A few weeks ago, Peniel came into the pediatric ward. He had fallen a few days before he came, and his parents were concerned because he was having some fevers, developed seizures and quit moving the L side of his body. Susan did an ultrasound and thought maybe she was seeing something abnormal on the ultrasound of his brain. Shortly thereafter, Ben and Jim were draining an abscess in his head. A few days after surgery, I took care of Peniel for a week on the ward. Each day his mom and dad would tell me the little improvement he was making, but as I was examining him, he was still far from normal. I left the pediatric ward and went back to medical ward and wasn't sure what happened to him, until this week.
As I called for the next patient, this happy child is carried into my room by his mom. I looked at his book and started to read the history and then realized who this kid was. I couldn't believe that this was the same kid. He was moving his L side without any problem, he was smiling and interactive, he certainly seemed like he was a normal kid. Without the book, I would never have guessed this kid just had a brain abscess. We don't do neurosurgery too often, but I think we are all definitely glad we did it here, and I am sure his parents are too.
