Whew........

Lillian is such a strong girl! She had her second surgery today. Dr. Dilustro removed the external drain and closed her up completely. We spoke with him this morning before the surgery and we wanted to be sure that we are not moving to quickly. He said that the amount of fluid that came out through the external drain was minimal (even though to Ken and I it looked substantial) This morning her fontanels were even more pronounced. (we are able to see the ridges) Her soft spot was deeply sunken. He said that the fluid was leaking out around the drain b/c that is the path of least resistance. He said that right now the brain tissue that is close to the skull is minimal in comparrison to size of her ventricles. So by removing the drain we are hoping that it was cause pressure on the cyst and break it down even further. He did say that she is draining some on her own but we just don't know how much. So, it's back to more waiting. I pray that this is successful and that she will not need to be shunted. There is the chance that she would need two shunts. :(

I was able to hold her this afternoon and feed her some. She slept a lot. I am hopeful that tomorrow I may even get the opportunity to try and nurse her for the first time. If she does well tonight they may move her from the PICU to the floor. We can not thank you all enough for the abundance of prayers... We are still far from a resolution...

Here is a photo of Lily before her surgery today:


Here are my girls: