Duke visit last week

My mom and I took Shelby (and Harding) back to Duke last Thursday for her 1 month post-surgery appointment with Dr. Grant. We started the day with a CT scan which they attempted to do without sedation. That was a no-go. Shelby is still extremely afraid of being "messed with" (or even looked at) by people who resemble doctors or nurses since her recent hospital experience, despite the excellent staff at Duke going above and beyond the call of duty to win her over. After sedation, things went pretty smoothly though. Shelby was extremely sweet coming out of sedation--blowing kisses and saying "meow", "I love", and shouting "hooray" repeatedly.

We headed up to the Children's Hospital clinic after the brain scan to meet with Dr. Grant and get the results. Her brain looks good--the ventricles have returned to their usual size, (for Shelby anyway)--proof that the shunt is essential. I am so thankful that there is such a device and that we have excellent neurosurgeons to take care of business when a new one is needed! We go back to Durham in 6 months for another scan (this time an MRI) and check-up with Dr. G.

One more thing--Shelby is participating in a study at Duke about stem cell therapy and hydrocephalus. She'll be part of the control group of course (since we unfortunately didn't find out about Shelby's hydrocephalus in time to save her cord blood), but I'm glad that we can help with this important research that could benefit babies diagnosed with hydrocephalus in the future.

Thanks to my mom for driving down and back with us to Duke....I enjoyed the company and couldn't have done such a long day without her! And thanks to my sweet cousin Katy who has class at Duke on Thursdays and came by to hang out with us (and entertain the kids) in the waiting room....always good to see her!