Ellie update

My source's phone tree had a missing link (that means her contact person was AWOL and she didn't get updated 6 times today. Dang!

Anyway my information is old and flawed with my interpretation. That means it is generally correct with inherent errors. Thus I will try to give general info.

I haven't heard the results of the surgery. This is the info I was given today and it was yesterday's news. The plan was to put a shunt from her head to her abdomen. They were to use 3 feet of tubing so it would grow with her and not have to be replaced anytime soon.

She had not moved her legs and showed no sign of feeling in her feet and I'm guessing legs. This is common with spina bifida. I have no idea what her prognosis is as this was an evaluation just hrs after she was born.

She has a small area on her back that is scabbed over like it is healing the hole where her spinal cord has been exposed. The spine is just partially developed in that area. The drs were to do some repairs to the spine so the spinal cord is not exposed. Or something like that.
And then they were going to do some work on some nerves that were not fully developed. I'm told that nerves start out flat and become rounded as they develop. Ellie has some flat nerves that the drs were going to make round.

You people who really know what is going on can read this and laugh at how much I have bungled things up. I apologize.

Earl posted some pictures and I could not get them on my blog tonight; maybe tomorrow. Let me just say that she looks like a beautiful, normal, little baby girl. This girl is full of "fightin' genes". I think she will hold her own just fine.