Comments on: Cerebral Hack Exclusive: A Personal Look at Hydrocephalus

By: Youlanda Kalish

Youlanda Kalish — Fri, 21 May 2010 01:32:58 +0000

Thanks so much for this. I thought I discovered plenty of beneficial stuff here yesterday after spending all day going through this private area.

By: shunt revisions

shunt revisions — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 16:04:20 +0000

[...] revisions Cerebral Hack Exclusive: A Personal Look at Hydrocephalus …Sometimes we all have to take a step back and take notice to the advancements in technology; and the [...]

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:41:27 +0000

Cool post, just subscribed.

By: Daniel W. Crompton

Daniel W. Crompton — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 23:19:30 +0000

33 years ago next month I had my first shunt operation, unsuccessfully. A month later on my first birthday I had my second operation, which was a success! By the ventricle-heart method, rather than the ventricle-bladder method they prefer now. At that time the surgery being very experimental they success rate was much worse than it is now. And being one of early successful cases to receive a Spitz-Holter shunt in babies an article was written about my case. As a growing boy I needed surgery every couple of years for replacement parts, longer tubes, etc.

So when I read this post and was slightly surprised, I know many cases of hydrocephalus which are treated poorly, but to say: "Due to the lack of advancements in these treatment methods, many people with hydrocephalus are unable to lead full and productive lives." is in my opinion incorrect. There are few advancements that I know of, yet the success rate is such that far more people are able to live lives.

I double checked the Wikipedia entry and read: "The shunt failure rate is also relatively high (of the 40,000 surgeries performed annually to treat hydrocephalus, only 30% are a patient's first surgery) and it is not uncommon for patients to have multiple shunt revisions within their lifetime." Which means that 28,000 of the yearly surgeries are revisions, and even taking into account that a number of the revisions are routine, such as in my case, these are still too many.

A silastic tube has been inserted into my brain, a part of the body for which even my body has extra protection. It crosses my brain blood barrier, which in body terms is a big no-no! It's such a big no-no that I am not allowed to give blood, because of the danger of infection when having an open hole in my body for up to 30 minutes. I need antibiotics when I have needed minor dental surgery. And there are so many chances of infection in minor surgery. Both of us are so lucky to be alive!

And you are right saving lives isn’t enough! What is life without quality of life?

Thank you for sharing your story, you have inspired me!

By: Derekp

Derekp — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:25:45 +0000

I think i’ve seen this somewhere before…but it’s not bad at all

By: CerebralHack

CerebralHack — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:54:55 +0000

Thank you very much, it means a lot :)

Be sure to follow CH on twitter, and if you have any story ideas shoot em over and Ill be happy to take a look at it.

By: Jenna

Jenna — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 04:32:09 +0000

Pretty cool post. I just came by your blog and wanted to say
that I’ve really liked reading your posts. In any case
I’ll be subscribing to your blog and I hope you post again soon!