The Good News - Lena’s CT scan went very well today, again like the little trooper that she is, she did the whole scan completely awake. The surgeon came to see me afterward and said that it looks like the ventriculostomy is working and he is not planning on replacing her shunt. In stead he will place a small valve in it’s place just in case she ever has problems, allowing them to drain off some CSF to relieve pressure. This valve can not get infected because it is small and does not constantly drain fluid. So once she recovers from surgery we should not ever have to endure this again (as long and the ostomy stays open).

The Bad News - Though Lena’s bacterial cultures are coming back negative, her protein and glucose levels are abnormal, suggesting that there are bacteria still hiding out in her CSF. Her protein levels are alarmingly high so this is a bit of a concern. So they want her to stay on antibiotics for some time to try and bring them down. We are not sure if the fluid from the cyst is altering the CSF and therefore the test results. So we stay on the drugs and wait and see if they come down or not.

As well, the surgeon needs to use complicated equipment to properly do the surgery and therefore needs scheduled OR time with his team. Her surgery can not be “squeezed in”. The earliest he could get OR time is next Friday, one week from tomorrow. So we must endure for at least another ten days. There is some reprieve though, if Lena remains stable all weekend the surgeon is going to allow us to go home on a pass and just come back to the hospital once daily for her medication (the surgical team has to administer it into the EVD). 

Hoping for a GREAT weekend. I can’t wait for this all to be over. By the time we are home for good we will have been in hospital for almost three weeks. Yikes, September will be half over when we get out of here and we were admitted in August.