Does anyone have a shunt leading to their chest?
 

Hi, my name is Joseph and I am 14. I have have had a shunt since I was 4 and a few surgeries in 2010 because of troubles with the shunt. Since February I have had headaches and stomach aches and have had several revisions and externalization's. After every stay in the hospital I would feel better for a few days and then back to were the pain was before I had the surgery. I went to see my neurosurgeon today and he wants to at least do a revision to see if the catheter might be clogged because I have slit ventricles, and if the shunt is working, relocate it to my chest so that when I breath in it will hopefully pull more fluid since I want to be at a low pressure. I was wondering if anybody else had this kind of shunt and what are the benefits and down sides.

Thank You!

I started out with a VA shunt back in 1968. I was switched to a VP shunt in the early 1970's. I have had a VP shunt for the last forty years.