Andrew's surgery went well today. It was a very early morning, since he had to check in at 5:30am. Surgery started around 7:45 and finished about an hour later. The surgery was as un-invasive and simple as we could have hoped. Andrew was home by 1:00pm.

The surgeon ran a test during the procedure to verify that the shunt and tubing were working. The tubing was fine, but the old shunt was malfunctioning. It's difficult to know how long the shunt has been malfunctioning. About 6 months ago, a test using radioactive fluid was done to make sure the shunt was functioning. That test showed it was working, but his Dr. said that test is 90-98% accurate. So it could have missed the malfunction, or it could be a new malfunction.

Melanie has thought his shunt was a problem for a very long time. On the one hand, it's frustrating that it could have been malfunctioning without any ability to verify it. On the other hand, it's nice to know that Melanie's mother's instincts were correct. Andrew's oncologist has said, "Mothers know what's going on better than we do." I couldn't agree more.

As I write this, Andrew is tired and listening to a book with Melanie. We are tired but hopeful that this shunt will work better for Andrew.