Her first "real" surgery

In April 2003, when she was 10 months old, Ellie had her first real surgery. Her regular neurosurgery check-up brain scans showed that she now had pressure from the hydrocephalus. The Dr. we were seeing was Dr. Kestle, I asked for a second opinion and saw Dr. Brockmeyer. They both agreed that she needed the surgery. So we went ahead. They had to shave a small portion of her hair.

They suggested that we do a programmable shunt. (You can program with radio waves how much fluid the shunt will drain). We chose to do a traditional shunt (not programmable) sheerly for cosmetic reasons. The programmable shunts have a lot higher profile. It really was not that noticable.

They drill through the skull and brain into the fluid cavity. They put a one-way valve in (so fluid can only come out, not in). It releases fluid as pressure increases. So it doesn't continually drain, it is based on how much pressure there is. Then connected to the valve is tubing that runs under her skin, down her neck and chest and drains into the abdominal cavity. It does not go into the stomach, just into the area around her stomach. Then your body just absorbs the extra fluid.

After the surgery she just slept ans slept. The hospital was a little worried because that can be a sign of pressure in the brain. But they decided to discharge her anyway. As soon as we sent outside and got in the car she woke up and smiled.

She is so much more aware and a lot smarter than we think she is. She just didn't want to be in the hospital and "sleeping" was her way of communicating "I don't want to be here".