Ballerina Block

5/6/14

Surgery, Again

So, we're back in the hospital.

We came in for a post-op follow up from April's shunt revision and after reading the MRI's, decided her shunt isn't working.

Our neurosurgeon is now considering her for a procedure called a third ventriculostomy. It would basically create a path for the cerebral-spinal fluid to flow on its own, eliminating the need for a shunt - since her body apparently doesn't like them anyway.

An MRI tomorrow morning will tell us more. They'll take her straight from MRI to surgery and depending on what they see in the MRI either do the third ventriculostomy or just a shunt revision.

They also discovered that part of her one ventricle had closed itself off from the other part of the ventricle. So they're going to fix that while they're in there.

For now, they're putting off the full craniotomy they had talked about as a possibility to repair a dura leak. The hope is with less pressure, the dura will heal itself. So that's the good news.

The super crappy part of this is that Mike's brother is getting married on Saturday and we were really looking forward to celebrating with them and hanging out with some good family and friends in the upcoming weeks. We're taking it one step at a time but really striving to still be in attendance at the wedding.

Please say some big ol' prayers that the third ventriculostomy is an option and works so we don't have to deal with this shunt business anymore and that Abriana stays the super healer she's always been and we're outta here as soon as possible!

4/28/14

Abriana: Seven Months

This month has been filled with some ups and downs and some fun times too. Here's all we've been up to:

Weighing in at just over 15 pounds
She's enjoyed more new foods: blueberries, butternut squash, green beans, pears, but I think applesauce is still her favorite
She's officially a sitter. She can sit for extended periods of time, though she does usually eventually fall over when trying to get a toy or change positions. Sometimes we cry, usually from the surprise.
She loves her crinkly elephant and playing in her jumper
We're discovering her ticklish spots and love the little giggles we get. Her belly and pits are the most sensitive.
We played putt-putt and went to Disney and Sea World with her aunts and cousins on spring break.
The Cardiologist says he doesn't need to see her for another two years! Wohoo!
We got some family photos done.
She went to her first Easter egg hunt, got two eggs, and shared her candy with mommy and daddy.
We made a trip to the plastic surgeon to get the development of her skull checked out - we were concerned about some squishy areas - he sent us to the neurosurgeon, and we ended up scheduling a shunt revision surgery.
We celebrated her 7 month birthday on Easter and had lots of fun with family, and she got her first Easter basket.

mmmm, elephant

Happy baby

Playing putt-putt

Playing with her 'friend'

At Disney's Studios watching the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show

Hanging with Minnie at Disney

Mommy and Abriana got new shoes

27 weeks

Call me, maybe?

Dad, I love your face

Chewing on spoons is fun

Riding in my big-girl seat in the jogging stroller

Waiting at the cardiologist's office

Planning her escape from the cardiologist's office

Going to the doctor is exhausting

Go Tribe! - 28 weeks old

Happy Spring!

Is there something on my face?

Future Cast member!!!

29 weeks old

I found an Easter egg!

My first Egg hunt

Yea for Easter egg hunting!

I like my thumb sometimes

Florida baby

Dunkin' and hangin' on the rim

Basketball superstar

New toys = boxes of fun

Someone in Canal Fulton, OH loves me :)

Just pushing my stuff around

Big girl sitting

Her skull before and after February's surgery

30 weeks old

Learning to hold a bottle all by myself

Reading the Easter book Gaga and Papa got me

My first Easter basket

Happy Easter!

4/7/14

Abriana: Six Months

Abriana is six months! Part of me feels like she's always been a part of our lives and another part of me can't believe it's already been six months. So much has happened! Here's her updates:

Weight: 14lbs. 2oz. (12%)
Height: 26 in. (50%)
She started eating solids. So far she's had oatmeal, avocado, banana, applesauce, prunes, and sweet potatoes. I think she enjoys the applesauce the best, but sometimes it's hard to tell.
She generally sleeps 12 hours straight at night.
She's getting pretty good at sitting by herself. Sometimes her toes are just too much to resist and she falls as she dive bombs for her feet.
She almost rolled from her back to her belly without any prompting. She always gets her arm stuck and can't seem to get it out. She is easily rolling from her belly to her back again.
Celebrated Gaga's birthday with her
Got in the pool for the first time
She's still the happiest kid around. She'll gladly give out a smile to anyone she meets. I love that she can brighten others' day.
We still have appointments to go see the cardiologist, neurologist, hematologist, neurosurgeons, and plastic surgeons, but at least the visits are much less frequent.
She loves to put everything in her mouth - her fingers, your fingers, any toy she can reach, stuffed animals, blankets.... anything. People keep commenting about how she's teething, but these teeth are taking a mighty long time to make their appearance.
We decreased our physical therapy visits to once a month. :)
We went and visited her surgery buddy (more on that later).
We visited lots of former co-workers and friends.
We went strawberry picking twice.
She went and walked the ALS walk with me and my friend who works in ALS research.
To 'celebrate' turning six months, she decided to give her parents a shunt-failure scare and we spent a night in the hospital. Thankfully, everything was fine.