Shunt scheduled for in the morning

Annalie was admitted into Huntsville Hospital this afternoon. In the morning, they will be putting in a shunt. The doctor hasn't scheduled an exact time, but I think it will be very early in the day (5 or 6 am). For those of you who don't know, the tumor she has is blocking the normal pathway that the cerebrospinal fluid drains from the brain. The shunt is necessary to relieve the CSF pressure on the ventricles in the brain. The pressure from these fluids is the cause of the headaches and vision problems she has had the past couple of months. Without the shunt, the doctor said she could go into a coma and die at any point. The procedure, however, is supposed to be a relatively simple one. It should take around 20 minutes. Her recovery in the hospital is estimated to be around 3-4 days. Of course, she will have additional recovery time at home. In around 2 weeks (I'm assuming from now) they will perform a biopsy of the tumor. Her doctor is hoping this can be done as a needle biopsy. This type of tumor has a malignancy rate of around 70%. If it is determined to be non-malignant, they will use radiation to try and shrink the tumor. If it is found to be malignant, surgery would be necessary to remove the tumor. The doctor said it is in a very accessible location for surgery. At that point they would determine if any chemotherapy or radiation would be needed. Her doctor is Dr. Joel Pickett with the Spine and Neurosurgery Center for those of you who have been asking. From everything I have heard, he is an excellent doctor and I think she will be in good hands.

That is really all I know at this point. I'll try to keep this updated as soon as I get more information so just keep checking it. Thank you so much for all the offers of help we have already received. I'm hopeful that we won't have to cash too many of those in. We are wholeheartedly believing in Annalie's healing. We want God's glory to be revealed. Please remember us all in your daily prayers. Thank you in advance from all of the family!

Elesha