Surprises

Well after the positive post on Tuesday night Ayden woke up Wednesday morning very irritated and not feeling well. We went to our pediatrician for a follow-up we already had scheduled. Given the events over the weekend and the obvious irritability he displayed in the office the doctor admitted him. He spent most of the first night getting sick and being miserable and most of the next day sleeping and being quiet. On Friday morning Ayden was rigid and status this was just like we found him the morning of June 13, 2008(the day of his stroke). After an LP and Ativan a CT was ordered as Ayden slowly started to shut down. The CT showed hydrocephalus and Ayden was flown by Samaritan to Cleveland Clinic. According to the neurosurgery team Ayden was not good when he arrived and they put a cath in his right side to start draining the fluid. By the time we arrived (3 hours later) he was talking and awake, something he had barely done for 2 days. Yesterday, he woke up tired and grouchy, but he was still talking and moving. Within a few hours, he started to decline again and was about where he was when he was flown to CC. We had doctors in Ayden's room a lot and a few even traveled with him from the floor to CT and back. The day was very similar to June 16th, 2008 when doctors and nurse came in and out and we just sat waiting to hear something. That day we were told to call all our family, and yesterday emotionally paralleled that day. Fortunately, by the afternoon neurosurgery pinpointed the problem took him to the OR. They have replaced a valve in the shunt and also enlarged the connection between the hemispheres to help drain fluid from the left hemisphere as well. There was a kink in the line from the shunt after the OR, but the resident was able to correct that externally so now there is just a slight curve and should not be a problem. This morning he has yet to really perk up and has started a low grade fever(for Ayden 100.2 is a fever), but he has taken his meds by mouth and eaten a few bites of applesauce. We really hope the ng tube is pulled within the next few hours or this day could go wrong quickly as he has already shown his displeasure and pulled it out by a few inches so far. The plan as far as we know it now is to stay in ICU another day, watch the fever, and tomorrow we will talk about moving to the EMU or peds floor as well as ending some of his antibiotics if everything keeps coming back negative. We have had a few rough days, but we feel good about where we are at now. Ayden's eyes are the most damaged at this point as they have felt the pressure the most. We are hopeful as we have seen the right eye open a bit and the nurse says it is showing a slight response in the neuro checks. It is a wait and see day, not much happens on Sunday around here anyways. We would like to be home by midweek, but we do not plan on rushing out of here and this time, everyone seems to agree. We will just keep working towards getting him better. Thank you to everyone who has helped out in so many ways. Nessa is having a harder time with all this as she started asking questions the other day, questions unfortunately I cannot answer. "When will Ayden be able to stay home".