Shut the Shunt Up!

After what seemed like a million hours (in reality only 3 1/2) the nurse popped her head in our PICU suite and told us Parker would be on his way back up. Everyone was asked to leave, except my husband and I, so that they could bring Parker back into his room in that over-sized crib. Looking back, I could have fit in that crib with my husband, two dogs, Parker and spring wardrobe.

While Parker was in surgery we had a couple visitors and that certainly helped pass the time. That was by far the longest 3 1/2 hours of my life. I thought for sure that something went wrong because they told us normally it takes 3 hours (there's that word normal again). At 3 1/2 hours, I was freaking out.

Before Parker came to the room the Neurosurgeon came to brief us. He was, of course, shocked at the amount of people in our room waiting for Parker. Yep buddy, we are large and in charge kind of family and proud of it. After the luck we've had we aren't traveling alone. He told us that Parker did great and there weren't any complications. He then pulled up the scan of Parker's little head at birth when he was in the NICU and the scan now. Wow. His ventricles quadrupled in size. How on earth was that little baby even functioning? The doctor then informed us that Parker would be shunt dependent his entire life.

So, a shunt...

Of course Casey and I have come up with several "shunt puns" and we really are having quite fun with it. Our favorite is "Keep Calm and Shunt On" and "Shunt the front door"! Of course the title of this particular entry is one of our favorites as well.

Shunts are very serious and in all reality there really isn't anything funny about them, besides the term, shunt. They gave Parker a VP Shunt. It's inserted on his right side behind his ear. It looks like a AA Battery underneath his skin. Fortunately his hair will grow right over it. Receiving a shunt as an infant is really a blessing in disguise, he won't know it any different. The shunt was inserted in his head and a tube that drains the fluid runs all the way down to his abdominal cavity. For the longest time (or like two hours) we literally thought this fluid would go in his actual stomach. That would be why the Neurosurgeon looked at me like I was an idiot when I asked, "Won't he have belly aches?" Um no. His body will absorb the fluid. They put enough tubing in there to grow with Parker. So, if all goes well, he might not need another one for a long, long time.

Casey and I discussed the hard conversation we will have with Parker about his shunt. This conversation already brings tears to my eyes. I do not want him to feel different, but I want him healthy. No matter how you swing it, he won't be like the other "normal" little boys. He will never play football or contact sports, unless he does it behind my back. Which he will no doubt! The shunt will become a part of who he is and that little shunt saved his life. When he gets angry that he has one, we will remind him of that and tell him to "shunt up".

We have also quickly learned that there are many things to watch out for when kids have shunts. For instance metal detectors. Keep far away from those! iPad 2s are an apparent no-no, but iPhones are okay. Strange but true. The hardest one will be refrigerator magnets. What kid doesn't like to play with magnets? So if Parker comes over to play at your house, just hide them. I do want to deal with an emergency trip to the ER to have his shunt reprogrammed. MRI machines are also a danger zone. Mind you Parker had a total of 3 while we were in Iowa City. Only one time did it affect the pressure in his shunt.

Reprogrammig his shunt is amazingly simple. It doesn't hurt him at all, thankfully. Of course you would have thought the Neurosurgeon was killing him when he pulled that wand out and set it next to his head!

I asked, "Can he feel that because he sure is upset?"

"No. Kids hate the wand," he replied.

Okay friend, maybe try some stickers or toys or something. They hold up this magic white wand device and measure the pressure. Our magic number is 1.5. We always have to remember 1.5! Casey asked if we could have one of those magic white wands and the answer was no. Worth a shot though!

That's enough about shunts-there's enough information about them to talk all day and I'm sure Parker will give me plenty of material to write about them at a later date. I can already picture him playing with someone he's not supposed to...back to Parker coming out of surgery!

It's hard to remember exactly what the doctor was rattling off in that moment. The only thing I really heard was, "Parker was okay and did great." He did mention that shunts have an incredibly high rate of failing the first year or so. Okay, so with our luck we will be traveling right back to have a new one put in. Now that we know this we won't be as devastated if it happens.

Here is a picture of before and after. You can see how large his ventricles are (white blobs) in just 3 months.

Parker's Scan -December 2013

Parker's Scan - March 2014

Parker's Huge Crib 

When little Parker came into the room accompanied by the anesthesiologists and nurses my heart skipped a beat. He looked so frail and innocent in that moment. Tears immediately began to fall. My angel was alive and the staff said he did amazingly well. I held his little hand and told him that I knew it hurt, but everything would be okay. The pain would go away.

At that moment I felt like I could breath. He did so well they were going to already transfer him out of intensive care and to the general pediatric floor. These were all good things.

Then Parker projectile vomited, everywhere. This wouldn't be a huge deal except for the fact that it's a sign of shunt failure. Really...already?