Robert Austin

On Tuesday evening (8/25/09) at 6:07pm Robert Austin was born. He was 8lbs 5oz and 21in long. The only thing that was out of the ordinary was his head size. It was a bit over sized and the nurse was concerned about it when we gave him his first bath. They decided to have a ultrasound done the following morning on 8/26/09. Robert did amazing the first night and did everything a new baby should do. We found out that evening that the ultra sound had revealed possible increased amounts of fluid in his brain. This would explain the large size of his head, but we needed to check with a neurologist to confirm if this was the case. We were referred to Dr. Timothy George at Dell Children's Hospital. We had an appointment setup for 3pm on Monday (8/31/09). In the mean time it was recommended that we visit our pediatrician twice between Friday and Monday in order to measure his head and check for possible side effects of the fluid in his brain.

During both visits to the pediatrician his head size was about the same, if not slightly smaller. We thought these were good signs and hoped for good news on Monday. He still had a great appetite and was acting like a perfect newborn!

On Monday we started off in the radiology lab to have a CT scan done on Robert's brain. This was to give the neurologist a better resolution picture of the inside of his head. After waiting for about 3 hours in the neurologist's office we finally got to meet with Dr. George. He explained that based on the CT scan Robert does have hydrocephalus. This is a condition where the fluid in the brain is not able to drain correctly, and builds up. If left unchecked the fluid will build up enough pressure to damage the brain.

With Robert's diagnosis at such a young age there is really only one option. We need to put a shunt tube inside his brain which will allow for the fluid to drain down to his abdomen. This will allow the pressure in his brain to decrease and give his brain the best chance to develop normally. This tube will have to stay in place for the rest of his life.

The surgery is scheduled for Wednesday (9/2/09) morning. The surgery takes about an hour with most of that being prep time. The actual procedure is only supposed to take about 20 minutes or so. The biggest risk with the surgery is the possibility of infection. We will have to closely monitor Robert for 6 months. After that period the risk of infection drops significantly.

As tough as this has been we think we are in good hands. Dr. George has been highly recommended to us, and both Kelly and I liked him very much. He is the Chief of Surgery for Pediatric Neurosurgery at Dell Children's. He has done this surgery around 6000 times. He seemed very honest with us, but very caring. There are a lot of unknowns, but he thinks this is the best option we have in order to try and give Robert's brain a chance to develop like it would have developed without hydrocephalus.

Yesterday, was a very tough day for us, but today brings new hope. I have a calmer feeling today and I feel like everything is going to be ok. We just have to take things one step at a time, and this is the first step. Thanks for all your support and prayers!