Rule #127: Change is in the eye of the beholder.

Graham had his neurosurgery follow up on Monday. We started out with another CT scan. He did...pretty well holding still. I can envision it getting more and more difficult as he gets older, yet not old enough to explain to. We had the most success with the toy that I hate most, a wand that flashes lights and plays the most annoying music I've heard. But, it gets the job done. I can't complain too much.

Right after his CT we went to meet with his Dr. Naturally we waited a while. What to do, what to do?

Oh, I think we'll play with the x-ray board.

Still no Dr? Hmmm, we'd better play dress up.

Bono anyone?

Eventually the resident came in. (Don't worry coworkers, I met with Dr Kestle too). When I asked the resident how Graham's CT looked, compared to the first one, he said it looked good, but there wasn't much visual change. That's what I had expected. I asked to see it anyway.

Not much visual change my foot! I guess it's in the eye of the beholder, but if I can *see* the difference, without having to measure or do anything crazy, I think that's visual change. Silly resident.

We took pictures off the computer after the Dr left.

The brain on the right is from his CT in June. The brain on the left is from Monday. Keep in mind that this is the view of a single 'slice' of his head, the most dramatic slice. If you move up or down the space gets smaller.

See, you can see a difference. Now, granted, there is still a lot of fluid and the problem has not completely resolved, but it has improved. Dr Kestle has finally committed to saying Graham will need the shunt forever. His exact words were "I'd be surprised if he ever gets it out." Where was that surety six months ago?

How am I doing with the forever shunt plan you ask? Just fine. I knew, honestly, I did. I may have wanted a different plan, but I'm not surprised. Truthfully I'm better without the unknown hanging over my head. I don't do well with "maybe" or "wait and see" situations. I just don't.

The current plan is to have another CT scan in June, a year after surgery and see how things look. After that, I have no idea what the plan is. As far as how often they want to see Graham. Since he will have the shunt for the rest of his life, I can't imagine they will need/want to see him frequently. Not even every year. As long as he's acting okay maybe they'll want to see him every few years. I have no idea. I'm an ICU nurse after all, not a clinic nurse. I'm out of my element trying to predict future visits. :)

The main things to focus on are these:

~The shunt is intact and working well

~There is visible improvement in five months!

~We have a definite plan for his shunt, keeping it forever.

~Graham is healthy, happy and developing on track! ***The most important one, really.