Shelby's surgery and hospital stay

Shelby's shunt revision was last Thursday. Trip and I left the beach early that morning completely dreading what was ahead, but everything went smoothly and Shelby handled all the doctors, nurses, needles, and general "messing with her" much better than we had anticipated. Dr. Grant only had to replace the top part of her shunt this time (no belly incision necessary). As a result, Shelby was much less sore and was able to be mobile quickly after the surgery. The catheter on the top half of the shunt was completely blocked, so she would have probably shown signs of the failure soon and I'm glad it was caught and dealt with before she got sick. Since Shelby's surgery was scheduled and this wasn't an emergency situation like last time, Duke Children's scheduled Shelby some time with a child life specialist during pre-op. Judy played with Shelby and talked to her about the surgery. She and Shelby even did a mock shunt replacement surgery on a doll. This was a wonderful experience for Shelby--she was paying attention and I think it helped make everything else go more smoothly. After having a rough time coming out of anesthesia, Shelby was up reading books and feeding her baby the evening of the surgery and amazed our nurse with her post-surgery appetite. By the next morning, Shelby was pushing baby through the hallways on the children's floor (with Trip following her with the IV drip). We were on our way home by mid-day Friday...definitely our best and quickest hospital stay with Shelby to date! Thanks Duke Children's, Dr. Grant, and Judy for everything. And thanks to all our friends and family for the prayers and positive thoughts.


It is hard to see in the picture but Shelby and "Baby" received matching hospital bracelets from Judy.



Judy introducing Shelby to Ernie and showing her his cool hospital gown.

Shelby got to give Ernie his medicine through the IV.

Judy showed Shelby how Ernie would get a new shunt to make him feel better.

This is sleeping beauty Shelby in the post-op recovery room. Things were a bit rough there for awhile once she woke.

Feeding baby and reading books just a couple hours after surgery...AMAZING!

Walking around and charming everyone in sight the next morning.

Harding stayed at the beach with my parents and we Facetimed him the next morning....the marvels of technology!

Shelby walked out of the hospital all by herself, telling everone "Bye, see ya later".