Tag Archives: brain injury awareness hydrocephalus

Summer Flower Fun

Outside with flowers and a cool building. 

Yesterday was better in terms of head/shunt pain issues. Last Saturday specifically was the worst day in a long time, four hours of pain until it finally went away in the afternoon. My medical device gets temperamental depending on the weather and phases of the moon. I was fortunate enough earlier this month to go exploring with a friend and encountered several flowers and architecture.

It’s been a while since I completed a book and earlier this month, I finished working on one.  A short post about it can be found here.

6/1/19 – I don’t know what it is about Saturdays. Last Saturday was a bad shunt and head pain day. Today is also Saturday and it’s another bad chronic pain day. I tried again to take medication in the afternoon, and not much of an improvement even after 6pm. Continuous eye and shunt pain both at the same time.

6/2/19 – Shunt, eye and distal catheter pain in stomach at various time during the night, especially early in the morning like around 2am.  I could go on a profanity laced post about my shunt, I’m not going to though. I have a better idea about expressing my extreme frustration with my medical device.

More on that later…

And then the doctor said…

My neurologist said my shunt is working. I had concerns about it misbehaving for three weeks and had inquired about having CT and or a shunt series done. She had told me this wasn’t needed unless it was absolutely necessary. Unless my shunt is obstructed and I’m incapacitated and vomiting on the floor, then a CT scan and shunt series is needed for obvious reasons. Otherwise, I wasn’t getting one.

I had an epiphany while visiting my neurologist.

I realized the reason (besides the one mentioned above) scans aren’t necessary right now is because these doctors know my shunt is working and it’s on the correct side of my brain. I’ve come to this conclusion because with my former neurosurgeon (we’ll call Dr. X) who I fired and animated in one of my films…Prior to my injuries in 2014, I was having a MRI every six months.

I’m surprised I didn’t glow pink from all of the scans…

Dr. X, I believe was ordering the tests because he knew my shunt was in the wrong way and why he was monitoring it so closely. Now that my shunt’s been returned to the correct location, there’s no need to be ‘zapped’ so frequently. The medical professionals around me know what happened to me in 2014 and why. They also realize my medical device is working as it should be.

My neurologist did note during my appointment there is weakness on one side of my body. Something she hadn’t seen since I started seeing her in 2015.  For the next six months, I’ll have physical therapy until I see her again in October.

She was happy to hear my shunt and head pain had stopped for the first time in three weeks. I’m also convinced these doctors know programmable shunt valves are temperamental and react to just about everything between the weather, stress, other magnets and various amounts of csf fluid.

The shunt and scalp pain has been minimal this week. Not sure yet when the top left corner of my scalp throbbing will go away yet. Sometimes it’s there and sometimes it isn’t….so we’ll see.

My medical device can be as temperamental as it wants as long as it means I don’t have to have surgery again.