Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Shunt Success

So far your shunt is working like it should! The ventricles in your brain look about the same as they did last time we took a look, which is what we want. If everything goes well and we have no reason to suspect something is wrong, we won’t go back for another year.

As we loaded onto one of the elevators today, we saw and briefly spoke with Dr. K. It was a good reminder for me to schedule a follow up on the colostomy pull through. I can’t believe it has already been that long since we have seen him. Last September when he first told me that we didn’t need to come back for 12 months, it sounded so far away. And here we are, almost September again. It has been almost TWO years since the colostomy was reversed. Already I can barely remember those days of changing your colostomy bag. Unless someone asks me about your scar, it never even crosses my mind.

Unfortunately, hydrocephalus will always have to be at the back of my mind. 50% of shunts malfunction within the first two years of placement. Some symptoms are blurry vision, headaches, irritability, sleepiness, lethargy—none of these will be easy to spot on you. So I will need to keep a sharp eye out for regression in skills and a change in character. And when in doubt, check it out!

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