carson's surgery

ok, sorry to scare everyone with the last post. i didn't have my computer with me and i could only post in the title line...ok, so here it goes...

sunday morning carson started vomiting and then slept the whole day in our bed. i thought maybe he had picked up a stomach bug somewhere and wasn't too concerned. monday he was fine. he went to pt and ot and had no problem. he acted like he was all better.

tuesday morning he kept telling me he didn't feel well. i figured he just didn't want to get in the car to go to school. i told him he would be fine once he got in the car. nope. he threw up all over me just before i put him in his seat. so out of the car we all went and back in to the house. he slept most of the day and seemed to just have the stomach bug again. until he started telling me that his head hurt really bad. not sure if he was really sure it was his head i asked him to point to where it hurt and he pointed to the front of his head. this continued most of the day tuesday. of course at 5 o'clock once the regular doctor's office had closed, i decided to take him in to be checked out for some kind of tangible illness. i think i am the only parent who was rooting for the strep test to come back positive. so when everything came back all good i was perplexed. always in the back of my mind i am thinking about his shunt. but on the way home he perked up and wanted fries and a chocolate shake. i thought, "ok, maybe he's feeling better?" but it didn't last long and he was back to complaining of a headache.

by this time i was really worried that it was his shunt. he was very irritable and seemed very uncomfortable. finally around 2 AM i had had enough wondering and worrying, i was taking him the the hospital. i packed him up and headed out while andrew stayed at home with brooks. as soon as we got in the car he seemed fine again, i asked if his head was hurting and he said no, so i pulled him back out of the car thinking i was just overreacting. but no, a few minutes after we got back in the house he was upset again and saying his head hurt bad...so, back to the car this time with the promise to myself that no matter what we were going all the way to the hospital this time.

once we were at the hospital they took us back and got us settled in a room just like the one i took brooks to when he was 2 months old. the feeling was all too familiar. they did a head CT and Xrays to check his shunt and sure enough, there was fluid in his ventricles. you see, the reason carson has the shunt to to drain the spinal fluid from his brain to his stomach because he does not do it himself due to his brain bleed as a baby. people with shunts can do anything anyone else can, there are no limitations and for the last 4 years he has had no problems. but, every once in a while something goes wrong and the shunt malfunctions.

so once the problem was identified surgery was scheduled and the neurosurgeon was called in. things moved so fast at this point i really don't know how i kept my composure. maybe that's why they do it that way, so us mom's don't have time to freak out. the doctor came in and spoke to me (and my sister, she was here for some moral support and to ask good questions that i couldn't think of at the time), told me about the procedure and that he was confident carson would be just fine. by this point, they had given him some "baby valium" to calm him down and he was hallucinating about the fly boat from the wonder pets ;)

away he went at 8 on the nose. again, i didn't even have time to work myself up before he was wheeled away saying he was going to take a ride on the fly boat. about an hour and half later the doctor came out saying carson did great, the blockage was in the tubing that drains in to his tummy, so they unclogged it and he was as good as new! man, medicine and the human body amazes me sometimes!

we are now in carson's room where he is sleeping. he'll wake up every once in a while and complain that his hand hurts, which is where his iv is. but besides that, he's doing great. thanks again for all the prayers, thoughts, texts, e-mails, calls, facebook messages, etc. i really feel how much carson is loved through all of them! i will update more later and definitely when we get home, hopefully tomorrow.