The conclusion!

So it is now two weeks since Katriona had her surgery and all seems to be really good. Katriona’s head looks smaller; although it measures the same and also looks more evenly shaped ie less like an alien. She is doing really well. Her head control is very much improved although she is still a little bit wobbly. She has begun to vocalise; Dadadadadadadadadad “ which is lovely, although less so at 2am and 4am. She is very bright and smiley and loves to engage with anyone and everyone. Her stitches are the dissolving type and are still evident on both her head and tummy, but healing really nicely. We will go for a check up on 6 October but I am confident that we will be given a clear bill of health.

For now we just need to continue to monitor Katriona a bit more closely than we would for a non shunted baby. Any temperature must be investigated immediately, not left to run its course as you would normally. We need to also continue to monitor her fontanelle and once it closes (around about two years of age) we need to monitor her general well being for any sign that the shunt is failing.

We have a contact at the hospital for if we are concerned and are currently in the process of recruiting a new family GP. We have been warned that we need to become the experts in Katriona’s condition and pretty much tell the GP what to do, ie all temperatures must be investigated, all incidences of headaches, fatigue or lethargy need investigation too. As such we will get a new GP as the one we initially saw when I first noticed Katriona’s swollen fontanelle is clearly not up to the job and the GP we were seeing before then wasn’t much good either.

So for now that is it. As in end of blog. There is nothing really to continue to update so I thank you all for your support during this very difficult time. But I also have some very special thank you’s before I go:

• Thank you to my mum for coming over and looking after everyone for the week I was in hospital with Katriona,
• Thank you Julia for the headwear,
• Thank you Michelle for the guardian angel,
• Thank you Peter and Chris for the rattle and bumble bee,
• Thank you to Rob for visiting in hospital with the gorgeous kitty cat and Amba for visiting with lots of yummy food for me,
• But the biggest thanks go to my lovely girlfriends who organised for the house to be cleaned before I got home from hospital, who also organised for me to have a massage after all the stress and worry of the month leading up to the surgery, as well as organised a lovely organic grocery voucher and also sent various other gifts to support us all during all the stress and worry. You guys are wonderful and your support helped us so much.