Author Archives: brockettv

Alternative Therapies

At the end of last year, I went for a cognitive and physical evaluation to determine what type of accommodations I would need in the event I start working again.  Some of the findings are below:

Restrictions: Right upper extremity weakness; decreased counterbalancing.  Decreased counterbalancing. Significantly below average hand grip strength.  Decreased tolerance to bending head secondary to occasional dizziness.  Gait dysfunction.

Suggested recommendations: Ergonomic chair, supportive walking shoes and more…

I take occasional breaks when volunteering. I notice I get more tired when processing information such as data entry in Microsoft Excel….This also happens when I’m organizing the food pantry closet at the other organization where I volunteer once or twice a month.

And of course, there’s the occasional shunt and head pain issues. This week while volunteering, I the head & shunt pain was minimal.  The cold increasingly cold weather the last few days is causing throbbing and pain from my medical device.

Super Mario Brothers 3 from TV.

When home, to distract myself from the discomfort, I turn to the occasional escape through video games. I’m not talking about the classic edition console currently sold in stores. I mean the original 8 Bit system.

A digital vacation from chronic illness helps, along with art
( when I have the energy ) and reading.

Office Supply Battle

Last week, while volunteering at a local nonprofit organization….I got stabbed in the finger with a loose staple which was attached to an envelope I had opened. The staple stab didn’t hurt as much as my shunt does when the weather changes.

I mentioned the shunt weather change issues with my new neurosurgeon during my appointment earlier this month.  The new ns had made three attempts to get me to return to the surgeon who did the last shunt revision I had in 2014.

I explained to him several times that I couldn’t return to the previous surgeon because I had fired him for several reasons such as not taking any of my shunt complaints seriously ( when it was falling apart inside my body in 2014) misreading of my xrays and misdiagnosis. He had said I had heartburn when I told him I could taste cerebral spinal fluid in my mouth and could feel csf leaking out of the distal catheter in my abdomen….

Now there are pieces of my old shunt are floating around my peritoneal cavity and lodged inside the right side of my neck.

Going back to him was not an option. He ended up getting animated in one of my films.

I told the new surgeon what type of shunt I had and faxed him a copy of my medical history with all of my previous neurosurgeons and copies of my operative reports from 2009 – 2014.

Fax thru email is the best thing ever….

Copies were made in the doctors office of my x rays and CT and MRI scans which I have on CDs.

Overall, the appointment went well and I felt my voice was heard.

The surgeon told me I don’t have one neurosurgeon though. When I have to have a revision, it’s usually the person who is available when you get to the hospital Emergency Room that will do the surgery.

So I made sure to emphasize what had happened in my shunt revisions in 2009 and 2014 and how it wasn’t going to be repeated. EVER.

This is the one thing I’ve become super paranoid about since my injuries in 2014.

I don’t want anyone operating on me again unless it’s absolutely necessary.

I’d rather have a cut finger wrapped in a bandaid then have to endure more brain surgery.

When I volunteer now, I’m carrying a small first aid kit in the event of more battles with office supplies….or anything else I encounter in the field.