Neuro Follow-up

First follow-up after the shunt was put in.

While we were waiting for the doctor, Frank Culicchia, MD, Billy was active. His eyes were looking all around the room and kind of focused on me when I was talking to him. He was “talking” too and has been for a long time. By “talking” I mean he opens his mouth and moves his jaw around as if he is talking with us. I can’t wait to hear what he has to say, but we have a long time before that happens. More good news is that he has been breathing “room air” (which means he can breathe without help from any apparatus). Once he can learn to clear the mucous from his chest without theRespiratory Staff’s aid he can focus on learning how to swallow, eat and talk. His right arm was active and this was the first time I saw his legs move. I swear he was trying to get out of the safety straps!

Dr. Culicchia removed all of the staples from Billy’s scalp. I don’t know how many there were. I didn’t ask. I was too busy averting my eyes from the procedure. I did hear a few grunts and groans from Billy whenever the doctor would move his head around to reach the staples at the back of the head. Another sign that he is with us. The doctor checked his head and the incision point for the shunt and looked good. Dave and I should get an appointment for a virtual meeting to discuss the CT scan.

When Dave and I got back from our trip to New Jersey, it was about 1 week from Billy’s last surgery and we were concerned about the way the new skull plate looked. It kind of looked like the side of his head was slightly caved in and he didn’t look all that much better before the skull plate was replaced. Dr. Culicchia explained two things. The first time we saw Billy after the surgery there was a fair share of swelling that gave us the impression that his head would look the way it did prior to the accident. Plus there was some loss or drooping of the muscle on that side due to the surgery. We were also concerned that the boundaries of the skull plate was visible under the skin - like the outline of a piece of a jigsaw puzzle. Once again, we were told that was normal and once his hair grows back we won’t even remember the way the scalp looked.