We love The Neurosurgeon
Posted on | July 6, 2010
by | Kim
Today was the meeting with The Neurosurgeon. I’m totally drained (we had to drive to the other side of the state, and back; which is quite a haul in itself), but we got a lot of news on Greg. Joy of joys, we get to go back next week.
The jist is that The Neurosurgeon is the quintessential Type A personality, which is GREAT for us because we have a full idea of what exactly is going to happen to Greg. The Neurosurgeon thinks his shunt is overdraining but Greg needs to have more tests to definitively know for sure. We’re going back next week for a MRI to get a better look at his brain, as the clip in his brain is obscuring the blood vessels The Neurosurgeon needs to see.
Greg’s ventricles are not doing so well – The Neurosurgeon walked us through Greg’s head. Despite the local radiologist saying everything “looked normal” on both CT and MRA, we could definitely see that no, his ventricles are very small. The Neurosurgeon commented that ventricles are usually well inflated (even with a shunt, provided it’s working right) and Greg’s aren’t. If I remember correctly; that’s what the MRI should show.
The Neurosurgeon was SHOCKED that Greg has never had shunt revision or maintenance and that he has a fixed-pressure shunt to begin with – adults usually have programmable shunts. We don’t know if Greg will need a full replacement or what. The Neurosurgeon did mention doing a trial run of Greg without the shunt – but we need to do some more testing before we can try that. As far as we (and everyone else) know, he is 100% shunt dependent.
Greg also will need an old-fashioned angiogram at some point. The Neurosurgeon stated that it’s “standard practice” to do an angiogram about a year or so after clipping to ensure the clip is doing fine and hasn’t moved or anything. Greg never had that, so The Neurosurgeon will do that down the road. Right now, we need to deal with the shunt.
So that’s where we’re at. We have a lot more answers to our questions and we have someone who is taking us seriously and helping us get Greg figured out. Thanks be to God.
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3 Responses to “We love The Neurosurgeon”
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July 6th, 2010 @ 11:55 pm
Dear Kimn,
I am so overwhelmed reading this. So much information for you and I must have missed previous, probably early post on Greg’s conditon.
I think you have been blessed by this thorough Dr. That must be a relief too you and to know you are getting all the right course of action here…finally. It is shocking to know that Greg should have had follow up treatment that wasn’t covered though. I know how that is. It seems we have to be super diligent in asking questions all the time to cover anything the Medical profession forgets to tell us.
Constant prayers for you and Greg
God Bless and much love
Gae ♥
July 6th, 2010 @ 11:56 pm
forgot to spell check typing to fast
Sorry for name mispelt
♥
July 7th, 2010 @ 2:10 pm
We have a lot more answers to our questions and we have someone who is taking us seriously and helping us get Greg figured out. Thanks be to God.
That is something I am very glad to hear! *continuing to pray*