Monday, 10/26/09

Good morning! I'm Melissa, Karli's sister and today I'll be updating the blog for Kylies family. On behalf of my family I would like to thank all who are keeping the Reagan Family in your prayers. I know that through God all things are possible. We have so many people praying I'm confident He can't help but listen!

Kylie has been very sick to her stomach today, it seems some glitch in getting her nausea medicine order filled caused her to be off the medication long enough for the effects to wear off. They have the medicine back on board and are confident soon she will feel better soon. This may have been a blessing in disguise....

The neuro doctor came in just before lunch and evaluated Kylie. His recommendation is (since kylie hasn't had anything to eat or drink today) to get Kylie ready for surgery today. They are planning on accessing the possible leak and repairing what is necessary. He also wants to install a "programmable shunt" in her spine and remove the shunt that is now in place.

The new shunt has lots of bells and whistles, but the reason this is his choice for Kylie is that they can control her high's and low's better. The shunt that is in place now works constantly. That is to say if the pressure begins to build the shunt is like a valve and it just drains the excess fluid. The new shunt is going to be programmed to a number (level), when the pressure gets above that number it will drain. Another good feature is that programming can be done whenever necessary and is not an invasive procedure. It can be done in a special room with some sort of magnet. The details on this are a little unclear but the physicians assistant is coming in soon to clear some of this up.

It seems to the doc that many of Kylies problems are associated with the big highs and lows she is experiencing. At one time she has low pressure headaches, and the next suffering with high pressure. That being said, a programmable shunt is usually not indicated in a case like Kylies because the changes happen so often. With all that has been going on with Kylie the doc is confident this is the best option for her.

I will update again later this afternoon.

-Melissa Callan