Neurosurgeon Update

This past Monday we headed back down to Vanderbilt, this time to see a Neurosurgeon. We were excited and scared all at the same time. By the time we got there, the what ifs had taken over. You know, “what if he doesn't know what he's talking about?”, “what if he doesn't listen to us?”, “what if he says she needs surgery?”, “what if they blow us off yet again?” So we developed a plan of defense before we ever walked through the door. If they still had not corrected Hailey's name in their files, I was going to ask to speak to the office manager. If a student doctor came in, my Husband was going to tell him that we would prefer to speak with a "Real" doctor, and if they sent in any doctor other than Dr. Tulipan I was going to demand to see him and write a nasty letter to the review board. (history, The last time we went there they sent in a different Dr. than the one we made an appointment with.)

We went in and they had NOT changed her name. So our plan went into action. Hopefully that is taken care of now. As we sat in the waiting room I was pleased as I watched all of the kids having fun. They were coloring, and talking with each other. Hailey made a friend. I could tell right off that he had ADHD. Maybe that's why they bonded so quickly. They sat and talked. and talked, and talked. It was great! I also met a Lady who's 3 year old son had brain damage from a home accident. When he was two he pulled the pen out of a trailers door and it fell on top of him. His story of survival was amazing. I was able to talk with her about early interventions, and we will now be corresponding through e-mail. It was a much different waiting room experience than we have ever had. (we are in them ALL the time)

We were finally called back. As we sat in the room I went over our questions and asked Hailey if she had any. As you can see she was beaming from the friend she had met, so getting her to focus was out of the question. Dr. Tulipan came in. There was a student doctor but he just stayed in the background, so our plan was not needed. We did have a bump in the road because I had forgotten to bring her scans with me. But he talked to us about Chiari and her Syrinx anyways. We were very comfortable with the information we received. Based on the radiologists report he did suggest surgery. He is going to call us when he reviews the scans so that he can have a better view and then we will know for sure weather or not surgery is in the plan. He said that anytime there is a syrinx of significant size he suggests decompression surgery. He gave us all of the facts, his success rates, and told us to think it over for a week or two and when he gets the scans he will call us and let us know what he thinks.
We couldn't have been more pleased. Now we are just praying about the possible surgery, and deciding what is best for Hailey