Quote:
Originally Posted by Felicia1981
I had a VP shunt placed back in October of 2008, I have since the surgery had short term memory loss, now out of the blue the actual shunt itself is hurting.... it starts out as a "throbbing" then remains... I have experienced the "throbbing" before an thought nothing of it... but earlier yesterday morning I nearly fell from being dizzy an light headed... like I had gotten up to fast, but that was not the case... this was differant. Also, its like the pain is ONLY where the actual shunt itself is, its not a severe pain more annoying than anything...
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> I went to the ER last night mainly because I was scared... this is all new to me... Anyway, to make a long story short the dr was very rude an walked out of the room as I was in mid sentence an then went an hid in a little room down the hall from my room... he ordered a CT Scan but like my primary dr told me, results are only as good as the person trying to read them.... so I am goin to go an get a copy of CT Scan that was done last night an go see a neurologist. ... The second time the dr (what a joke!) came in my room was to give me a Rx for Fioricet and papers on "What is a headache" I was beyond mad! It was because of
> a headache they even did my first CT Scan that showed I have hydrocephalus to begin with....
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> Either way, the shunt still hurts... my short term memory still sucks, still get light headed for time to time an just want to know if anyone else has had this an if so, how was it treated?
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> I just know this isn't normal I guess I feel that I have had the shunt long enough to know now the differance between what is an is not normal for me....
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Hi, I've had my shunt since 1998 and have had no revisions. I, too, feel pain from time to time along the shunt tract and doctors ordered a CT scan. I have had many CT scans since, the latest one a couple of weeks ago. I haven't got the results of the latest one, but all of the others indicated the shunt was working, but wasn't draining enough. One neurosurgeon contemplated changing the valve from the fixed pressure one I have now to a computerized model, but he balked at that idea later, because I'm 53 and he said the risks of such a procedure outweighed the benefits.
I also have short-term memory loss and that has never changed. I also suffer seizures, headaches and balance problems, all of which are getting worse. Thankfully, I'm able to get around with a walker and live independently with the help of a home care worker.
The ER doctors here in Northern Ontario, Canada don't know what a shunt is either, but they usually like to send me to someone who does. Thankfully, most the cost of that is covered, but I'm not getting many answers either. My best advice is to keep pressuring the doctors and the neurologists to give you some answers. If the pain is bothering you, find out if they can at least minimize it. And find out why it's hurting along the shunt tract. You want to make sure the shunt isn't blocked. Don't push the panic button though. Several times, I thought my shunt was blocked, only to find out I was having normal pressure headaches. I've been given seizure medications, but the narcotic medications I used to take for the headaches have been revoked (too much abuse up here), so I use Tylenol for headaches. Your best bet is to get straight answers from the doctors and then decide what your best course of action is. But I wouldn't go without an explanation for pain along the shunt tract. That needs to be investigated.
Good luck, Jeff.