My mom just got a Brain shunt..Need help.

merie14 · 08-08-2012, 05:53 PM

My mom got a brain shunt placed in her brain 5 days ago. I am not sure what kind of brain shunt, but I should find out tomorrow. First day things were good just some headache, then maybe a day after she was very nousious and threw up she also complained of headaches. She had an MRI done again and everything was fine so they discharged her but i wasn't there that day so i couldn't ask all the questions I had

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She was given several medications vicodin for pain, Levetira for seizures (I am not sure why she is not epileptic..) I will find out tomorrow. Also was given medication to sleep, a medication for ulcers( since she had 5 of them) and of course calcium and Vitamin D for her Osteoporosis. Anyways she has been sleeping all day today.... I am really worried, she seems very out of it and I just don't know what to do... I just want my mom back and healthy. She has an appointment to see a neurologist in about 2 weeks to remove stitches. Should I be worried about anything? She is not vomiting nor has she complained of any pain, just been sleeping. Is it too soon to tell? I ve worried myself sick looking at the unsucess stories of brain shunts and their malfunctioning. Any advice would help

ideebaby · 08-09-2012, 07:35 PM

She may just be sleeping because of all the sedating drugs they are giving her. Signs of a malfuntioning shunt are usually pain and vomitting. I had my shunt placed about 9 weeks ago and i slept alot the first couple days... after being put to sleep it just happens. Make sure she is resting and ask her about pain, thats about all you can do. Hope this helps!
Good luck to you guys!

merie14 · 08-09-2012, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ideebaby

She may just be sleeping because of all the sedating drugs they are giving her. Signs of a malfuntioning shunt are usually pain and vomitting. I had my shunt placed about 9 weeks ago and i slept alot the first couple days... after being put to sleep it just happens. Make sure she is resting and ask her about pain, thats about all you can do. Hope this helps!
Good luck to you guys!

Thank you so much for your reply

I worry that things will go wrong :/ How are you now?

ideebaby · 08-11-2012, 10:52 AM

It took about six weeks before I was sure I had made the right decision. I know now I did!!! I am back to work and feeling better and stronger than I have in years! I had gotten to where I couldn't walk, was completly incontinent and was having so many other issues that were steming from the hydrocephelus. Today... no cane or walker, back to full time teaching and I can say I have a better outlook for the future than I have in a long while. This is not an easy thing... but it is worth it in the end. Hope your mom is doing better every day!!!

lcms0516 · 08-17-2012, 09:42 PM

1. Projectile vomiting
2. Severe headaches
3. Loss of balance
4. Eyes out of alignment
5. Sleeping more than normal
6. Increased ICP(Intra-Cranial Pressure)
7. Increased agitation

Granted those all can be individually related to other problems. But those are also indicative of a shunt malfunction.

jeff179120 · 08-22-2012, 08:04 PM

I'm a 56-year-old man who had a shunt put in 12 years ago. For the first few weeks after surgery, I was complaining of seizures and constantly worried the thing was blocked. It wasn't. I get absent seizures now and take Gabapentin for those, but my life is a whole lot better since surgery than before. My best advice to you is to give it some time. This surgery takes a while to get over and a while to evaluate.