Tag Archives: concussion

And then the neuro ophthalmologist said..

Today dizziness is somewhat better than the shunt pain madness of last few weeks because..

Last weekend, my shunt was causing some nausea, dizziness, valve pain and balance issues. This happened in the evening and made me nervous, as I had fears the device would fail on me again. The following day, I only had some nausea, shunt pain was gone and I realized my shunt was adjusting itself or just driving me a little insane….because I do believe my medical device is vindictive sometimes.

The good news is, when it was very windy earlier this week and it didn’t bother my shunt. Usually when it’s windy outside, every gust of wind caused shunt pain.

Yesterday, the coldness outside made my scalp sensitive. It hurt to touch the top of my head where my shunt is inside my skull.

About a week ago, the shunt pain felt like a needle had been pushed down into my skull.

I haven’t had shunt failure in five years.

I saw the neuro opthalmologist who repaired my right eye in 2015 after my brain injuries. He told me my eye is doing well. I asked him about the pain behind my right eye. I’ve had this pain since my injuries in 2015. He said it could be either one of the following, or both:

1. Dry eye – Which can be alleviated by dry eye drops
2. A result of the injuries I had in 2015.

I do notice that when I have throbbing and pain from my shunt, I also have pain behind my right eye. I was told to ask my neurologist about the pain to see if it’s related to my injuries.

So we’ll see.  For now, I’m going to enjoy being pain free with occasional dizziness.

3

I had three days this week of bliss without cerebral shunt or chronic pain. A huge improvement from the last few months. Yesterday, this changed, as the shunt began to rebel again.  Today, some of the same pains from before have returned like shunt pain, distal catheter in abdomen pain and dizziness when I move my head from side to side.

New Medical Fashion….

The good news is I received my medical ID bracelet in the mail. I’ve had a shunt since early childhood and it never occurred to me before to wear one indicating I have a cerebral shunt.

I would think all doctors should suggest to their patients who have internal medical devices to wear something which would indicate they have an internal device. Some do and others don’t.

I already have a medical card I carry with me that has my medical, doctor and emergency contact information.

How would an EMT know to check my bag for this information? Like for example in the event of an emergency, if I’m unconscious for whatever reason (accidents, fainting or squirrel attack ) At least someone will know where to find information and contact my doctors and family.