Tomorrow Barnaby is headed to children’s hospital for an operation to get a ventriculosubgaleal shunt. This is a procedure that will hopefully prevent the need for a more permanent shunt (the kind that drains excess spinal fluid into an abdomen through a longer tube) and is much more effective on very small babies. This “subgaleal” shunt will drain fluid to just underneath his scalp through a very short tube.
Basically it will give his brain time to heal and grow without the added pressure of expanded ventricles. Besides the obvious risk of undergoing brain surgery, this is in some ways a less invasive treatment than the repeated lumbar punctures that he has been receiving.
His surgery is scheduled for 2:30 tomorrow afternoon and Dr. Warf will be his surgeon. He may end up spending a night at children’s hospital but afterwards he will be back at Bringham and Women’s.
Ana and I came in early today and got to hold him for over an hour, we are headed home soon in anticipation of a long day tomorrow.
Barnaby 