On 1/19/16, 1/26/16 and 2/2/16, I received psycho-education testing to determine the level of brain damage after my multiple injuries in March 2014.  Each session was two hours long and there were three in total.

According to the tests I took which included Benton Visual Retention Test, Haptic Visual Discrimination Test and the Woodcock-Johnson Visual Education Battery exams I scored at different ranges. Overall,  there’s been a slight improvement in my IQ since 2014. Still having math and some memory issues, but that was always the case I just need extended time.

I’m still unable to work right now and I can take Adult Education Courses at Rockland BOCES which will be paid for by Rockland County Association for Learning Disabilities.

I can receive employment assistance through ACCESS-VR to help with interview skills and job placement.

I’m still dealing with brain and nerve pain as a result of my injuries. Trying to figure out how to deal with the pain. The shunt causes me pain more than it did before most likely because of damage and two conditions I have now: slit ventricle syndrome and chiari malformation. Both were as a result of my shunt being place on the wrong side of my brain.  I learned through online brain injury and hydrocephalus support groups that programmable shunt valves can be affected by the weather. I’ve noticed when it gets cold outside (depending on the barometric pressure) I have pain on the shunt valve and on the distal catheter in my brain. Because I am hyper sensitive now because of what happened to me, I can hear the shunt as well and feel when csf gets re-absorbed into my abdomen.  The csf burns.

As mentioned in previous posts, I can hear my blood pressure behind my right eye.

It’s kind of cool and very bizarre at the same time.

The last three days the shunt has been causing me pain and throbbing frequently. This is followed by over drainage in my forehead, pain in the back of my head ( I suspect from the Chiari Malformation or from the Slit Ventricle Syndrome or both ). Pain medication doesn’t alleviate the sensations I feel. I’ve also been very tired, more so than usual and I think it’s again because of the shunt. Everything is working the way it should be.  I do believe the pain and sensations I feel could be due to the weather.  The temperature where I live has dropped quite a bit since the beginning of January.  In November and December we were spoiled with Spring like weather in the winter time with temperatures at 60 degrees.  Now it’s January and the temperature has plummeted to 15 degrees.