A year ago today, I had a VP shunt placed. That was just less than a year after my repeat ETV (Endoscopic Third Ventriculostomy). A surgery which sealed my fate with a brain bleed (A post for another day). Statistically, shunts fail within the first year of placement. That...
Articles with the Tag Hydrocephalus
Brain surgery, it’s Not an easy decision
We are caught between a rock and a hard place with this condition, WANTING and NEEDING help to make the pain go away but, NOT wanting to endure MORE brain surgery. The irony does not escape me..! It’s not an easy thing to go through, by any stretch of...
Losing yourself…
I have been feeling this way, more and more, each day. I have good moments and others less so. It’s a scary situation where you feel like you’re losing yourself. Like you’ve lost control. Helpless to your core and all you want, is out of the jail cell, which...
Haemorrhage during brain surgery has lasting effects…
You look at me and see the same person but, on the inside, I’m existing in a living nightmare..! C. A. Marriday A repeat ETV (Endoscopic Third Ventriculostomy), performed on 4 May 2021, brain surgery #6, resulted in a haemorrhage during surgery. The effects of which have only escalated...
Ever feel like you’re losing your mind..?
Part 1 of 2 That’s rhetorical! However, my question is sincere and this is why… Having hydrocephalus and enduring brain surgery (repeatedly) takes a toll on you. We never really know what the effects will be. Symptoms, surgery and recovery, may differ with each operation, per person. For those...
Shunt infection is the last thing anyone wants or needs!
There’s so much you need to remember and be aware of and yet, it’s quite simple. Contradictory, I know! There are a few things we need to be aware of but, there are so many times you doubt yourself. The questions never end and nor does the second-guessing… I’ve...
Living with a VP Shunt is not new to me but, this time, it’s different.
For a start, I can hear my shunt draining CSF when I change positions or tilt my head a certain way. This is something I did not experience with my Medtronic programmable shunt. There are even times where I can hear the little ball inside the valve, rolling around...
The most important daily reminder to myself; “You’ve just had brain surgery! Take it easy on yourself”
I repeat this as soon as I catch myself being too hard on the one person who doesn’t need it: ME Brain surgery does not leave you unscathed…the after effects are real and, under the right circumstances, can have a negative effect! It’s what you do after the fact...
An Inside Look At VP Shunt Surgery. The Courage Within!
It’s been 3 weeks since I had a VP Shunt placed. There are spots on my skull where it feels like my head has been placed in a vice grip, (stealth machine, to be exact, according to one of the nurses when I asked why I have a covering...
You can get angry, you can get sad but, no matter the emotion; You HAVE to keep going.
I wrote this a few weeks ago, it was meant to be my way of motivating anyone who needed it. But, I never actually got around to finishing it. Now, lying in a hospital bed (yet again), I find it more suited to my own situation. Current state: I...