Firstly I need to apologise for releasing my fourth post of this week as I recognise people will be board of reading them by now. On Friday the 18th of October, 1996 I went under the knife at just a few months old where I had a VP Shunt fitted to help water drain away from my brain.
The device was fitted as a direct result of me being born with a condition called Hydrocephalus.
What is the condition I hear you ask?
It is where there is a build up of excess fluid on the brain which can of course damage it, if it is left untreated it can fatal for those who have it. A wide range of symptoms surround the condition and those are:
- Blurred Vision
- Being Sick
- Headache
- Difficulty in Walking
There are a number of different types of Hydrocephalus and they are:
Congenital – present at birth
Acquired – develops after birth
Normal Pressure – usually only develops within older people
The Shunt Surgery
This normally takes between 1 and 2 hours and will see a thin tube (the shunt) inserted into the brain which will see the CSF (Cerebrospinal Fluid) within the brain flow through the tube into somewhere else in the body, normally your belly. Once it has arrived there it will usually be absorbed into your blood
There is something called a valve inside the shunt which acts as a control for the CSF fluid so that it doesn’t drain away too quickly from the brain. The valve can be felt in the form of a lump under the skin on your scalp.
I remain relatively healthy (yes I just touched wood) at the moment, however I would like to use today as an opportunity to remind all of you, my loyal readers and followers what happens when a blockage of a Shunt occurs.
- Aggression
- Sickness
- Sensitivity to Light
Please call 999 immediately if you come across someone who appears to be experiencing these symptoms as they will need emergency surgery.
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As always I would like to end by taking the opportunity to thank each and everyone of you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to read my latest piece it doesn’t go unnoticed and is very much appreciated.
Cam
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