Cerebral shunt

24

Comments

  • harmless_little_f***
    harmless_little_f*** Posts: 8,005
    I have Hydrocephalus and a shunt myself. My shunt failed two years ago and it was a pretty sticky situation. My Hydrocephalus affects things I do daily and the way I think about and plan life, but most people I share it with think I'm making it up. I'm often met with 'Yeah but everyone has problems with that, don't they?' and it's fairly patronising.
    'We're learning songs for baby Jesus' birthday. His mum and dad were Merry and Joseph. He had a bed made of clay and the three kings bought him Gold, Frankenstein and Merv as presents.'

    - the great Sir Leo Harrison
  • Ms. Haiku
    Ms. Haiku Washington DC Posts: 7,390
    harmless_little_f*** wrote:
    I have Hydrocephalus and a shunt myself. My shunt failed two years ago and it was a pretty sticky situation. My Hydrocephalus affects things I do daily and the way I think about and plan life, but most people I share it with think I'm making it up. I'm often met with 'Yeah but everyone has problems with that, don't they?' and it's fairly patronising.

    I don't know what hydrocephalus is. However, I empathize with looking at the world and the activities as how they will affect health.

    My heart has easily been one of the main aspects of how my life has shaped. I used to volunteer in hospitals when I was in high school - why? - well, I'm pretty used to them. Currently, I question what doctors think is best for me or the general population- why? - well, I've been a patient, and started to realize some things about how I was treated.

    I want to have kids, but one doctor said I should be heavily monitored, and another said, absolutely no way. Definitely affects my drive to date and form a committed relationship, you know. The last time I saw heart doctors for a check up in 2000 I decided I didn't need them anymore. I'm done with them and their schemes to use me as a guinea pig for *not-yet-FDA-approved* procedures. How dare they treat me like that. However, it's like the ghosts of the hospital visits will forever be in my head.

    How can doctors argue against 33 years surgery-free is how I see it. Also, if I run a marathon that's another form of evidence I can use against their naysaying. That's a pretty big reason for me to run a marathon. The first time I ran 10 miles I was so happy! Not only could I do it, but look, how can doctors argue against that? How can doctors say I'm not healthy? I wasn't out-of-breath afterwards. Considering what I've experienced it still amazes me that Brian Roberts of the Orioles had open heart surgery and is an all-star baseball player. He rocks!
    There is no such thing as leftover pizza. There is now pizza and later pizza. - anonymous
    The risk I took was calculated, but man, am I bad at math - The Mincing Mockingbird
  • kenshunt
    kenshunt London, Ontario, Canada Posts: 2,863
    harmless_little_f*** wrote:
    I have Hydrocephalus and a shunt myself. My shunt failed two years ago and it was a pretty sticky situation. My Hydrocephalus affects things I do daily and the way I think about and plan life, but most people I share it with think I'm making it up. I'm often met with 'Yeah but everyone has problems with that, don't they?' and it's fairly patronising.

    I have had people not believe me either, thinking i just made this shit up, i have had people wanting to touch my tube lol, it's fun sometimes but if they only knew that sometimes it's tough to think, concentrate and other stuff then they might understand, but i am thankful for this shunt and thankful that my shunt specialist flew some kid with an enlarged head into Canada from Jamaica and performed emergency surgery to save this young boys life out of the goodness of his heart :)
    London 2005
    Toronto 2011 night 2
    Hamilton 2011
    London 2013
  • libragirl
    libragirl Posts: 4,632
    Ms. Haiku wrote:
    Sometimes I assume that everyone has had a hospital experience, and I'm just preaching to the choir.

    If you really think of it, you've read some ultra-cool stories in this thread. People who have had medical issues through modern medicine, and their own will, are doing really well! Also, you're reading of family members etc who go beyond seeing the disease within a patient and see the person they unconditionally love. I see this as a very cool thread, myself. And, you're learning about some medical procedures.

    Well it's not that im criticizing the author of the thread, I know someone with hydroencephalus and he has a shunt. He never goes to the doctor and Im always nagging him. This just reminds me of him.
    These cuts are leaving creases. Trace the scars to fit the pieces, to tell the story, you don't need to say a word.
  • CJMST3K
    CJMST3K Posts: 9,722
    kenshunt wrote:
    In cases of hydrocephalus (a birth defect), a plastic tube called a shunt is used to drain excess cerebrospinal fluid from the brain


    What if there is excess nugat - like nugat from a candy bar. Can the tube re-route the nugat from the brain into the mouth?
    ADD 5,200 to the post count you see, thank you. :)
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  • kenshunt
    kenshunt London, Ontario, Canada Posts: 2,863
    CJMST3K wrote:
    What if there is excess nugat - like nugat from a candy bar. Can the tube re-route the nugat from the brain into the mouth?

    I don't get this, please explain.
    London 2005
    Toronto 2011 night 2
    Hamilton 2011
    London 2013
  • CJMST3K
    CJMST3K Posts: 9,722
    kenshunt wrote:
    I don't get this, please explain.

    'twas a bad joke. :)
    ADD 5,200 to the post count you see, thank you. :)
    *NYC 9/28/96 *NYC 9/29/96 *NJ 9/8/98 (front row "may i play drums with you")
    *MSG 9/10/98 (backstage) *MSG 9/11/98 (backstage)
    *Jones Beach 8/23/00 *Jones Beach 8/24/00 *Jones Beach 8/25/00
    *Mansfield 8/29/00 *Mansfield 8/30/00 *Nassau 4/30/03 *Nissan VA 7/1/03
    *Borgata 10/1/05 *Camden 5/27/06 *Camden 5/28/06 *DC 5/30/06
    *VA Beach 6/17/08 *DC 6/22/08 *MSG 6/24/08 (backstage) *MSG 6/25/08
    *EV DC 8/17/08 *EV Baltimore 6/15/09 *Philly 10/31/09
    *Bristow VA 5/13/10 *MSG 5/20/10 *MSG 5/21/10
  • kenshunt
    kenshunt London, Ontario, Canada Posts: 2,863
    CJMST3K wrote:
    'twas a bad joke. :)

    I guess so, i don't get it:)
    London 2005
    Toronto 2011 night 2
    Hamilton 2011
    London 2013
  • xscorcho
    xscorcho Posts: 409
    how common is this?
    seems several people here know someone who has a shunt, yet ive never heard of it!
  • kenshunt
    kenshunt London, Ontario, Canada Posts: 2,863
    xscorcho wrote:
    how common is this?
    seems several people here know someone who has a shunt, yet ive never heard of it!

    I'm the only person i know with one.
    London 2005
    Toronto 2011 night 2
    Hamilton 2011
    London 2013
  • mindi
    mindi Posts: 1,862
    My 2 year old has a shunt.
    She is actually on her second one, her first one failed.
    She has had so many surgeries already in her life, two shunt surgeries, feeding tube and feeding button surgeries.
    To 10c; "Your PJ tshirt should be tight enough to show you're a woman and loose enough to show you're a lady." - bionicamy
  • mindi
    mindi Posts: 1,862
    kenshunt wrote:
    I'm the only person i know with one.
    Can I ask if you get headaches due to the shunt?
    My baby sometimes screams and we don't know why, I wonder if the shunt is bothering her.
    Oh and does it bother you to lay on the side of your head where the shunt is? After they put my daughters shunt in they kept her head turned to one side, now years later she still won't turn her head to the side where the shunt is.
    To 10c; "Your PJ tshirt should be tight enough to show you're a woman and loose enough to show you're a lady." - bionicamy
  • kenshunt
    kenshunt London, Ontario, Canada Posts: 2,863
    mindi wrote:
    Can I ask if you get headaches due to the shunt?
    My baby sometimes screams and we don't know why, I wonder if the shunt is bothering her.
    Oh and does it bother you to lay on the side of your head where the shunt is? After they put my daughters shunt in they kept her head turned to one side, now years later she still won't turn her head to the side where the shunt is.

    Well i've only had 2 surgery's, one when i was a baby and the other when i was 7 and the second surgery i was having alot of headaches, so we called the doctor and with in a week i was getting the surgery, but ever since everything seems fine, and the only problem i have sleeping on the side my shunt is in, is waking up with a stiff neck, i try and sleep on the other side but i wake up and im on my shunt side sometimes.
    London 2005
    Toronto 2011 night 2
    Hamilton 2011
    London 2013
  • mindi
    mindi Posts: 1,862
    kenshunt wrote:
    Well i've only had 2 surgery's, one when i was a baby and the other when i was 7 and the second surgery i was having alot of headaches, so we called the doctor and with in a week i was getting the surgery, but ever since everything seems fine, and the only problem i have sleeping on the side my shunt is in, is waking up with a stiff neck, i try and sleep on the other side but i wake up and im on my shunt side sometimes.
    Thanks so much! She is only 2 and is nonverbal so I can't ask her and I don't know anyone else with a shunt.
    To 10c; "Your PJ tshirt should be tight enough to show you're a woman and loose enough to show you're a lady." - bionicamy
  • kenshunt
    kenshunt London, Ontario, Canada Posts: 2,863
    mindi wrote:
    Thanks so much! She is only 2 and is nonverbal so I can't ask her and I don't know anyone else with a shunt.

    I'm not a doctor, so i advise you see ur doctor if she continues to scream and just make sure everything is alright.
    London 2005
    Toronto 2011 night 2
    Hamilton 2011
    London 2013
  • harmless_little_f***
    harmless_little_f*** Posts: 8,005
    mindi wrote:
    Thanks so much! She is only 2 and is nonverbal so I can't ask her and I don't know anyone else with a shunt.

    Ken is right. But there could be something else. I'm not sure if he does, but I suffer from pains in my chest or shoulders due to my shunt; have done since early childhood. My doctor has said that research on it is scarce, but 1 in 20 people with a shunt suffer from the same. The pains can either be simply 'niggly', or extremely intense, but they always feel like sudden electric shocks down the left side of my torso from my shoulder to my ribs, as if someone's pressed a taezer (sp?) gun at me. I probably get them a few times weekly and normally I can work through them, but occasionally I'll need an afternoon off.

    I'm being long-winded but basically I'm saying I've had these since a very young child and I was sometimes in agony with them, and that's another explanation.
    'We're learning songs for baby Jesus' birthday. His mum and dad were Merry and Joseph. He had a bed made of clay and the three kings bought him Gold, Frankenstein and Merv as presents.'

    - the great Sir Leo Harrison
  • kenshunt
    kenshunt London, Ontario, Canada Posts: 2,863
    harmless_little_f*** wrote:
    Ken is right. But there could be something else. I'm not sure if he does, but I suffer from pains in my chest or shoulders due to my shunt; have done since early childhood. My doctor has said that research on it is scarce, but 1 in 20 people with a shunt suffer from the same. The pains can either be simply 'niggly', or extremely intense, but they always feel like sudden electric shocks down the left side of my torso from my shoulder to my ribs, as if someone's pressed a taezer (sp?) gun at me. I probably get them a few times weekly and normally I can work through them, but occasionally I'll need an afternoon off.

    I'm being long-winded but basically I'm saying I've had these since a very young child and I was sometimes in agony with them, and that's another explanation.

    I get little chest pains, but nothing like youv'e gone through, i have trouble concentrating or thinking, i can get angry easy, and my doctor says it comes with it, he plays with it and says it is functioning proper, so that's good.
    London 2005
    Toronto 2011 night 2
    Hamilton 2011
    London 2013
  • harmless_little_f***
    harmless_little_f*** Posts: 8,005
    kenshunt wrote:
    I get little chest pains, but nothing like youv'e gone through, i have trouble concentrating or thinking, i can get angry easy, and my doctor says it comes with it, he plays with it and says it is functioning proper, so that's good.

    Where is it you're from? Sounds like I need to buy you a beer sometime.
    'We're learning songs for baby Jesus' birthday. His mum and dad were Merry and Joseph. He had a bed made of clay and the three kings bought him Gold, Frankenstein and Merv as presents.'

    - the great Sir Leo Harrison
  • kenshunt
    kenshunt London, Ontario, Canada Posts: 2,863
    harmless_little_f*** wrote:
    Where is it you're from? Sounds like I need to buy you a beer sometime.

    I'm from London Ontario, Canada
    London 2005
    Toronto 2011 night 2
    Hamilton 2011
    London 2013
  • harmless_little_f***
    harmless_little_f*** Posts: 8,005
    kenshunt wrote:
    I'm from London Ontario, Canada

    Well at least my heart was in the right place ;)

    I'm from London... well, London :D
    'We're learning songs for baby Jesus' birthday. His mum and dad were Merry and Joseph. He had a bed made of clay and the three kings bought him Gold, Frankenstein and Merv as presents.'

    - the great Sir Leo Harrison

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