Recall and not the movie....

I learned this week from an online hydrocephalus support group, there was a programmable shunt recall as written by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). A few months ago, (March 2017)  the Medtronic StrataMR Adjustable Valves and Shunts were recalled due to causing possible severe injuries or death in the people who had them.  The company which makes them, Medtronic, recalled the shunts/valves because they caused under-drainage of csf fluid in the brain. When under-drainage occurs it can cause buildup of fluid in brain cavities causing hydrocephalus.

When I had heard a shunt had been recalled...I secretly hoped it would be mine...then maybe I could get a different one which wasn't so temperamental...

This was not the case, as I know I would've gotten a phone call from my neurologist if the model I have was recalled.

I read another programmable shunt valve, the Codman Certas had been recalled in 2013.  I'm all about advanced technology. I just wish there was a way of knowing what these devices will do inside someone's body.  In my opinion, the programmable shunt valve is like a little robot. Sometimes I hear/feel it, other times I don't. I've learned over the last 3 years with this new device it doesn't like various types of weather (rain, cold, humidity).

It's too bad my shunt doesn't work like Alexa.

Reading about the shunt recall made me think about the film, Total Recall from 1990.