SMP

Seriously, I can't believe I'm writing this.

Yes, I'm suffering from SMP.  (Shunt Malfunction Paranoia).

And I'm mad about it.  

I am also in serious denial.  

But after Owen vomited 3 times at Burger King, and I threw away my cell phone on the vomit-filled tray and dove into the trash can to retrieve it, (Oh, yes!  That happened!) I decided I better talk to neuro surg.  

And since I'm too tired right now, I'm just going to paste the email I sent to Gloria, our Neuro Surgery NP, a few minutes ago so you can see what's going on in a nut shell...

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Hello, Amazing Shrinking Gloria!   [she's lost a lot of weight recently and looks great.  hence my new nickname for her.)

I hope you're well..

I have a question for you....

Owen got hit pretty hard directly on his shunt last  Wednesday (3/21) at preschool with a wooden block.  Teacher said he cried a lot, then calmed down. They called me and I wasn't worried.  He's bumped it before, no biggie.  

He seemed fine for the next few days. Then starting Monday (3/26) he has had some symptoms that are worrying me:

• terrible headaches - says his head hurst first thing in the morning.  Wants to lay down his head even when sitting at table.

• very sleepy - has slept the majority of the day Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  and went to bed early each night (6:00-6:30)

• NO appetite - he ate some lunch on Monday, no supper;  1/4 of a sandwich at lunch Tuesday. Yes, that was the total for the day!;  I got him to eat 5 chicken nuggets Wed!!!!!   He has been drinking some Pediasure at each meal.  And he drinks water throughout the day from his water bottle.

• Vomiting - gagged Tuesday but stopped before it came up.  But Wed around 5:30pm he randomly vomited 3 times.

He also had a strange thing this morning (Wed):   he was resting on the couch, then all of a sudden started screaming and crying, holding his head.  When I got to him he was sweating profusely.  That is when he almost vomited but stopped himself.  Then he rapidly fell asleep.  Super weird, right?

He and 2 of my other kids have had a cold and cough for over a week, so I kept blaming it on this.   He ran a low grade fever Monday and Tuesday (101ºF).  He does perk up for short periods of time, but he is mostly sleeping or laying down to play.  You can tell he does not feel well.  His coping skills are waning too—he's a grump.  

I took the three sick kids to the pediatrician today and they all left with antibiotic.  Nurse Practitioner thought Owen had some sinus stuff going on.  Didn't like his cough.  His ears looked fine.

This is not like him... Well, it IS  an awful lot like Owen when he's having a shunt malfunction, hence the email!

Am I being paranoid?   Could something have happened to his shunt from getting hit like that?  Could it have reset?  He has the programmable (Strata?).  The incident was 4 days prior to me noticing these symptoms.  I am comfortable waiting to see if the antibiotic has any affect as long as he doesn't get worse.  If he does, I will call.

We are coming to Riley on Monday (4/2)  for Craniofacial Clinic.  If he is still having these issues could we squeeze in a head CT?  or at least check the shunt setting?   

I almost called the resident on call tonight, but thought I'll wait and see how Owen is doing tomorrow.  He had one dose of antibiotic tonight before bed.

I'll try to call the office tomorrow.

Thanks, Gloria,

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This was not the way I wanted to tell you we had a Craniofacial Clinic appointment Monday, but that's how it worked out.  It might end up being a blessing in disguise if we can get testing the same day.

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Also, thank you for praying for our friends the Holts! Toby has had a REALLY rough week and a half.  Makes my SMP pale in comparison.  They have been heavy on my heart all week. The Lord has provided much grace to my friend Carrie and their family.  It has been really rough.  But praise the Lord, Toby is making progress... slowly but surely!  I'm hoping they can go home soon.  Thanks again for praying!