On Tuesday PJ moved rooms yet again to the general neurosurgery unit. Previously he was in the step-down constant monitoring unit of neurosurgery.
We started feeling frustrated again as they claimed to be holding him for "observation" but no-one except Renee and Rachael seemed to be "observing" him for the entire afternoon and it was difficult to get the attention of doctors. Finally at 9PM one of the junior interns begrudgingly talked to Renee.
The liquid in the ventricles seems to be new and did not show up on previous scans. The neuro-surgeons need a lateral spot on the cranium which will basically preclude him from getting bilateral cochlear implants and he will be limited to having one implant. The intern indicated that the surgery would be later this week or early next week but we won't know when it is scheduled until Thursday or Friday so our assumption is that it will not be this week.
This morning they informed us that he was being released from the hospital today and until the surgery.
From an observation standpoint, PJ seems much better. He is more alert, eating better and we have two confirmed smiles-- although not captured on film yet.
Renee is looking for the reason for this recent hiccup, maybe the new shunt being put in earlier will help in some other way, maybe it saves an ear for the future allowing a biological solution as opposed to the destruction of the natural ear by the cochlear implant. I can't look to a reason, I just want them to stop cutting into my son. No more pain, healing.
Last night, at roughly the same time, although nearly 4000 miles apart, Renee in the hospital and me in a temple, we independently broke down for a moment. We had kept our emotions in check fairly well recently, but when we allow ourselves an honest look inside we find that we need an emotional release.
We are being led along, one step at a time, each time the light ahead seems to disappear but always comes back just as we put our faithful foot forward.
A week ago, things were looking up, even if this necessarily meant that we were looking uphill. This week we are regaining our footing and get around this new boulder that seems to have fallen in our path so that we can start back up.
