Shunt Surgery Went Well

(This is Erika)

I wanted to let everyone know that Toby's surgery went well! His shunt was partially occluded and so it should help now that they have it working properly. He is off the ventilator and back on just the nasal canula of oxygen. Carrie said that he is still fussy, but not nearly as agitated as yesterday. Today the pacifier actually calms him down (yesterday nothing would). Carrie is hopeful that fixing the shunt will put Toby on the road to recovery. The doctors will keep an eye on him (especially his apnea) and they will probably do another swallow study before they leave.

Thank you for praying! God is definitely working!

6:19 pm 

(Carrie updating)

Toby continues to do well today. He's such a fighter - He was trying to pull out his nasal canula out of his nose, and this afternoon managed to pull the feeding tube out about 10-12 inches. The last time I spoke with Bruce, they were coming in to put it back in. They're talking about moving him to a regular floor in the morning. As he continues to improve, we pray that he can totally be breathing room air very soon. They tried to put him on room air today and for some reason he needs just a little bit of oxygen to keep his sats normal. Also, pray that his swallowing will improve to he can eat by mouth and not go home on the feeding tube. We're so thankful for the improvements he has made.

Shunt Surgery

Toby is in recovery, and the surgery went very well. The have taken the breathing tube out, but they're trying to get his body temperature back to normal. The nurse said this is very common. The neurosurgeon said that he could be eating by tonight. He still has to have other tests before he is released, and Bruce and I need to be trained to catheterize him. Urodynamic testing on the bladder and a renal ultrasound will be performed to see how his bladder and bowels are functioning. We're hoping that Toby will go home some time at the end of the week or weekend. This is much earlier than we had hoped for, however we will take it one day at a time and see what happens. God has blessed us, and we continue to praise Him for the blessings on us and Toby.