Tag Archives: TBI

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.

Caregivers with fur

Scalp pain returned last night briefly and the last two weeks I’ve had dizziness when moving my head.

I had some walking issues earlier this week, almost tripped over my legs again in the living room.

Stella the cat 

According to my neurologist who I saw earlier last month, I have something called parasthesias, transient right leg weakness and slight dysmetria.

In October, my cat Stella turned 19. She’s helped me recover through four shunt revision surgeries (2009-2014) and multiple brain injuries in 2014.

11/2/19 – Right side of head scar from shunt
revision surgery in May 2014

This weekend, someone asked me about the scar on the side of my head. Most of the time it can’t be seen, it’s only noticeable when I get a haircut.  I don’t mind talking about my brain injuries sometimes, it is usually a good 30 to 45 minute story from start to finish.  However, yesterday, I chose the shorter version of the story explaining I had had surgery it was long story. Wherein the woman replied, ‘You’re going to be okay right?” and of course, I said, ‘Yes, I think I will be”

What a nice random encounter to have with someone on a cold and windy day.  A few days ago, the wind in the evening was bothering my forehead.

My shunt is behaving since then…. No pain for a week already, which is a small miracle in itself.