TEST RESULTS ARE IN. CARTER IS A HEALTHY BOY!

Now that we have Carter's results back and know what is going on, I feel that I can share what happened...

A few weeks ago at his routine 6 month check, his doctor showed concern for the size of his head. Well, my reaction was the same as it had been for the last 3 doctors appointments when they were concerned about the size of his head. I said "It's okay, you should see his dad's head!" Half joking. She stated that it wasn't the size of his head that was the problem, but the rate of it's growth. She showed me a normal growth curve for head circumference, then showed me Carter's. Carter's was not so much like a curve, as it was more a straight line up. She told me she was concerned about hydrocephalus (or water on the brain). So she said that we would wait a month and remeasure his head and if it continued to grow rapidly she would send him for a Cat Scan. At the time, I was thankful that I am not a super hyper mom and could maintain myself until I got home. I told Jeff about it and explained to him what we were up against and all was well. Well, after letting it soak in for a couple of days and doing some research online (which I don't suggest for ANYONE to EVER do) I really started to panic. If you are concerned about something, just check it out now. So Jeff called the doctor's office and started the ball rolling. Long story short, they scheduled him for a Cat Scan 2 days later.

My poor baby! At 6 months of age going for a Cat Scan? This is nuts. I took him by myself because if anything showed up, I needed Jeff to take the day off then, not now. They called his name and I carried him down the long hall that was going to reveal Carter's future. I know it sounds dramatic to you. But I was dieing inside. I got him out of his car seat and handed him to the tech. She kindly said OK you can have a seat in the hall. In the hall? What? Yep, I wasn't allowed to stay. But after papoosing him to the table with Velcro, putting foam blocks around his head, and taping his head foam and all to the table, she did the test in 5 minutes and came out to tell me that he was the best baby she'd ever scanned. He never made a sound. Little did she know, I was outside bawling like a baby. Shaking and holding onto his security blanket for dear life. She told us the doctors office would call us in the next couple of days.

A couple of days to a worried parent is like a couple of years. After a few phone calls to hassle the nurses at the doctor's office, and a few dozen nerves frazzled, the doctor called this morning. This is what she said; Carter does have water on his brain, but it is the good kind of water on the brain to have. Instead of having a shunt put in to redirect the fluid, his fluid will absorb by the time he is about 3 years old. HALLELUJAH!!! That is the cause for his rapidly growing head. She said that she would not be worried about it even if it was her child, BUT...but, but, what do you mean but...but they did find something else. They found a cyst in the left frontal lobe of his brain. Oh, here we go! Well, evidently this is of little concern, but she is still referring us to Children's Hospital Neurosurgery to monitor it and see what we do next. So I assume as long as it remains the same size everything will be OK. We will cross other bridges as we get there. I cannot think of anymore "what ifs" I will go crazy. The doctor assured us that it is definitely not a tumor and that the Neurosurgeon will take good care of us. We have that appointment on Sept. 25th so I will keep you all posted. Thanks for all of the continuing prayers.