Surgery

What a day. We went to see Peyton's Neurosurgeon for a follow up to the MRI she had last week. Back in November, her MRI of her brain showed something at the base of her skull/top of spinal column that they wanted to keep an eye on. Unfortunately the MRI cut off right at about this point. The problem was a new one so they weren’t expecting to need to see further down her spine. Last week’s MRI went further so they could get a look. The tightening that they noticed at the top of the spine has gotten worse and requires surgery. It’s one of those things that could be done now or could wait a bit, but then if you waited…what if something happened?? The big concern (one of the concerns) is that the sleep apnea she has is very likely caused by this problem and could get worse. The area of the brain above this problem area controls respiration. We didn’t delve into the “what ifs”, but decided that urgent surgery is the order of the day. She is scheduled for Thursday. We have to be at Texas Childrens for 6am on Thursday. He said the procedure is fairly simple.  Ok, I’m not the neurosurgeon, so perhaps that it is not actual “brain surgery” maybe makes it “simple”! It’s about a 30 minute procedure – decompression is what he called it. She’ll be in the hospital 2-3 days. They have to keep a close eye on her because of risk of infection, her apnea and generally because of her other issues.

So now we wait anxiously for Thursday to be over and done with. I will keep everyone posted as soon as I can once she is out of surgery. We appreciate your prayers!