Brandon's Hospital Stay...

On October 5th, the home took Brandon to the ER because his abdomen was hard and protruding and they were worried about his shunt.  The ER doctor told them that it wasn't his shunt but they insisted that he check it out anyways.  After a scan they discovered that Brandon had a cyst on his shunt tubing.  So they transferred him to St. Luke's downtown with plans to do surgery the next morning.  I was so happy when Angela the home's nurse sent me this picture of Brandon.  She stayed with him until midnight.  I left the next morning so stay with him while he is in the hospital.  I was happy I was able to be there when he came out of surgery.  They replaced his current tubing but left it externalized with a collection bag to see why the cyst formed.  When he came up to his room he was quite the entertainer with all his nurses.  They shaved his head and belly expecting to do two incisions but the surgeon was able to access everything on his right upper chest which is nice and amazing to me that he could do that.  They thought he would only be in the hospital 5 days to get the culture text results back so they know how to treat the infection that caused the cyst.  They drained 800 milliliters from the cyst which is crazy!

Brandon is starting a new hair trend! haha!

Brandon was pretty agitated the first night I stayed with him.  We had a rough night and he wouldn't sleep plus he pulled out two of his IVs.  The next morning I talked to the doctor and he changed the plans and said Brandon would be staying a week or maybe two depending on the culture and if they have to replace the shunt.  Brandon and I had lots of time on our hands so we watched lots of Disney+ and music.  I was so happy I brought my laptop so we could do that.  I also brought some protein shakes and snacks and I would order one meal a day from the cafeteria over the phone.

One bonus was the incredible view from our room.  We were on the 9th floor and had a corner room so we had two windows to look out from.  One window showed the foothills and the other showed the BSU stadium and the city.  I could even see the high school football games.

I posted this cute picture on my social media and it was so wonderful to receive all the nice encouraging support.  On Oct 12th the doctors wanted to do an MRI to see if Brandon even still needed the shunt.  They had to put him asleep to do it so he would hold still.  It was so frustrating that they waited so long to do it which was finally around 3:00pm.  Brandon was pretty agitated again when he came back and we had to wait forever to finally get him some food.  The Neurosurgeon told me Brandon still needs the shunt and that he wanted to do surgery the next morning.  He said that if he can't put the tubing back in his belly his 2nd choice is the atrium of the heart.

The doctor called me after surgery.  He had a few struggles but Brandon did fine.  He tried three places to put the tubing in his belly but there was too much scar tissue so he ended up putting it in a vein.  He nicked the first vein he tried so then used the jugular I think.  It was really hard for me to follow what he was telling me.  The spinal fluid will now be going through the vascular system.  He also changed out the shunt valve.  The above picture is now how it drains and the picture below is how it used to drain.

Poor guy got so many incisions, his belly looks like a treasure map.  After surgery Brandon slept so much I was a little worried and he even slept through the night.  He slept so well that I couldn't because I kept checking on him.  He was suppose to go home the next day but he was so sleepy they decided he better stay one more day.  On or before the day he went home they finally got the culture tests back and the infection is called "C Acnes Gram Positive Rod."  It is a very slow growing bacteria that adheres to plastic.  They are going to keep him on antibiotics about 3 to 6 months to make sure they get it all.

Our view on the last night.  We finally were able to go home on October 15th so Brandon's stay was for 10 days.  I just went home one day on the 9th and went back the next morning so I could shower and get more clothes and snacks.

Brandon's new shunt is now programable with a magnet.

It was really hard for me to leave Brandon back at his home and I was embarrassed by how emotional I was.  Julia came by the hospital before we left to tell me that her and Maria will no longer be at Brandon's home so that was really hard also.  She wasn't happy about it either.  The home sent me the below picture to let me know he was doing good.  It made my day...I sure love my Brandon and I am so grateful I was able to be with him during his stay in the hospital.  I am also grateful for all the wonderful prayers and doctors and nurses that helped Brandon.