VP adjustable valve shunt
The surgery to insert the Shunt was performed on March 20. The good thing about the Shunt surgery, is that I only needed to stay a day or so in the hospital after it was placed in my head. Post surgery, they did an MRI to check my ventricles to insure the Shunt was working, and I had a little help with pain management.
With most of the other brain surgeries, my head never really hurt after surgery. This time though, they had to run a tube (about the size of a piece of vermicelli) from the valve in the back of my head to my abdomen to drain the CSF through my Shunt, and man, that really hurt my abdomen.
They take a metal straw like mechanism and run it from my stomach area (access via belly button & above) up through the abdomen for the tube placement – that hurt worse than anything I had done before. Most of the time I only needed IV Tylenol or a bit of Morphine to regulate the pain. Not this time. Needed a bit of Dilauded – great stuff that makes you feel amazing, but stay away from it, it’s highly addictive.
Shunt bandaid
Access… button & above
Shunt horse shoe
EVD & 3rd vent scar