side

For about a week now, I've experienced the following:

Pain from the chiari malformation by my cerebellum

Pain on the top of my head on the left and right side.

Pain in the distal catheter and down the side of my neck. I suspect over the last 8 years this is because of the brain damage I have from my shunt being on the wrong side of my brain for 5 years. I now have a condition called slit ventricle syndrome. 

Dizziness and right leg crossing over the left leg while walking. If I'm not aware of this as it happens, I will fall. When I was in rehab in 2014 after my injuries, my physical therapist had called it scissoring because I had multiple injuries on my brain which caused my legs to cross over each other like scissors. 

Nausea from the distal catheter in my stomach which meant that my shunt was readjusting itself.

I've had pain behind both of my eyes.

8/2 - Ringing in my ears from the left to the right side

Today 8/3 - TMJ issues in my jaw - it locked randomly while I was talking - There are exercises I do when this happens. It doesn't take away the TMJ completely just makes it more tolerable. Today some pain behind my right ear from the catheter. 

Many things such as the weather, satellites, the moon, barometric pressure, thunderstorms contribute to my shunt issues. 

At least I know that it's working and that I'm not alone in my chronic pain issues. 

What I've had in the last week makes me nervous sometimes as anyone with a shunt will tell you - There's no way of knowing when it's going to stop working. 

And we know medical technology is not that reliable in detecting these things.

Unless you're on Star Trek where they'd be able to tell you within 5 minutes what was going on and when the expiration date was. 

The pain I've had behind my right ear is from both the distal catheter and from the fragments of my shunt that fell apart inside my body in 2014 that are still in the side of my neck and in my stomach. 

When the pain is bad like it's been in the past and this week, it makes me sad and angry. 

And when this happens, I engage in health coping mechanisms like reading, coloring, and the occasional Nintendo therapy. 

No Nintendo therapy recently because of chronic pain issues. 

Today 8/4 - I had head and shunt pain issues for a few hours. By the afternoon, I was feeling better. I hope this continues through the weekend....

Pain issues continues off and on throughout the weekend on 8/6 thru 8/8. It's time to listen the theme song from Darkwing Duck.