[Magdalen] Shunt Surgery

[Sally Davies]

Prayers continue Christopher.

A friend mine went through this a couple of years ago, outcome has been
very good.

Once I had got over the shock of seeing CSF circulating outside the head, I
was entranced by how beautiful it is (when not infected, blood stained or
whatever). Like liquid crystal.

Sally D

On 4 December 2017 at 17:34, Jay Weigel <jay.weigel at gmail.com> wrote:

> Good heavens, Christopher, sounds like a horrific day! Prayers that all
> goes well with Lisa from now through the procedure, and prayers for Lisa
> and all those who care for her. And for you, of course...which goes without
> saying and almost went unsaid!
>
> On Mon, Dec 4, 2017 at 9:07 AM, Lynn Ronkainen <houstonklr at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Christopher - prayers rising for you and Lisa as you continue to move
> > through this challenging medical procedure... and prayers for all of the
> > medical staff who are part of the care giving.
> >
> > Sending hugs and love eastwardly this morning.
> > Lynn
> >
> > website: www.ichthysdesigns.com
> >
> > When I stand before God at the end of my life I would hope that I have
> not
> > a single bit of talent left and could say, "I used everything You gave
> me."
> > attributed to Erma Bombeck
> >
> > "Mercy and compassion are more than personal options. They are the
> > antidotes to that fear and hatred." Mark Singel
> >
> >
> > --------------------------------------------------
> > From: "Christopher Hart" <cervus51 at gmail.com>
> > Sent: Monday, December 04, 2017 8:01 AM
> > To: <magdalen at herberthouse.org>
> > Subject: [Magdalen] Shunt Surgery
> >
> >
> > Dear Pub Friends,
> >>
> >> My wife, Lisa, was born with hydrocephalus and has had since childhood a
> >> shunt to relieve the excess fluid in her brain. Like many medical
> devices
> >> shunts can and do wear out and time also finds the medical community
> >> making
> >> improvements in treatment. About three weeks ago her neurosurgeon
> placed a
> >> new type of programmable valve into her existing shunt to enable better
> >> control of her fluid which was draining too much. This sort of valve did
> >> not exist when she had her last shunt implanted. The valve was placed
> into
> >> her abdomen near a rib to avoid surgery at or near her head.
> >> Unfortunately,
> >> it became disconnected from the tubing and she was leaking
> cerebro-spinal
> >> fluid through the incision at an alarming rate. I took her to the
> >> emergency
> >> room yesterday when I suspected what was happening and the neurosurgeon
> >> who
> >> examined her (her surgeon's associate) confirmed my layman's suspicion.
> >>
> >> ​The upshot of this is that she now has her shunt connected to an
> external
> >> ventricular device to control and monitor the flow and will be ​having a
> >> whole new shunt installed tomorrow if all goes as planned. This is
> pretty
> >> major surgery, but she has a very good surgeon so we have high hopes for
> >> the outcome. If all is well she may come home as soon as Wednesday, but
> >> will no doubt have a significant period of recovery to follow. Your
> >> prayers
> >> and good wishes are, of course, welcome and desired, both for her and
> for
> >> me as I deal with everything. After eleven hours in or around the ER and
> >> then ICU (following transfer from one hospital to another) I'm happy to
> >> say
> >> that I did not reach for a drink which certainly would have been my
> >> default
> >> action in the past.
> >> --
> >>
> >> Christopher Hart
> >>
> >> List Mail Address: cervus51 at gmail.com
> >> Personal Mail: cervus at veritasliberat.net
> >> Twitter: @cervus51
> >>
> >
> >
>