Another Surgery Scheduled

Today, my mom took me to the hospital and watched Matthew in the waiting room while I visited Bennett. We had good timing because Dr. Ackerman, the Neurosurgeon, was checking on Bennett just as we arrived. She told me that she noticed that the fluid in his head seemed to be increasing. Luckily, he is not having any symptoms other than than the increasing fluid. There will be another ultrasound tomorrow morning and if it shows what she suspects, then Bennett will have VP shunt surgery Monday morning. This is something that we expected, but it is still hard to accept because he has been doing so well the past few days. We thought he might be one of the few lucky ones to escape this surgery. There will be an incision on the side of his head above his ear, and a second incision on his abdomen. The shunt tubing will travel from his head to his abdomen to drain the extra fluid. It is very hard knowing that he will have another surgery, but it is good that he will be getting it overwith. The shunt can be needed at any time in the future and hopefully having it now will prevent any further problems. We were told that often the shunt can fail within the first two years and revision surgery would then be needed. We pray that the surgery Monday is successful and that Bennett has a quick recovery.