Yay on getting the consult! I hope the appt goes well and you are really happy with the doc.

I can't advise you on the head shaving but if you look at TJ's pic it looks like half of the back of his head was shaved.

I'd talk to the neuro about timing for surgery if it's necessary and how that fits in with insurance and so forth.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Hi Greenbay,
I don't know too much about shunts, but there are other shunt experts here who I am sure will answer some questions for you when they see your post.
I just wanted tos say I'm sorry you've been laid off. I know that's the last thing you need right now with an upcoming surgery.
Take good care,
Lucy

Hi Greenbay, TJ just had VP shunt surgery so if you personally message him I'm sure he can answer your questions..I think he was monitored before the VP shunt was placed. Good luck and GB, Jazzy

Hi GBF,

Forgot to answer this one about the head shaving. But they did keep saying that hospitals were not known for having hair stylists.

I would just make sure that you talk specifically about the shunt location and how much shaving will be done with yor NS before your surgery and then also remind everyone you talk to while they are getting you prepared as there will be many people (you may never see again) involved in getting you ready in OR.

Most importantly is where your NS likes to place the shunt. Mine preferred behind the right ear which is nice because I can not see it when I look in a mirror. Yes it is still there and others can see it from behind me but at least this way it is not a continuous reminder of all I have been thru. Others like it right up front like in the video "Robbie Can You Hear Me". Remember that hair will not grow in the scar so that adds to how easy it may be to see under the rest of your hair.

As for shaving, hopfully they will work with you on that. One thing to remember is that initially they will put some type of dressing over the staples and that will be taped down. It hurts like hell when they pull that tape off to the point I told them to cut the hair out from underneath the tape rather than pull the hair out with the tape. It looked funny but grew back within a couple days to where I took a shaver and evened it out. Not sure how long your hair is but I know it is longer than mine. I hope that my comments will at least give you some good things to review with your doctors.

Good luck and please keep us posted.

TJ
Shunt Man!

TJ (aka Viking Fan) Thanks for responding :) I have shoulder length hair and I am scared to death what the doc is going to tell me on Monday. How long did you have to stay in the hospital and how long did you have headaches for after the surgery? Did they have to open up your abdomen too? I'm hoping that it will be an easy enough procedure that I can go in on a Thursday and back to work on Monday or so....My right eye has been giving me cloudy vision over the weekend, so I know the VP shunt is probably the right thing to do and the only thing left to do...ugh..just kind of makes me depressed :(

Greenbay:

I have not been through the surgery, but I wanted you to know that you will be in my prayers for a safe surgery and recovery and your doctor will be in my prayers for a knowing mind and a skillful hand.

I'm sorry that so many of you have ended up in the OR, and I very well might end up there too. I will be here for support should you need it, and I'm sure no matter where your scars are you will still be beautiful.

In January my sister died from Breast Cancer and in her last days I was taking care of her. I saw her scars from her double mastectomy and of course she had lost all of her hair. Yet, I can't begin to put in words how beautiful she was to all of us who loved her. When faced with chronic illness and/or fatal illness the beauty of your soul shines through much more than the style of your hair. Ultimately, the goal here is to be well. (Not to say that when/if my time comes for shunt surgery I won't have the same concerns, because of course I will.).

You will survive this and you will hopefully be all the better for it. You will be in my thoughts. Keep us posted on what your doctor has to say on the 1st. Good luck and God bless.

- MM3

Hi Greenbay,
at my Hubby's hospital, he says they shave an area under the top of the hair for the VP shunt so that your hair, when down would hide it. I don't know if they do that at all hospitals but you could ask. But like MM3 says our beauty is inside and shines out for the world to see. I have many scars and two on my neck that look like I've been shot...so I tell people I broke up a robbery and got shot in the process, lol, then I tell them the truth. You will do great, and the chance to feel great will be the best gift of all. many Blessings, Jazzy

Hi GBF,

I had surgery on Friday and was released on Monday but that is not the norm. My doc said that most patients go home the next day. The nurses said that most people go home the second day. Either way it is only 2-3 days in the hospital. Mine was longer because we did the drain test first and the resident kind of botched it up and I lost WAY TOO MUCH CSF fluid and was in a severe low pressure situation before and also after surgery. Unfortunately I spent 2 days throwing up green stuff every time I sat up.

Once I got past the low pressure problem I was actually very surprised how quickly I felt better. Thursday surgery to Monday back at work might be pushing it but talk to your doctor to see what he says. Basically, I had surgery Friday, got released Monday (but most would have been Sat or Sun without complications), got my front staples (just at bottom of my rib cage) out on Wednesday and today (also Wednesday but a week later) I get the staples out of the back of my head (Ill post a new picture in the next day or so). By the time I went in to get my front staples out I could have gone back to work.

I have an incision on my chest at the bottom of my rib cage which is much higher than I thought so it is not really in my abdomen. The catheter does however go down into that area. It does give an odd sensation from time to time like it is poking me from the inside. I had no pain at all in the incision but did have some pretty bad abdominal pains right after surgery that was explained to me as air/gas that gets trapped inside as a result of surgery and just needed to work its way out and it did.

As for my headache, for the first few days I was taking the max vicodin/day (8) for pain. It then got better with every passing day and I am down to 1-2 per day. Again I think this is a little worse than normal because I started out with such a low pressure headache. I still have a small headache that is neither high pressure or low pressure that seems to be getting better every day. I dont know its origin but believe it is just part of healing from surgery. After all there is a new strange thing inside my head and it makes sense that it will take my body some time to heal around it and get use to it.

Also this small headache could still be that we dont have the valve set correctly yet. When he took out the front staples he also adjusted the shunt valve up one setting higher. Since after a LP it took my body 2-4 weeks to get back to high pressure, we are still evaluating the current setting as it may take the same amount of time from my body to adjust to the different setting.

Other than all this my doctor says there is still a small chance for infection in the first 2-3 months but gets less likely with every passing day. So long story short (sorry about the long part) if all goes well, which is very likely, it is a relatively quick and easy recovery.

Also if you read the post VP shunt Q & A by Bianca, she does a great job answering some of my original questions and gives her recovery story as well. Once again this is probably a little different experience for each of us.

Hope this helps!

TJ

My prayers are with you GBayfan. I dont know anything about this. I have been dodging this bullet for quite some time now.

Have you tried any herbs?