Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Three Days and the Weather

The last three days the shunt has been causing me pain and throbbing frequently. This is followed by over drainage in my forehead, pain in the back of my head ( I suspect from the Chiari Malformation or from the Slit Ventricle Syndrome or both ). Pain medication doesn't alleviate the sensations I feel. I've also been very tired, more so than usual and I think it's again because of the shunt. Everything is working the way it should be.  I do believe the pain and sensations I feel could be due to the weather.  The temperature where I live has dropped quite a bit since the beginning of January.  In November and December we were spoiled with Spring like weather in the winter time with temperatures at 60 degrees.  Now it's January and the temperature has plummeted to 15 degrees.

I believe there may be a link to the weather and my programmable shunt valve. 

Found other people talking about the very same thing I am:



I would ask my brain doctor about this but.... Oh wait...That's right, I can't find one who will listen to me. 

The search for a competent doctor continues...

In the meantime, I'm finding ways to keep my mind off of my shunt discomfort.  I am grateful the it's actually working correctly.

Monday, January 4, 2016

Coping Skills

Read an article today about how some people deal with adversity and find creative ways of coping.   I originally made a film about my shunt not working and my movie changed because of things which happened while I was in the operating room.

Sometimes people have disassociated or separated themselves in some way emotionally, psychologically from the situation they are in.

I've looked in on the lives and stories of my characters through the years and it made sense for me to disassociate from my own situation and tell my own story. Doing so allowed me to filter through my own feelings.

The surprising benefits of going through hard times can be found here.