Oh My Ya

Derek had a good PT and OT last week.   His two therapists saw him just before his most recent hospital stay and then about a week after his fluid was drained and they were both pleased with how he has bounced back.

Talking about draining, Derek had a follow up MRI today and it showed that he had more fluid building up.  So the Ommaya reservoir was put to good use.  Instead of having to go into surgery to drain the fluid, like he did in the past, the Ommaya reservoir was tapped and 10 ml of fluid was drained with relatively little pain.  Derek did so good. He was not happy about being poked (I can't imagine anyone being super excited about having brain fluid sucked from their head), but he new it was necessary so he did it. The good thing was the nurse who drained his brain fluid did a really good job.  So for his first time being tapped outside of the PICU, it was a good experience.  Even though he was not really showing any major signs of fluid being backed up, they don't want to let it get as bad as it was before.  They will want to keep a close eye on this.  It appears that the Ommaya reservoir is a success. 

Derek will have to go back in for a follow up in about 2 weeks.   Unfortunately this may become routine until the fluid starts to drain via normal channels efficiently. But there is no way to know when that will start.  So this is a work around for now.

Thats all for now

Zell