News to note

It was an interesting day. This morning the neurologist in Sioux City that I mentioned might be a slight possibility called. I wasn't sure if I was comfortable with him until determining his actual experience with Intracranial Hypertension (IH). Well, that isn't an issue. He isn't willing to take me on as a patient, again because of my medical history. I must really look like a hopeless case to these doctors!

Tonight my neurosurgeon from Milwaukee called! He has called me personally several times now since becoming his patient. It took some time to hear back but it was well worth waiting for and he was kind and gracious on the phone tonight. My first question was if he would want to continue my care. He felt that if the med works for me I really needed to have a neurologist closer to monitor things--not practical to keep driving to Milwaukee. I explained that I am just not recovering like I feel that I should. I still have headaches everyday which are not improving, my hearing is still very sensitive and I am just not coming out of it like I think I should be. He said that it may take up to a month for the med to reduce or eliminate the symptoms. He talked more about the possibility that the intracranial pressure may still be too high and not controlled by the med. That would also explain why I still have all the same symptoms but just at a reduced level. I need to have another spinal tap done the first week of December to see how things are going. He suggested that if the pressure is still too high that I will need to have a shunt. He places it in the brain and it drains into the stomach. I have to laugh--I asked him if it was a major procedure and he said, "oh, no, it is minor." So I said, "same day surgery?" He laughed at me and said, "No, not same day. You would probably be in the hospital at least a couple days." I think my definition for minor surgery and a neurosurgeons definition of minor surgery is hugely different!

To top the day off , we ended up bringing Tara in to the Ear, Nose and Throat doctor b/c she has been complaining of one ear hurting and she failed her hearing test at school this week. She had "permanent" tubes put in last November and they are both completely blocked and appear that they probably will need to be removed already. (Her previous set of "temporary" tubes only lasted a 3-4 months and they both popped out on their own.) She has to have drops in her ears for 2 weeks to see if it makes a difference and if not she will have a MINOR surgery to remove them in 2 or 3 weeks. She had her toncils and adenoids out when these tubes were put in so we are praying that if the tubes have to come out that the constant ear infections won't start again.

It was a doctor day today, but it seems like we have learned a few things. I have learned that if you see too many specialists, other doctors may be afraid of you. That brain shunts are minor procedures that sound major to me! That permanent tubes may not last so long. Finally, only by God's grace can we continue on!