Hi, I'm new on here but I've had hydrocephalus for 13 years (I'm now 39). I had bad problems with the stabbing abdominal pains with my last shunt; the tubing kept digging into my diaphragm so it killed when I breathed in! The problem resolved when I had a shunt revision (for a different problem) and the whole shunt was changed; my surgeon just made sure the abdominal tubing wasn't too long this time and I've had no issue. My first shunt was a VA shunt and I never had a problem with it. It's your body and you absolutely have a right to ask for an alternative if the current treatment isn't working for you; you're the one who has to live with it after all! You could see if he could try shortening the tubing in the abdomen and see if that works first? The trouble with this problem is that it won't necessarily show a problem on an x-ray. An ultrasound can show if it's digging into another internal organ (as mine was). But neurosurgeons really should know that scans/x-rays don't always reveal the answer when it comes to problematic shunts! Good luck with it. x