While Nikola was born apparently very healthy, there was a cyst lurking in his head. We knew about the arachnoid cyst. It was diagnosed during pregnancy. We were told the prognosis was very unpredictable, but that chances were no intervention would be needed. We decided to name the cyst "Edison". You see, Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison were rivals in the science world. If fact, Tesla claimed that Edison took credit for much of his work. So we thought it an appropriate name.
Niko was transferred to Children's Hospital on October 5. Our stay at Children's was off to a very bad start. It was chaotic and we seemed to be getting mixed information from everyone. Once a decision was made for surgery, we felt like we had some answers. Along with those answers, was great stress, of course. The thought of our son having brain surgery was overwhelming, to say the least. But with the help of the wonderful staff and knowledgeable neurosurgeon, along with the love and support of family and friends, we remained strong and confident.
Big brother came to give Niko a good luck kiss...
Those discs on his head were placed for proper positioning for his cat scan. One of our nurses light-heartedly joked that this was Niko's first Halloween costume! It made us smile.
The surgery was a success and went more smoothly than we anticipated. A VP shunt was inserted to drain the cyst and keep pressure off the brain stem. We were so relieved. And other than a half-shaved head and purple circles from the marker... Nikola looked great! We were able to hold him within the hour after surgery and I even got to nurse him! We could finally breathe.
