October 7, 2006 - Resection & Initial Treatment

• Oct 7 - We were immediately admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at Doernbecher's and Lillian has an external ventricular drain (evd) put in to stop the build up of spinal fluid in her brain. We are amazed that she immediately feels better despite having a tube coming out of her skull. She is however hungry and forced to wait as they want another MRI, this time of her spinal cord, and again need to anesthetize her. Her spinal cord is clear of any signs of cancer. After being deprived of food for nearly 24 hours, all prior sensible dietary guidelines flew out the window as we indulged her in a dinner of pudding, jello and graham crackers. (This is just the first of many former rules that will be broken in the coming weeks.)
• Oct 8 - Lillian is taken to surgery at 8am. As the surgery is planned to take 5-6 hours, we take the opportunity to run home and pack some essentials. Needless to say, we hadn't planned on a hospital stay. We returned to the hospital quickly and a few hours later the doctors informed us that they removed nearly 100% of the tumor.
• Oct 12 - The evd is removed and we are warned to look for signs of hydrocephalus, a condition where the body no longer processes spinal fluid normally requiring a shunt to facilitate the process. We move out of the PICU onto the 9th floor. This nirvana has playrooms and courtyards and they only take vitals every four hours instead of every hour.