Surgery #8 and MRI

Tomorrow is a busy day for Scarlett.  She will have her first post-surgical full brain and spine MRI.  She will aslo get a new shunt.

The doctors wisely decided to combine these two procedures to allow her to be sedated only once.  She has the MRI first around noon; it should take about 2 hours for such a detailed scan.  Then she will be taken directly to the operating room for the placement of a new shunt.  It will be implanted just behind the old site, where the skin and bone are more sturdy than the rest of the left side of her skull.

We are crossing our fingers for NO TUMOR GROWTH on the MRI.  We know from her CT scan last week that there is nothing large growing, but small patches could be developing.  We hope the chemo has kept any cells from regrowing.  I want to be prepared; today I talked with our Nurse Practitioner about how soon we will find out if there is a problem, and what we will do.  I need a contingency plan so that I won't feel helpless if it happens.  She does not expect to see anything worrisome; if there is anything, we have options.

The shunt surgery is good to get over with.  On the scale of Scarlett's surgeries, this is minor.  Recovery should be relatively quick.  We will still need a few days in the hospital to finish off the antibiotics, to be extra cautious of future infections.  She will always be at risk for these infections, so the surgeons are taking all the possible precautions.  We should not have to go to the PICU, should be able to come back to our regular room and settle back in for recovery.

I'll try to post an update as soon as there is news.