HELP!!!! possible shunt malfunction?

[claudiat_1808]

hi everyone. luca hasn't had any problems with his shunt so far and he is almost 4 months old now. usually his fontanelle is pushed inwards, which looks a little bit weird but the docs said that's the way it is with him until it becoms firm when he is a bit older. last week his fontanelle went up a bit. it looks like a little bump. we went to the clinic and they said it's fine as the fontanelle is soft and luca doesn't show any signs of shunt malfunction. no ultrasound was made though. the little bump hasn't gone down since then and i am just worried that there is a problem. luca is still not showing any signs. he eats like always, had a bit growth spurt the last 2 weeks and is a happy little baby. the only thing i have noticed is that he is a little bit more fussy, especially in the evenings and that when he is laying on his tummy he has a hard time lifting up his head. i will attach a pic so that you can lok at his fontanelle and maybe tell me if you had similar experience?

[Dodger67]

Can't see the fontanelle at all in that pic

[smoop]

Have you measured his head? Has the size increased?

[claudiat_1808]

it did not increase, just that bump on his head. just worried as the whole shunt thing is still new to us

[Kat]

My son is 5 months now and we have had 2 shunt revisions so far. My son's fontanelle was always a little puffy still, but we were repeatedly told that it was fine. Then one day it was really swollen and hard. We took him to the E.R. and he has surgery the next day. The second time, we were at his regular neuro follow up and they decided that it was having a slow build-up of fluid and needed to be revised again. In my opinion, just watch him. If he starts acting differently on a regular basis then take him in. Also, if you are worried about it you can request that they do an ultrasound. Especially since U/S don't give him any radiation you don't have to worry about unnecassary exposure. The bottom line is, you know your baby better than they do. If you think something isn't right, follow your gut. There is a reason God gave us mother's intuition!

[ainemc]

Hey,
I can't notice a raised fonatelle either in that pic but I must say he is so cute! You have a wee heartbreaker there :)
With regards to the shunt malfunction, my Caitlin has been there twice, and both times her fonatelle rose and her head circumference increased significantly the first time but not at all the second time. I have a pic on my profile which I took when her shunt was blocked and her raised fonatelle is really noticeable. However, there have been two other seperate occassions were her fonatelle has risen like the way its shown in the pic and she had ct scans done and she was fine. Her neurosurgeon said sometimes the fonatelle becomes full but the ventricles don't increase and it just goes back down itself. For weeks her fonatelle was bulging yet her shunt wasn't blocked. I would say keep an eye on it and if he starts vomiting, being really grumpy or/and drowsy bring him back down to hospital.

[claudiat_1808]

thanks for all your answers. we are getting confused about this whole shunt issue. the shunt is supposed to help the water to go down as his body is not able to do it. most doctors say that as long as Luca doesn't show any symptoms like throwing up, sleeping longer than usual, crying a lot, he is fine. now another doctor said that we all, including people who have a shunt, have a certain tollerance where the water amount can go up and down a little without causing any damage in the brain. he also said that Luca will not show symptoms because his head is still so soft so in case he has too much liquid in his head it just raises the fontanelle. so how are we supposed to know what is right? will he show symptoms or not? i mean when he was born he had too much liquid in his head and the shunt was placed only 20 days after his birth and the fluid kept growing until the shunt placement, he didn't show any signs like throwing up or so...we ar just so confused. i am constantly watching and measuring his head, i am so nervous eacht ime his fontanelle goes up or down. i don't know how it is supposed to look and this whole thing is just driving us crazy...

[XoBLoNDiE85]

i can see the slight bump in the picture. I was the same way, Hannah had a US every week because of this and eventually ended up in a revision. i would take him in and have a US done that way you will know for sure either way whats going on.

[leigh828]

What happens to the fontanelle when you hold him upright? I know that when Grey was a baby his would be full when lying down, but when I held him upright it would go right down and be fine. I know that the shunt can be so nerve-racking...but trust yourself. If you are nervous about it then ask for an ultrasound. It certainly can't hurt him to have that done. Good luck!!