Holding Pattern

I talked with the doctor yesterday and Brian had a super long talk with her this morning.  And it all comes down to this:  there simply isn't a quick fix for Clayton's issues.  The doc admits that her first instinct is to jump into surgery and fix him.  First problem with that is there are several surgical options and none are the clear cut answer.  Second problem is he is only a couple of days out from being treated for the staph infection on his incision.  If he got any infection in his spinal fluid during surgery, things could go from bad to worse really quick.  So we're basically between a rock and a hard place.  We need to wait longer before surgery, but that unfortunately means Clayton may have these headaches for a few more weeks.  Not exciting news. 

So we wait.

In the meantime, we've stepped up Clayton's fluid intake to almost double his normal amount.  Hydration helps with the production of spinal fluid, which will of course help keep those ventricles a little larger.  Any little bit helps . . . Doctor doesn't want Clayton to go home until he is up and moving around again like he was doing when he was discharged last week.  We are fine with that because we really don't want to push him.  In fact, he is still content to just lay in the bed so we will wait on him to start pushing more activity.  To be honest, we've slept better these last two nights at the hospital than we did on any night this last weekend at home.  If you get more sleep in the hospital than at home, then that's saying something!!

We are still praying Clayton adjusts to this new pressure and surgery becomes a nonissue.  The doctors can't take the pain away, and Brian and I certainly can't do it either.  Only a miracle from the Lord will make the headaches disappear.  And only once they are gone can Clayton begin to build his strength back up and start living life again.