Okay, so I have been really bad with updates and I’m sorry
for those of you who read often but there will be about three this week alone.
Eeek the end of the school year is so crazy!
Well its official, Carter is Hydrocephalus free! This is amazing
news and I had to share it right away but, let me walk you through our day at
MOTT.
On Thursday, May 14th Mike, Carter and I walked into MOTT
and started our day with a cranial ultrasound. Carter, as usual, was a trooper
and did a great job with it. He even smiled at the tech and thought that
flirting would be a good idea ;).
Once this was over we had some time before seeing Dr. Mahr,
his neurosurgeon, so we headed to the 9th floor, which was our home
away from home for a while to visit our MFM doctors, Dr. Treadwell and Dr.
Berman. We were thrilled that both of them were there and that they could see
Carter. I try to send them photos when I get the chance without bombarding them
but with it being about 5 months since they had seen him, I thought ‘perfect
timing’!
We said hello to the check in office ladies who helped us
with all our weekly appointments, said hello to the ultrasound techs we saw and
they loved how happy and smiley Carter was with all of them. Then we saw Dr.
Berman who was so excited to see our big man. Everyone got a good look at his
rolls and loved on him for a while and after Dr. Berman left to see a patient
it was Dr. Treadwell’s turn to hold Carter while he smiled and flirted some
more. He must know how special those women are because he loved being around
them, and so did we! I missed not seeing our MFM doctors or catch up with them
like we had before but I was so happy to be able to see them and chat a bit in-between
appointments.
After leaving the 9th floor we headed back down
to the 3rd to see Neuro. And Plastics. Carter was weighed, and he
gained more weight… typical J
and we spoke to the nurses for a bit. Soon it was time to see our Plastics
team.
Carter’s scars have healed and he is doing well but his
larger, right hand side scars are getting hard and we were told that if that
happens we need to get him to plastics to be sure that he doesn't need a skin graft.
His doctor had explained that his scar is pretty hard and he may need a graft
as he gets older because he will grow and his scar may stretch and be painful
but for now it wasn't an emergency. Instead we were giving small patches of
silicone to place on his scar. Apparently silicone can soften the skin and we
were told to change the silicone pieces every few days, clean them, and
re-apply. After about 3 months, when we go in for another checkup we will meet
with plastics so they can see how the silicone has been working for him. I was
happy to hear he doesn't need a graft and that they doctors are working to make
sure that surgery isn't necessary.
While plastics was on their way out, neuro was on their way
in! We said our hellos and moved onto the important stuff, his ultrasound. Dr.
Mahr started with the best news, NO HYDROCEPHALUS. There is no longer access
fluid in Carter’s ventricles J.his
shunt has been working properly with no infections or malfunctions. This was so
amazing to hear that Mike and I were speechless. Dr. Mahr then went on to show
us the difference in Carter’s ventricles from before his birth, while he was in
the NICU, right after his surgery, and now. It was spectacular to see the
difference in all of the photos and we know that the shunt was absolutely the
right choice for Carter. We were also told that we will no longer have
ultrasounds because Carter’s skull is getting too thick but that we will move
onto a quick scan MRI for his next visit, which if all is well will be in 6 months from our appointment in
November.
As always, we are never in the clear and Carter still has
Spina Bifida, it doesn't go away and will be with him all his life, but these
are all amazing signs to his progress and we are happy that things continue to
stay positive for him. We will keep an eye out for any shunt malfunctions or
infections but until that time Carter will not have to see plastics until
August, Neuro and Ortho until November, and our next appointments for Urology
in late June/early July.
As Ice Cube would say…. Today was a good day.
He's got his mind on his mommy and his mommy on his mind :)
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