There is good news and bad news from shunt surgery. We will start with the good news. After a couple MRI's we revealed the shunt is working properly and has made a huge difference in the size of his ventricles. The down side is the brain went down a little fast and pulled away from the skull causing a small bleed. The bleed has done some damage causing him to lose a little use of his left side especially his arm. This all happened in January so at this time he has gotten some use back with physical and occupational therapy.
Another great thing is his speech has changed so much. He is using all kinds of words. So many I couldn't possibly list them all. He can count to 10, and count by 10's to 40 I think. He recognizes many letters of the alphabet. He can spell his name. Colors are still a challenge but he works really hard. Capper Foundation has asked us to do a video for their board of directors to show Jaxon's progress. Each year at their annual meeting they like to show the board what goes on throughout the year. And Jaxon has had so much progress from last year it just really shows how great his team of therapists are.
He is using his vision so much better also. Not sure if this is contributed to his surgery but we will take it. He recognizes many more detailed objects than he did before. We used to have to use plain colored objects with a plain background for learning and to quiz him. His vision teacher at school is always writing me notes about how great he is doing on the activities she gives him.
He is walking better all the time. He still needs his walker for longer distances and places where there is nothing close to hang on to. He has been practicing stairs at school and has mastered going up 3 stairs using the railing. He is now working on going down the stairs. A much harder task because he still doesn't use his vision well for depth perception. At home he can walk up and down the hall and all around the house without any assistance. Sure he falls and smacks his head and face once in awhile but he doesn't seem to mind much. He's on his feet all the time!!
And of course there has been some bad stuff. The surgery has not helped his seizures at all. He's had 3 since surgery. One of them was really severe and he had to be taken by ambulance to the ER. They gave him a large amount of drugs to get the seizure stopped that it slowed his respiratory. The paramedic said "Don't panic if he stops breathing we are prepared for that" Really don't PANIC. Give me a break, I'm really calm even the paramedic said I was really calm and collected. But if my little boy stops breathing that's going out the window. Probably along with the fact I get car sick while riding in the ambulance. This time wasn't so bad they let me sit toward the front, but let me tell you if you sit in the back it's terrible.
Another side effect is the brain went down a little fast and pulled away from the skull causing a small bleed. The bleed has done some damage causing him to lose a little use of his left side especially his arm. This all happened in January so at this time he has gotten some use back with physical and occupational therapy.
I guess every time you do something like this you have to weigh the good with the bad. And even though he has had some rough spells and we have had some disappointment. There is also a lot to be thankful for.
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