I don't have a shunt, so I can't help you with that. But. You aren't quite yet two weeks out from a major surgery. Give yourself time to heal. Your body's been through a lot. Be patient.

Good luck!
Bax

Hi Greenbay, I'm not feeling to great after my programmable LP shunt surgery but I have an infection (not a shunt infection), but I know how you feel, it freaks me out too that this is in me forever. At one time I thought I was going to have a VP shunt and a bunch of people told me about their experiences and they all had a slight bump on their head so...it sounds normal to me but I can't talk from experience.
Like Bax said, it is major surgery and it does take awhile to heal, if your not feeling good be sure to tell your NS, that is what he is there for. Blessings, Jazzy

GBF - I'm really sorry you're having such a blah day...I know how that goes! I wouldn't worry too much about having the shunt forever. Plenty of hydrocephalus patients have to live with them their entire lives and seldom have cause to think about them. Hopefully, after a bit, you won't even notice it's there! Does it seem to be working properly? Is it relieving most of your prior symptoms? I know they say to allow 2 weeks for your body to properly adjust, so you're not quite there, but close. Perhaps if it doesn't seem to be working well, that could be contributing to your doubts about it? I agree with Jazzy, if that's the case you should talk to your NS.

As for the lump/bump from the shunt, as I mentioned in my earlier post, some (if not most) of that swelling should go away. I was just looking around online this evening & it seems that some people can feel and see their shunt because of the slight bump on their head, and even feel the tubing going down their neck. I'm guessing that just depends on where the surgeon places it? I just checked out mine again and there is a very slight bump right behind my ear, but that's the extent of it. I completely missed it earlier!

Like Bax said, I guess it's good to just be patient - it does take time to recover from a surgery like this. Hopefully you'll get to feeling better in no time!

GBF,

I agree with Bax, Jazzy, and KSMama - it has not even been 2 weeks. You need to give yourself some time. I know it's hard to be patient with the slow healing process. I am very impatient by nature and all of this being zen and dealing with the moment even when the moment is full of blurry vision and a headache has really plucked my last nerve.

And I am right with you on being freaked out about all the hardware in your body. I have a pretty good sized lump where my shunt comes out of my skull that is not noticable when my hair is dry, but I can see it when it is wet. My "new hair" that is growing back still stands straight up because the bump is so big. And I can feel the tube running down behind my ear and through my chest. It's been 3 1/2 months and I am slowly getting used to it. My NS says that where the shunt needs to go and how much it sticks out is dependent on anatomy and what is best for the shunt placement. I didn't expect it to stick out as much as it does. He says mine does stick out more than usual. Lucky me.

I had a bunch of swelling and tenderness on my head for at least the first 3 weeks. And even now I have bad days where I get weird swelling at the site. If I sleep on the shunt side too much it swells too. You are still so early in your recovery that it is probably hard to tell how much of a bump you are ultimately going to have. I made myself and my husband nuts too freaking out about how much of a bump I have.

The best advice I can give you is try not to make yourself crazy over the bump. Try to focus on the positive aspects of the shunt and how much it can help you. And keep posting here to get your anxiety out. Just reading others stories (and occasionally posting) has helped me feel not so alone even though I have a fantastic support system. Together we can hold each other up through the lousy lows of living with PTC.

Hope this helps. Take care of yourself, GBF.

Bianca