Pumpkin Pie

Aviana had quite the visitors yesterday. She was still pretty swollen. They had removed the bandages from her head prior to our arrival. For some strange reason, I was more hesitant to see her in tact than before. I have no idea why.

After seeing her, my hesitation quickly disappeared. She looked SO good to me. Her head was so nice looking, even with the 500+ staples. She looked beautiful. I not only used to call her "Pumpkin Pie," but also "My Little Pumpkin Head." This was the first thing that came to mind. She was able to open her right eye pretty well, but not her left due to the swelling. She was looking all over the place with her right eye though. It was so nice to see her taking everything in!!

They had noticed her head had gotten a little bigger and decided to have a CT scan done to look for more fluid. The CT scan revealed she was indeed collecting fluid which needed to be drained. Originally, they were talking about putting a drain line in her head and had decided they did not need to. Then, they had said if they needed to add it later, it would be a small bedside procedure and still it would be added to her head.

Finally, a person from neurology came in to have me sign another consent form. She explained it would be put in her lumbar/spine area and would drain her head. I asked why they had originally decided not to put it in her head. They said they did not want to increase the risk of infection in that area. Makes perfect sense.

I tried my best to tune out the long, nasty list of possible side effects. It's all good though right?? She's tough and has always had an immune system of steel. We left just prior to the procedure and called later to check on her. Ken (one of our VERY favorite nurses) said it went extremely well. He said she was nice and alert. Her strength and determination are driving forces for me. She makes me a better person every moment of everyday!