need some advice

[Bre]

Well sorry I haven't been on a lot has happen in a week. Bella was born a little eary than planed. Well she had her shunt placed the same day as her back surgery. She was born on Friday 5-7-2010 and had her surgery on Monday 5-10-2010 the whole thing went great. But now she had her mri 48 hrs after surgery and it shows that her shunt is doing its job. We still haven't got the full report back yet we just got a run down of it from a nurse who said that there still is a lot of fluild I belive it is 39 mm and she said that the brain tissue is still pushed up agaist the wall of her skull and that they would of liked to see more of the brain tissue expand but it hasn't yet because there is still to much fluid. So my question is, is this normal because it really scares me she seems like any other baby she watches you responds to our voices but this nurse is telling us that she basicly looks like she has no brain well at least that's how I took it. I would like to know if anyone has gone through the same thing and how did it turn out. And why is it takeing so long for the fluid to go down? Any thing would help thanks so much. I will put up pics and share all when I have more time, thanks again.

[LisaJoy]

Congrats on Bella's arrival! I don't know the answer to your questions, but I think you should ask the neurosurgeon. If it is a programmable shunt, it may need to be adjusted. Or it could be blocked already -- seems like it sometimes takes a few tries to get it right in the beginning.

[Jess&Madi]

Sorry, but I don't have any answer. Just wanted 2 say hang in there 4 your precious baby girl! Congrats:)

[ainemc]

Congrats on the birth of your baby girl! :19a:
It doesn't sound like the shunt is working the way it is supposed to be. Lisajoy mentioned that it cant take a few tries to get it working, this was the case for my daughter. She's five months and has has two shunt revisions. The first shunt revision her head looked like it caved in, there was a massive dip in her head, but the second time it was revised her fonatelle just went down and became soft and sunken as it should be. Hydrocephalus actually scares me a hell of alot more than her sb because of the fear that it could cause brain damage. But babies skulls haven't fused together yet so there is room for that fluid. It sounds like the brain tissue has compressed a bit but that doesn't mean she has no brain. The fact that she's responding to your voice and following you around show that her brain is functioning. I know that when Caitlin needed her shunt revisions they were checking to see if she was following things and responding to their voices and they were pleased that she was. Do get onto your neurosurgeon though to try to sort out the shunt problem. Good luck and enjoy your girl :)

[hope&faith]

Congratulations on the birth of your daughter. The shunt stuff can be overwhelming. Definitely agree with others to talk to the neurosurgeon and see what he/she thinks. It shouldn't take this long to have a functioning shunt so if they think there is still too much fluid, then it might be something else needs to be done. Is it programmable shunt? If so, it might just need to be adjusted. Best wishes. I know this shunt business is scary but once its working well, I promise it gets ALOT better. Alex has had his VP shunt since October (knock on wood) with NO issues. Some babies do need several revisions but the bulk of the children here have gone a long time with no issues. Hoping if she does need an adjustment or revision that its the only one needed for a long time to come. Please keep us posted.
HOlli