Rollercoaster Part 2

So during the past 24 hours we've been back and forth with learning what will happen next with Gianna. I'll spare you the details of the ups and downs - but as things stand right now, Gianna may be discharged home tomorrow (!) for the weekend and then she'll come back Monday for an ultrasound and may be admitted again then if her CSF is increasing in her brain. The neurosurgeon feels that a shunt is probably inevitable, but wants to wait as long as possible so that she doesn't have to have another surgery involving her head so soon after the first one. Also he would like to avoid doing the shunt if at all possible - he wants to be absolutely sure she needs it, because once it is done, she will have to have it for life. Other than the news that we may get to take her home tomorrow for a few days, the other great news is she had a hearing test this morning and both ears are ok! Next will be an opthalmology test. Although the majority of her occipital lobe was left intact by the surgery, we will not know for some time whether her brain is able to process images for actual "sight" even if everything is structurally normal with the eyes themselves. There are so many questions with Gianna that only time will tell us the answers.
So I'm spending this afternoon holding G & trying to find more information on two of her other diagnoses- Chiari Malformation & syrnix/hydrosyringomyelia (yes, my spell checker is going crazy right now!). We knew about the encephalocele since my 20 week ultrasound, so we've read about everything out there, but these are new ones for us after her MRI taken the day she was born.