Quote:
Originally Posted by Sleepless2012
Hello,
I Am 20 Years Old. I Have Had Two VP Shunts Put In At Birth. One Only A Few Inches Long And The Other Goes From The Side Of My Head Down Into My Stomach. I Have Been Having Severe Pain In My Stomach And Headaches. Went To A Neurosurgeon Two Days Ago And He Says That My Shunt Is Fractured Behind My Right Ear And There Is A Severe Amount Of Fluid Still On The Brain As The Shunt Is Fractured And Not Doing Its Job. He Says I Need To Replace My Shunt. I Know Nothing About This And I Was Wondering If I Should Be Concerned Or If This Is Just Standard.
Any Help Would Be Great. Thanks!!
-K
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Hey Sleepless,
I also have a VP shunt and have needed 2 revisions, both in the last 12 months. Prior to that mine was initially placed 15 years ago and fractured. I had symptoms ie headaches, the feeling of sinus pressure for a while and I tried to ignore it. Thought I was getting the flu, but then had a violent vomiting session and the headache was very intense, chronic. Then I collapsed. Woke up in hospital. I was told the shunt had fractured. When I felt my neck, there was no tube. It had fractured and the distal end was/is in my abdomen. These tubes are made of a medical grade plastic. Overtime they naturally deteriorate and thus break. From all the information I have read shunts have an average life of 2years. So to get 20 years from your first shunt is very lucky. Like I say I got 15yrs from my first and I consider myself fortunate for that. My next shunt lasted 6 months and since then I've had nothing but trouble with the new shunt. I'm having real bad pain both abdominal and headaches. I used to curse the former shunt which in comparison I had minimal pain from compared to now. Your neuro will only operate if necessary. If he's telling you that you need it, then do it. A build up of fluid can be very dangerous, in fact intracranial hypertension can kill. They can do tests to see if you are a candidate for 'shunt independence' where it maybe possible to remove the tube, but if you are like me this won't be advisable and a new shunt or replacement component maybe required but again your neuro will be the best person to ask and get advice from.
Good luck with it all. It can be a very very stressing time, but in all honesty don't bother stressing, there is very little you can do about it. Its up to the dr's from here. Let them do their job.
Merl1n