put in a shunt when it is not needed at all.
Don't beat yourself up about it - shit happens!

[Barb]

Yeah, but our situation was more like the one Summer described...I just KNEW he needed one and when I finally demanded it he was a totally different baby....but, thank you, hey live and learn, I found my voice for sure. Now, if I could only find the off button

[joybell322]

Hey, Barb! Amazing how much moms know, is it not. I've had to demand a few things for Lizzie too when doctors were not so willing - only to find out I was right! Now, thank God, all Lizzie's doctors trust me. It's great when we all work as a team!

[Dodger67]

That is so true!
The doctor may be an expert in a particular aspect of medicine, but a parent is THE expert on their child.

[happygirl]

There are really a very professional doctors.. and there are a good doctor who knows how to make his patients happy, feel calm and will never make you sad just like what he's doing.

[Erika G.]

ok, so the neo says that we are not going to shunt her right away. we are going to do the back closure and wait until a few days later to see if her hydro goes down. he said it is pretty mild and may go down on its own. has anyone ever heard of that happening? i hadn't, so i was just seeing your opinions. he said its up to me, and that if i wanted them to, they would go ahead and shunt her at the same time as the back closure. so now im wondering if i should just go ahead and have them do it anyways, because i dont want to put her through 2 surgeries if i dont have to.:confused:

Hello, We have our 14 mo. old son, who did not get a shunt at birth, the dr. said it was mild too. However, his recent MRI showed a signigicant amount of water and his head is growing fast. The Dr. has left it up to us wheter or not to shunt him, because he does not show signs that he has pressure affecting him. We felt confused too. We decided to have the Dr. monitor him for another 2 months, we'll do another MRI- and then we will see. It's so hard to decide, there's always the "what if" specially when the dr. can't give you a straight answer. Trust your gut feeling, and pray that you make the right choice.