Peanut & the Neurosurgeon

Peanut had his follow up with the neurosurgeon today and it went REALLY well. We won't see him again for 6 months unless something comes up which we don't forsee. Let me see if I can explain this since I finally got to clarify that I understood it today.

For some reason which we will likely never know, Peanut's head grew very large, very quickly. This has left him with more space in his head than what most babies would have. In light of that big head his brain is producing more CSF to accomodate the bigger space. (CSF=Spinal fluid that surrounds the brain.) As Peanut grows into his head (which hasn't grown since Dec) the space will naturally narrow. It can take up until he's 3 years old for this process to complete but it will narrow. As the space narrows the brain should automatically regulate the amount of CSF for his new head size and in turn there would be no problems. This is the theory and there is no reason to believe that his brain would continue producing the same amount of fluid for a smaller space.

So we follow up again in 6 months and have again been given the warning signs of too much pressure on the brain. Neither of us think we'll have any problems. They will likely want to do another MRI of his head at some point to compare and make sure nothing has changed but that's further down the road.

BTW: The term he used for Peanut's condition was "External Hydrocephalus."