This morning Laura agreed to get her shunt checked. I called the neurosurgeon to ask him to grease the wheels on arrival. Instead, we talked at length on the phone during which he argued that a spinal tap wouldn’t be informative and that his office could do a different procedure (called a shunt series) after all other possibilities were explored. He said the shunt was working ok, noting that Laura’s symptoms are different than before.
The truth is that her symptoms seem less severe, but similar in many respects to when she had hydrocephalus before the shunt. I got in touch with the on-call neuro-oncologist at Dana Farber and he said that Laura should get a workup right away and eliminate hydrocephalus as a cause.
The surgeon says his shunt is working and that doctors are always blaming the shunt. The neuro-onc says that he sees shunts fail for a variety of reasons all the time. Bring her in to Brigham & Womens and they can do a shunt series right away.
So that’s what we’re doing now. Long drive. As usual, she was admitted right away into the ED. Laura’s already upset with all the failed jabs to find a vein. “Doesn’t bode well,” she said.
We’ll probably be here for a while. I might post updates in the comments. No promises, though. We don’t expect anything earth shattering. Just lots of tests. .
In ER in Boston
Sat, Aug 2nd, 2008 2:54pm by dkulp
Tags: Uncategorized
6 responses so far ↓
1 David // Aug 3, 2008 at 12:51 am
Laura was admitted to the neuro wing at about midnight. Her shunt was tested and works fine. Many other tests & scans. Nothing informative.
My guess is that L will meet with attending neurologist sometime in the am and hopefully be released after that.
2 joe // Aug 3, 2008 at 1:06 am
Thanks for the update. Give Laura a hug for me–get some rest!
3 Elena // Aug 3, 2008 at 7:04 am
I hope that Laura was able to rest overnight without interruptions. Love and hugs and kisses…
4 David // Aug 3, 2008 at 9:04 am
Laura will probably be here for at least another day. Her number is 617-732-4366.
One interesting finding is that the neurologist thinks that the brain MRI shows decreased indication of CSF (leptomeningeal) mets compared to May. We weren’t aware that there was ever any sign of it. That finding isn’t certain, but it might indicate that her chemo was “working”. That doesn’t explain why she feels so bad.
I have a new respect for nurses this morning as Laura’s nurse fished through her vomit looking for pills.
5 Irene Bosch // Aug 3, 2008 at 11:17 am
We are very near you in Boston.
The family can stay over for as many days as necessary. The garden has many many flowers to bring to Laura too. Come over any time.
617-734-7745. Or 166 Clinton Rd. Brookline MA 02445.
Irene.
6 MaryAnn Hassan // Aug 5, 2008 at 9:37 pm
We here in Warrenton, Va are praying for rest for both of you, as well as kind staff at the hospital…God bless,MaryAnn, Matt and kids