question about shunting

[lolathechecker]

ok, so the neo says that we are not going to shunt her right away. we are going to do the back closure and wait until a few days later to see if her hydro goes down. he said it is pretty mild and may go down on its own. has anyone ever heard of that happening? i hadn't, so i was just seeing your opinions. he said its up to me, and that if i wanted them to, they would go ahead and shunt her at the same time as the back closure. so now im wondering if i should just go ahead and have them do it anyways, because i dont want to put her through 2 surgeries if i dont have to.:confused:

[Dodger67]

Yes.
Me.
I don't have HC even though I was born with a slightly raised pressure. It went down to normal within 3 days.
Wait to see what happens.
Don't fix what ain't broke!

[Michelle]

That is exactly whats going on with Jack (8 weeks). He actually had moderate HC when born and they performed the closure surgery and kept an eye on him. They repeated his head u/s at 10 days old and he didn't have HC then and therefore we still have no shunt. His next head u/s is April 24. I agree with Dodger...don't go ahead with the shunt if she doesn't need it. If she needs it, they'll catch it. I was worried that 1 morning we'd wake up and he'd have HC, but it would be much more gradual than that and they will definitely let you know what to look for. We also go to the pediatrician every Friday and get his head measured to make sure there haven't been any dramatic jumps. I hope this helps and congrats on the great news!

[Spokie]

Hi. My son's shunt was also done as a separate operation - to check first if it is really necessary. Just don't leave it for too long! They can usually tell within two weeks...

[mommy2cnj]

Used to be, (oh, back in '95 or so), they used to think that individuals with shunts placed in a secondary surgery would accept the shunt better, as well as the shunt functioning better. Never realized this is no longer the case, until Lola posted the above message. One may have thought my 2 children would have clued me in sooner (I'm not a true blonde, either! :P) My oldest has had 1 revision, while my youngest has had numerous; both kids had the shunts placed along with the back repaired at a day old.

[lolathechecker]

That is exactly whats going on with Jack (8 weeks). He actually had moderate HC when born and they performed the closure surgery and kept an eye on him.

ok, im glad to hear that someone else is doing the same thing. the doctor says she has a one in three chance that it will go down to normal on its own. so im still praying.:D

[kali]

hi my son also showed low HC at birth he had both operations seperate,2 weeks apart. he is now 9 years old and has the same shunt that was put in at 2 weeks old. by the way my son didnt show signs of HC increase until after the closure of the back. I pray your son will be the one in three