My brothers wedding is coming up in October in Riviera Maya, Mexico. We have been debating for a while now whether or not to bring Morgan with us to his wedding. One of my greatest passions is to travel and I love to see and experience new destinations. I never thought having a child would hinder our travel plans and always planned on just bringing he/she with us wherever we go. Well having a preemie itself changes this let alone a child with hydrocephalus.
A shunt can malfunction with little notice and it is very scary to think that we could be in Mexico and what if she had an issue? I asked the neurosurgery team about traveling with Morgan and they said there is no limitation. Some patients have said the airplane pressure bothers them and they get headaches, others don't notice. Because her shunt is magnetic they said if it makes us more comfortable to ask security to wand her the airport versus going through the metal detectors but it wasn't necessary. They suggested for us to have her medical records printed and her latest scans on a disc so that if there was an issue we have her baseline medical information on hand.
Pat and I struggled but finally made a decision to bring her with us- called the travel agent and had her added to the ticket and hotel to provide crib, etc. We were nervous about leaving her at home also since there were only a couple of people who cared for Morgan that knew her condition and what her symptoms were if a malfunction occurs and they were going to be on the trip also. I read some hydrocephalus support groups and blogs and the best advice I read on traveling with hydrocephalus is just to be prepared. You can't live your life without traveling more than an hour from your neurosurgeon. So I researched hospitals and neurosurgeons in Cancun, Mexico, called the hospital to ask their procedures if she should have an issue, let them know when we would be down there and explained the situation and retrieved copies of her scans & medical records on disc. We had a plan and knew exactly where to go and who to call if something happens.
Monday, August 26, 2013
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Shunt Revision recovery
Morgan recovered from this shunt revision surgery very quickly with no issues. She was discharged from the hospital after 2 days and again we were instructed to keep the incision sites clean and dry for two weeks. She will have follow up scans in a couple of months.
She seemed much happier than she has been and her fontanel did not fluctuate really at all. In hindsight I wish I would have questioned their use of the self regulating valve versus a programmable. I am not sure the success rate with the self regulating but it certainly did not seem to work well for Morgan. I am also now wondering if this could be the reason she was so colicky. For about three months she would cry nearly non stop in the evenings and we tried everything (reflux, gas, lactase drops, probiotic, etc.) but it might we quite likely that she was having headaches??
She seemed much happier than she has been and her fontanel did not fluctuate really at all. In hindsight I wish I would have questioned their use of the self regulating valve versus a programmable. I am not sure the success rate with the self regulating but it certainly did not seem to work well for Morgan. I am also now wondering if this could be the reason she was so colicky. For about three months she would cry nearly non stop in the evenings and we tried everything (reflux, gas, lactase drops, probiotic, etc.) but it might we quite likely that she was having headaches??
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