In late October of 2005, my headaches started again. What now? I thought to myself. I kept telling Tammy, my technician who was training Reuel, that I felt pressure in my head. She encouraged me to see my neurosurgeon again. Not that I needed much encouragement, but I was tired of having surgeries. I was tired of this shunt not working.

I went into Dr. Shanno’s office on a Thursday afternoon/evening. He stuck a needle in my scalp to drain some cerebral-spinal fluid (CSF). He seemed to think that the shunt was functioning properly at this end. He wanted me to get an X ray of my abdomen to make sure there were no problems at the distal end of the shunt. He told me to come in the following day, Friday, to get the X ray since everyone else was gone for the day.

I had the X ray done on Friday, November 4^th, 2005, and went about my day. I met up with my parents and husband down at Beaches on the Columbia. We had good food, drinks, and a few laughs. I remember having a message on my cell phone from Dr. Shanno to give him a call. When I got hold of him, I heard the first words, “I hate to tell you this, but…” That’s all I needed to hear. I knew what would come of this intro – more surgery.

Dr. Shanno said that the distal portion of my shunt had come out of my abdominal cavity and was coiled under my skin. Bottom line, it wasn’t draining properly, which was causing the fluid to fill up in my brain again. At least they wouldn’t have to cut into my brain this time, I thought. They would just need to go into my abdomen and fix the distal catheter.

“When should we do this?” I asked.

“This weekend,” was his reply. “How’s Sunday?”

Bear in mind that this was Friday. I had bought tickets to see They Might be Giants perform at the Crystal Ballroom on Sunday. I really had no choice, though. It wasn’t an option. It needed done. The sooner the better.

“Ok,” I replied. Dr. Shanno would have someone call me with the details. I had to arrange for someone to cover my shifts, at least for the first part of the week. I kept wondering when this thing was going to work for longer than a couple of months. What in the hell was going on? Was I going to need surgery every month for the rest of my life? I thought these shunts lasted ten years plus. I was frustrated, but still eager enough to get the show on the road to fix this thing once and for all.

Surgery #4 – Shunt revision #3:

I arrived at the hospital early Sunday morning, November 6^th, for my check in. Before checking in I stopped by the pharmacy to see my night crew buddies. Mark and Clay were working. Clay, the other night shift pharmacist, had agreed to work an extra day until they could find someone to cover me further. This surgery wouldn’t be as debilitating as my previous three, since they wouldn’t have to drill my skull. I didn’t plan on taking more than 4 days off.

I met my anesthesiologist and informed him that I tend to get quite ill. He had a trick up his sleeve, which none other had done before, at least not for me. He put a scopalamine patch behind my ear. He said this sometimes helped patients who got especially sick with anesthesia. I didn’t get sick that time. In fact, I was able to go home that very evening.

My abdomen was sore, but at least I didn’t have staples in my skull. My in-laws were in town, and we all had a spaghetti dinner at our house. My parents were there, as well. Camron and I tried to find someone who could go to the concert in our place, but it was too late notice for everyone. Oh well, I wasn’t up for going, so the tickets went to waste.

I returned to work on Friday, November 11^th. I felt pretty good, and the shunt was operating well as far as I could tell. I didn’t know what was to come. I tried to believe after every surgery that this was it. That maybe it took awhile to get it right, but it’s finally working and I can put it behind me now.

It seems naive when I think back on it now.  What made me so sure that any of this was the answer?  If you have your tonsils removed, you don’t have to keep having them removed over and over.  I guess you can’t say the same for placing a VP shunt (brain drain).