The Time Has Come ...

The time has come. The decision has been made. Emma's hydrocephalus will not resolve on it's own, so she will need a shunt.

Tomorrow morning at 7:30, Emma will have surgery to place her shunt. We are surprised that it is happening so soon, but we think it's best to just get it over with. The results of Emma's MRI made it clear to both the neurologists and the neurosurgeons that she indeed needed a shunt. She has a blockage that isn't going away. She also has a narrowing of the tube that connects her 3rd and 4th ventricles. She was born with this narrowing, but we haven't heard about it until today. That in itself didn't cause the hydrocephalus, but it isn't helping her to overcome it. There is another procedure that may help, but at this point the chance of it being a success is very low making the shunt the only real option. In the future, if she needs a revision surgery, we can reassess to see if it would be more of a success and would be better than having a shunt, but we'll cross that bridge if we come to it.

The surgery is only about an hour. She will be placed under general anestesia and will be intubated during the procedure. They said all should be done by about 10 am. If all goes well and she doesn't need extra monitoring at Children's, she will be transferred back to the NICU at Beth Israel to be cared for by the nurses and doctors who have come to know and love her. The recovery is only a day or two so she should be home by the end of the week or the weekend!

Today did not end the way I thought it would. Sarah and I went on a Duck Tour of Boston this morning. By the time we got to the hospital around noon, the neurosurgeons were there and we were soon discussing when we would schedule the surgery. I knew the results of the MRI would be ready and we'd be having some conversations about the need for a shunt, but I certainly didn't think we would be spreading the news that she was having surgery this soon. The neurosurgeon that we have been working with said he could put her on the on-call list for tomorrow and get her in if there was an opening or give her a scheduled time on Thursday or Friday. We opted to have her on the on-call list if there was a good chance that she would get in. We thought if she made it in, we wouldn't know until tomorrow morning and that they actual surgery would be later in the afternoon, but if she didn't get in tomorrow, she'd still get to have the surgery on Thursday. To our surprise, by the end of the day, they had scheduled her for a 7:30 am time slot. Tonight we may not sleep much, but at least, we won't be worrying about it all week.

When my college roommate Sarah, who has really become part of my extended family, called last week and said she found a last minute flight to Boston, I knew there was some reason that she was meant to be here. When I told my mom late last week that I felt bad that Sarah might be here when Emma had her surgery, she said, "If I can't be there, there is no one I'd rather have with you than Sarah." So the fact they were able to schedule Emma's surgery for early in the morning and Sarah's flight is not until early evening, made it clear that she was meant to be here to help Jeremy and I through the day. As my mom says, no one can make me laugh the way Sarah can and I'm sure a good laugh is just what Jeremy and I will need while we wait for the surgery to be over.

Please pray for Emma. I know she will do well, but prayers wouldn't hurt. Please pray too that Jeremy and I can be strong and patient tomorrow. Thank you for all the words of kindness and support we've been getting through this whole process. I don't know how we would've gotten to this point without the support. I will post tomorrow night to let everyone know how we're all doing!