My 15 year old son had a colloid cyst removed in June of 2007. Due to the removal of the cyst his brain was severely damaged. We have had 13 surgeries total since June. They had put in a brain shunt for hydro that was caused by scar tissue. We had revision after revision trying to get the shunt to work for him. Well it never did... We kept praying for an other answer. Our Neurosurgeon (not the original dr. that removed the cyst) looked for alternatives and found a surgeon in our area that has successfully removed scar tissue from the damaged areas of the brain a few times before. On Dec. 8th 2007 he under went surgery again and as of today is shunt free and processing all CSF on his own. We are still not out of the woods yet but things are looking good in at least that area of this whole horrible thing.
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Originally Posted by MissHollyInAz
Hello All
I became a member in April of '07 as soon as I found out I had a colloid cyst and had it removed. The tumor was removed 100% and all was well. Then about a month later I started getting the headache again that I had before the surgery. After suffering with it for about a half a day I called the surgeon and they sent me back to the ER. Once there (or should I say 7 hours later!) I got a new CT scan and lo and behold! Where the tumor had been removed built up so much scar tissue during healing that it sealed off the ventricle again! So, I now have a permanent shunt in the brain.
Now, I was never told this was a possibility and only after it happened was I told it "sometimes" happens. Has anyone else ever had this happen? What are the pro's and con's of having the permanent shunt? Please, I would love to hear from all that have a brain shunt and the experiences, both good and bad, that I may expect! I do know the shunt surgery was by far worse than the original tumor removal as far as the pain level and the healing is going. I am just curious though if I will be able to see this tubing running down my neck and chest for the rest of my life, what happens if I get in an accident and damage this tubing? Will the back of my head always feel like there is a huge wad of something underneath my skin? Please, please help!
Thanks so much!
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