Once we arrived, a nurse talked to us for about 2 minutes then we skipped triage and registration and literally he was back in an ER room within 3 minutes of us walking in.
Within probably 10 minutes after we got in the room a doctor was talking with us and then another doctor, who asked all the same questions (very typical in the ER). They approved to get the IV going for fluids. He wasn't critically dehydrated yet, but definitely needed them. They also decided to get a ct scan to check for infection in his shunt, even though there weren't the normal signs of a shunt malfunction; and X-rays to check his lungs for pneumonia. Apparently whatever they said when they ordered the ct scan and X-ray got things moving. They were there waiting to take him for the ct scan as the nurse was putting in the IV. I carried him down to the ct scan and we stopped for the X-rays on the way back to the ER room. All this was less than an hour after we arrived, which is amazing for an ER.
Within a half hour the doctor came back in and mentioned some fluid built up between the skull and the brain that was literally causing the brain to shift within the skull. It was not excess CSF, which the shunt takes care of, but something else. She was going to talk to her boss and have neurosurgery look at it to get their thoughts. I asked how the X-rays turned out and she said that when she saw the picture of the ct scan and the abnormality on it she had been working from that end and hadn't even gotten to the X-rays yet. In a little bit, one of the neurosurgery team on call came in and showed us the following picture (I have added the red line for clarification).
They decided to admit him to the hospital to the PICU so that they could keep a closer eye on him than a regular room and also to be more prepared to address things if any problems came up. It took a few hours but we got up to the ICU room about 9:30pm.
Good news, the ICU doctor looked at the X-rays and they came back pretty normal, which means Philip is not dealing with Pneumonia as well as the other issues.
So that is were we are as I write this. Becca got to go home and sleep, Joyanna is staying with my sister, Abigail and Philip is back to sleep after having been poked, pinched, prodded, pricked and pumped full of liquid. He has had a pretty good night and slept pretty good outside of the regular checks and pricks to check his blood, etc. He does have a tube through his nose to his stomach to get medicine in him when needed because he is having so much trouble swallowing.
We'll let you know when we find out more, perhaps later on this morning (Sunday). The ICU doctor was going to try to pin down neurosurgery on what they had in mind for a time-frame to get the fluid drained off. I am not really expecting anything other than that they will observe and hydrate him until at least Monday.
Becca may add to this later on today with additional thoughts, but I wanted to get some info on here for those who maybe have heard he is in the hospital but don't know why. Thanks for your prayers for Philip as we work through this latest development,