It’s been a rough week with Ella. Last Sunday she was acting so cranky, not eating and generally just not cooperative that we got worried about hydrocephalus. She threw up on Sat. night. So, on Sunday afternoon I called and talked to Will’s mother (little boy who’s had a hemispherectomy). She told us that Will just got back from 5 days in the hospital where he was operated on again to correct the bone flap problem that he has. Upon her suggestion I called the neurosurgeon on call: Dr. Johnson. He explained more to me about symptoms of hydrocephalus and told me to check her fontanel which I assumed had closed up. Upon feeling it we discovered that there is a big gaping space between the two halves of Ella’s skull. We got very worried about that. On Monday, Dr. Black’s nurse recommended getting a skull x-ray. We debated about going through with our plans for a 2 day trip to Maine. By Monday p.m. Ella seemed to be feeling better. Upon our return we had the x-ray done (Thursday). Despite the pediatrician thinking the skull looked suspicious of something, Dr. Black eventually took a look on Friday and said the skull looks fine. He has ordered a CT scan for next week anyway just to make sure there is no pressure building up from cerebral spinal fluid (CSF). To me, the worrisome symptom at this point is the size of her head — it looks huge to me and seems to be getting bigger. I would say that from the side, the length of it looks about the same as three-quarters the length of her body. No wonder she has trouble with motor skills! Otherwise, Ella is feeling better. She is not so cranky and from time to time sits, eats and plays very well. At least that!