Shunt O Gram 2016

At last, I received the CD with my Shunt O Gram from June 2016.  It's so nice to see and feel my shunt working properly. The ProGav is temperamental as the device has a mind of it's own. Just this past week, the ProGav reacted to the wind, cold and rain storm (from last night).  I did not enjoy this. Today things are better. I have to be careful about not verbalizing how I feel as I suspect the ProGav may be self aware and reacts to me having a "good" day. Notes from the x rays are below:

Current profile view my shunt.

Abdomen view of current distal catheter and old catheter (far left)

Close up of distal catheter (end)

Notes from VP Shunt series:

CLINICAL INFORMATION: VP shunt
DESCRIPTION:
Technique: AP and lateral views of the skull; AP and lateral views of the chest; AP and lateral views of the abdomen.
Comparison: None available.

FINDINGS:
Right frontal ventriculo-peritoneal shunt is seen coursing through the right neck soft tissues, anteriorly through the chest wall, and coiling in the pelvis. Catheter fragments in the right neck soft tissues and right abdominal wall likely represent retained shunt fragments. No evidence of fracture or kink.

IMPRESSION:
VP shunt catheter, as described, without evidence of fracture or
kink.

January Neurologist visit

Saw the neurologist on Tuesday. She had brought up an interesting point during our meeting. She had told me to be mindful of my mood and how that may have an impact on my shunt and scalp pain. I hadn't thought about this before. It makes sense.  The ProGav doesn't like rain, humidity, snow or extreme heat.

I'll have to be mindful of my mood and certain triggers which may impact how I feel and the ProGav.

Found a good website about how Hydrocephalus, sounds like a movie title:

Hydrocephalus: the lethal condition

Barometric Headaches

Yesterday, was the first day I had relief from an intense barometric pressure headache from my shunt.  I was doing really good for a little over two weeks now and then on Monday, the ProGav decided began rebelling again. As mentioned in previous posts, the device or robot inside my brain is temperamental when it comes to the weather.

Someone shared a link with me this afternoon about how to deal with Barometric pressure.

Then there's also the effects of Hydrocephalus on the brain, things I didn't even know before...
I know internal organs can heal themselves.

The brain doesn't recover from damage. I wonder why this is. I see my neurologist next week and may ask her.

hydrocephalus in the news

Read two stories this today about hydrocephalus:

The first, is about a woman who was denied healthcare coverage because she was attempting to get care out of her state: Insurance denies woman with hydrocephalus

The second, is about one of my favorite authors, Roald Dahl. He had a family history of hydrocephalus: Roald Dahl and hydrocephalus

About Empathy

Well, my theory about the scalp pain may have been off...There was some throbbing on the left side of my scalp today and yesterday after not feeling anything there over the past month. Not sure what that means....it's weird.

I read an article today about the differences between empathy, compassion and sympathy and how doctors need to learn more about using empathy with their patients. I mentioned in my film, Shunt Chronicles: My brain, art and school (2015)  how my previous neurosurgeon lacked empathy in regards to my situation.

Link to Article: Why Doctors Need to Show More Empathy. 

Scalp Adventures

About a week ago, I discovered I had an abscess on my back and it was drained at my doctor's office. Once the abscess began healing, the throbbing pains I've had on the top left front side and back right corner of my head are gone.  I'm convinced I had the abscess since 2014, as I was in a wheelchair for a month while I was in rehab.  I still have pain issues with my shunt interacting with everything in the area: weather, magnetic fields.

The throbbing pains in my scalp had been there since my brain injuries in 2014. I was told the abscess had developed over months and could take months to fully recover.

Alternatives to medication

While my proGav shunt continues to act like an unruly child with the cold weather, I've decided to distract myself in the meantime. This weekend, I went to see the Marvel film, Dr. Strange. I was surprised to learn upon watching the movie that the main character, Dr. Strange was a neurosurgeon.  I found it awkward watching a few scenes were there was surgery. I couldn't help but think about my past shunt revisions.  I didn't know in advance the movie was about a neurosurgeon. A large portion of the film focused on how the body heals itself after an injury.  It made me more interested in how the body heals itself.