Back in the hospital...

I really wasn't planning on coming back to the hospital so soon, but here we are.  On Friday, December 5th, Madi just started getting fussy, not eating well, and just wasn't herself.  We brought her in to the doctor's office first thing Saturday, and though everything looked ok, they sent us to the hospital just to be safe.  They drew a sample of CSF (cerebral-spinal fluid) just to be safe.  The fluid looked clear and infection free, but came back as containing a staff infection.  They admitted us right away, took out her external shunt, and started her on a course of antibiotic.  In order to be "clear" of infection, you have to get 10 days free from infection.  At that point, they will put in a new internal shunt.  They take a sample of the fluid daily, run a gram stain (to initially check for infection), then try to grow bacteria in cultures.  If no bacteria is grown in 72 hours, the sample is considered to be clean.  We were finally starting to get negative cultures when we got another positive.  I was heartbroken to have to start all over.  They changed her external temporary shunt as they were worried that infection was sticking to that shunt.  We started getting negatives again, which is awesome!!  If they stay negative, they will put in her new shunt on December 22nd and we will be home on Christmas Eve.  If we get another positive, then we'll be here for Christmas.

Today is December 16th.  Last night her external shunt stopped working correctly.  Right now they are trying to determine why.  Is the shunt clogged?  Will she need two shunts?  Is it just not positioned correctly?  Will she need to get a new shunt and undergo anesthesia and surgery again?  Will everything be ok?  Life is constantly full of questions.  We are off to get an MRI to try and determine why.  I am praying we wont need two shunts.  Double the chance of infection and failure just scares me!  

Hopefully we will have answers soon and I will be praying until we do!

Update... Her shunt was just positioned wrong, thank God, so we won't need a second shunt!