You're quite welcome
! 'Yes, I've checked out quite a few ACM sites on the net, and have gotten quite a bit of information...I guess I just wanted them to be a little more specific.'--I can SOO understand that (and on NUMEROUS levels! LOL...sighs). Whether it be in re: to the hydrocephalus, migraines...I've been fortunate though in that in the 'ZILLIONS' (
) of pages I've come across/read since I first got the internet ('97)...I've been able to 'enjoy' BOTH aspects of info. 'out there'--from the medical AND pt's 'perspective'. It's been interesting, and nice
. I've NEVER minded the hydrocephalus/shunt(s)--I actually have TWO shunts now...but the migraines I DO mind. LOL!! GRR!
<--THAT is what living with migraines for ALMOST a year now has made me want to do...LOL. Sighs
. Could be worse though...thanks to last year's surgeries...I got 'rewarded' with them (YAY!
Sorry...little bitter sarcasm there...BUT! Hey, it'll add 'one more' to my 'list' as an RN (i.e. to the hydrocephalus/shunts--NOT to mention I also have sensorineural hearing loss due to the surgeries I had PRIOR to last year's...oh, and I'm also diabetic...hmmm...LOL!).
My life's been interesting, that's for sure...! I like it though...it's provided for some challenges, NUMEROUS opportunities to help people (i.e. signing guestbooks and all of a sudden getting an e-mail from a fellow hydrocephalus 'sufferer' or the parent of one--or even a parent of a premie whose had an IVH, and they want to ask you questions about what your experiences have been like and so forth). That's been one of my GREATEST joys...sighs and <grins>. It was ESPECIALLY most 'rewarding' as a 16y/o and...it does one's heart good...ya know?
I know quite a few Chairians---but no one personally. Then again...I don't know any fellow 'hydro' pts EITHER! Well...I mean, I've met parents or grandparents of pts. Ironically, the unit coordinator that was on the end of the unit that I stayed on when I had my shunt revision last year (one of two brain surgeries...), her son is also a former premie, suffered an IVH, is shunted too...when she found out *I* had gone through the EXACT same things as her son--she was JUST as shocked as *I* was to meet someone SOO 'personal' (being that she was on the neurology/neurosurgery/ENT floor). Her son and I have the same NS. We don't have a ped NS anymore...she left about 2 yrs. ago and moved to VA. Her son had been born at the hospital that I had my surgeries at (which coincidentally...I had been TRANSFERRED there, stayed in the old NICU--which was housed in the main hospital, until they built seperate Women's and Children's Hospitals)...and I had NEVER even DEALT with our NS, nor the neurosurgery residents (or neuro attendings/residents, ER...NO ONE! LOL..) until last year...!
I'd managed to go eight weeks AND two days shy of FIFTEEN yrs. before needing last year's shunt revision [my longest time EVER--shortest was 19 days...which was the revision needed to make my temporary shunt placement a 'permanent device'--that was at 5wks. and 2 days old (the initial placement was)].
Wow! So 4 yrs. since your dx...sighs. I'm SO sorry you've had an exascerbation of sx's. That seems to be what happens over time (of course). One either stays where they're at, or they progress/progressively get worse.
I belong to several hydrocephalus support groups--a few are Yahoo, and one is actually a mailing list (which I've been a member of since I was 16).
I understand about the clinical advice (and about the no-no...umm, yeah!
LOL...yeesh!). *I* am ALL for personal enrichment, education...ESPECIALLY when/if one has a medical condition of their own (or MULTIPLE medical conditions). *I* know that ALL too well! Having four chronic health conditions of my own...umm, YEAH! Hydrocephalus/shunt: 23 yrs., sensorineural hearing loss (just right ear--shunted side only: almost 16 years now...), diabetes: dx'd 8/3/04, and migraines: dx'd 5/13/05...so yeah...I know...
'I hope my intentions aren't misinterpreted.'--I don't think they will be. I didn't take them to be...
. So far, it seems like everything is 'A-OK'. Don't worry
! And again, you're quite welcome!
LOL--I haven't had but what the 'average' person with my condition goes through has...LOL. It's OK...I'm just curious to see how many years I'll get out of this shunt...one year down, and HOPEFULLY *at least* four more! LOL...I know I'll get more (HOPING, anyway!!). Since my NS said the average shunt only lasts 5 years...well...*bites nails nervously*. Just kiddin'...LOL.
[Did I REALLY want to know that statistic...? (After ALL?!!??) LOL! Just kiddin'] Something to keep in mind as time goes on...
Hang in there! Good luck with your quest for info.
!
Take care
Hugs
Erin
P.S. I know of the two best places for ACM decompression/surgeries. I've poured over COUNTLESS CaringBridge sites (not sure if you're familiar with those/have heard of those), and on the main migraine support group I belong to...there's a Mom whose 23y/o daughter was decompressed last year. She goes to one of the two leading ACM experts (Dr. Frim at the University of Chicago). Her daughter was JUST dx'd with high ICP VERY recently, JUST met with a neuro-ophthalmologist to have extensive tests run (she was actually bumped up--appts. typically are about 2 mo. in waiting and hers was booked in a week's time...after reviewing her records), and he said he didn't feel that a shunt would be 100% successful for her daughter. However, her Mom feels that even though the decompression was only 30% successful, if the shunt covers the other part of that success 'rate', then that's promising. AND...in the event that a shunt is NOT 100% successful, whatever percentage is left--they can treat with pain management, which her daughter has been taking part of already/is apart of already...). Her daughter had 23 ACM sx's...she'd been diagnosed w/migraines, 'been through the ringer', been to the VERY best doctors, etc. QUITE an ordeal...radiologists had missed [at the BEST institution(s)] her ACM, etc...
23y/o; "former premie" @ 30 weeks, 2#2oz., 10 1/4 in. long; hydro due to Grade III IVH(brain bleed), 12 surgeries, last revised 4/20/05, MIGRAINES dx'd 5/13/05;smallest baby in North Carolina to have a shunt inserted, CP dxed @ 2y/o;aunt to David Colby(5y/o) & Jordan Lee born 10/22/02(3#12,16 1/4"@2:27PM EST via C-section @ 36 weeks)--3y/o; Riley "Taylor"(niece---born:4/21/04@3 wks. early weighing 5# and 17.5"); ;-)future ANP(Adult Nurse Practitioner) working on neurology/neurosurgery floor, I hope!!;-);Dad passed away 10/3/03 due to acute renal failure, cardiac arrest, and anoxic brain injury("official" cause of death)
Would you like to comment?
When were you initially shunted? How many surgeries/revisions did you have in all? I hope you don't mind all the questions...
. 'They decided it was easier to leave the shunt where it is.'--uh huh! That's the 'general consensus'/usually what happens...FAR too risky to remove it. That's what happened LAST yr. w/my NOW non-functional shunt. My NS removed the proximal catheter, but left EVERYTHING in from the neck down and told me it'd have been FAR too risky to remove the rest due to risks of hemorrhage and infection. I was like "FINE with me!!" LOL! He also said he'd have had to make twenty tiny incisions all down my body to remove it, and I was like "Uhhh, no thanks--don't think so! It can stay put!" ROFLMAO. Yikes! *shudders* I've had AT LEAST *one* shunt infection that I KNOW of...I don't/didn't want ANOTHER...of course, I was 3 y/o then...but!...nonetheless...yeesh!
Niiicee! 
