I stopped taking my prescribed pain medication and had informed my neurologist of my decision to do so. My reasons behind this was because there was no improvement in the pain I experienced from my shunt or in different parts of my head. The pain I feel, as I explained to my doctor, was a result of the trauma I experienced while having surgery in 2014. When I saw the new neurosurgeon a new months ago, he discovered patches of scar tissue which were still healing.

I have to consider the that my brain is recovering from five years of brain damage from my shunt being placed incorrectly from 2009-2014. I believe it may take time to heal itself and I wanted to wait a few months without medication to see how my body reacts and when things recover on their own. I don’t expect the pain from my shunt to improve as the model I have reacts to the weather always adjusting itself. It’s temperamental.  There’s also the issue of pieces of the old shunt still inside my body which cannot be removed…still trying to figure out how to cope…art can be therapeutic at times….

The neurologist listened and told me if I ever change my mind about taking medication I can just call her and she’ll send a prescription to the pharmacy.

Last year, I did a radio interview where I discussed my experience with hydrocephalus and my shunt. September is Hydrocephalus Awareness Month, the full interview can be seen here: