HearPeers Heroes Adam Posted July 8, 2013 HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted July 8, 2013 So last week was just a blast. For those of you that don't know, I am Hydrocephalic. Each one of us produces spinal fluid in which our brain floats and encases our spinal chord. We each produce about a quart of it a day. it encircles our brain floats down our spinal colum then we reabsorb it in our bloodstream. we produce this fluid in four main ventricles in our brain. In my case, I produce the CSF but it does not leave the ventricles like it us supposed to. what happens is, the ventricles get larger and larger which compresses the brain. if nothing is done, brain damage occures then anything from the ventnricles rupturing ultimatley death. What they do is put a shunt in which is a pressure valve. Once the pressure gets to a certain point, the valve will open and drain the excess fluid through a catheter either into the heart or the stomach. Once the pressure equalizes, the valve will close. up until Tuesday night it was in my heart. Now it drains into my stomach. I have been having some pretty bad headaches over this past month but I didn't think anything of it as if I am having shunt problems, i can usually tell because my stomach will go south on me and it is a different headache then your normal migraine. kind of hard to describe but you can just tell. This one threw me as my stomach was fine and I was having different symptoms than I ever had. I have had a total of 15 shunts, 12 in just the last 10 years so I have gotten pretty good at calling it if it starts to fail on me. The one I had drained into my heart. So this past monday the headaches were more than I could bare so I went home to take a nap in the hopes that would take care of it. After about an hour and a half, I couldn't handle it anymore and had my wife drive me to the hospital. They eventually did the x rays and I answered the 50 million questions I always get asked. They also did a CT scan. I have seen enough of these to know what is normal for me and what isnt. The person doing the scan is not allowed to answer any questions about what they see so I always just ask if I can see what it looks like. They usually let me as most people dont have a clue of what they are looking at. I took a look and the ventricles were HUGE! I knew right then what was gonna happen. At this point it was around 1:00am Tuesday morning. they came in and told me what I already knew. I was gonna have to have surgery. apparently the catheter had worked its way out of my heart plus it was kinked somewhere areound the neck area. needless to say it was not draining. They had to make an incision in my head neck and stomach as they removed the old one and placed the new one from my brain down into my stomach. I'm home now and everything seems to be working ok. Go back Friday to remove all the staples. I will need to take it easy for a little while and ease back into things but eventually back to doing everything I have done before. This was surgery #33 for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simekj Posted July 8, 2013 Report Share Posted July 8, 2013 Wow Adam. You sure have been through stuff. I am glad that things were solved and you are on your way to recovering. We pray that you recover quickly and that this and the other shunts will last for a long time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Adam Posted July 8, 2013 Author HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted July 8, 2013 Thanks a bunch Karen, I really appreciate it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Ivana Marinac Posted July 9, 2013 HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted July 9, 2013 Hi Adam, please recover fast - we have missed you: problems does not exist when you are here. Nice to have someone always prepared for help and support. Thumb up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Sandy Posted July 10, 2013 HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted July 10, 2013 Hi Adam, glad you caught it in time and are on the way to recovery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Adam Posted July 10, 2013 Author HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted July 10, 2013 Sandy Actually I had been dealing with the headaches for about a month now. My wife mentioned that maybe it might be the shunt a couple of weeks ago but I said no as it was not the "typical" headache and symptom with my stomach. I have had enough issues in the past where I can pretty much call it 99.9% of the time and be right. This time not so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted July 10, 2013 Report Share Posted July 10, 2013 Wow, that is a tough one to swallow, Hope this one will fix it for good at least. Get some rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Adam Posted July 10, 2013 Author HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted July 10, 2013 Thanks Brian, will do. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leblisa Posted July 10, 2013 Report Share Posted July 10, 2013 Thank god you're OK! God forbid there's a 'next' time, but please don't wait so long if there is! Better to be safe than sorry. I'm so glad you're back safe and sound. Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Adam Posted July 10, 2013 Author HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted July 10, 2013 Thanks Lisa My problem is 1) I'm a wee bit stubborn and 2) the main issue is you just get sick and tired of the docotor wanting to send you down to musc to run a few thousand dollars worht of tests to "rule out the shunt" when you know good and well your just plain sick. Because of that, I kinda wait until the very last minute "just to make sure". I don't think my wife will allow that anymore. She has gotten to the point where she can look at me and tell if something is going on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leblisa Posted July 10, 2013 Report Share Posted July 10, 2013 Well, you just keep listening to that wife of yours (I'm surprised you don't know that by now !) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Sandy Posted July 10, 2013 HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted July 10, 2013 Just remember the wife is always right and if she ain't happy the. You won't be either! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Adam Posted July 10, 2013 Author HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted July 10, 2013 Trust me Sandy, I am well aware. I have tried to come back too quickly too soon in the past. All that got me was a couple steps backwards in recovery and some very intense moments of fellowship with the wifey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Camille Posted July 25, 2013 Report Share Posted July 25, 2013 Adam, thanks for sharing more of your story. Hearing loss & CIs seem the far lesser of your challenges. Sending prayers and cheers!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Adam Posted July 25, 2013 Author HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted July 25, 2013 Camille, I'm feeling much better and actually have started running again. It is slow going but i will be back full steam soon. Relentless Forward Motion. Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Ivana Marinac Posted July 26, 2013 HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted July 26, 2013 Camille, I'm feeling much better and actually have started running again. It is slow going but i will be back full steam soon. Relentless Forward Motion. Adam Always the spirit. Greeting from "on call" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Adam Posted July 26, 2013 Author HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted July 26, 2013 Ivana hopefully you wont have too many "adams" walk through the door. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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