For Therese, her condition started a while back about six years ago December 20 th , 2016, she visited the Bellin Health Physical Medicine Neuro Consultant, for severe pain in her head, the attending physician Dr. Brian A Knapp, evaluated her and his diagnosis was that she suffered from Cerebrovascular Accident due to Thrombosis of left Anterior Cerebral Artery. Therese is a patient of Hydrocephalus, before recently I did not know what that is much less knowing my wife is a patient of this illness. However   I   have   taken   the   liberty   to   research   its   meaning,   Hydrocephalus   is   the   buildup   of   too   much   cerebrospinal fluid   in   the   brain.   Normally,   this   fluid   cushions   your   brain.   When   you   have   too   much,   though,   it   puts   harmful   pressure on your brain. THERESE SURGICAL HISTORY BEFORE AND AFTER Let me take you through Therese's intraventricular shunt placement, putting aside all reluctant and bad decisions finally on the eve of 9/30/2021 the surgeon perform an intraventricular shunt placement, folks even at this late hour to be honest we were briefed by the surgeon what the procedure entails and what he was planning to do to relieve the pressure on Therese's brain, the consultation lasted about twenty minutes, did I fully understood what he had just told me nope, yet to get the ball rolling I nodded my head in agreement. Don’t be like me since this is a true extract of what happened to Therese I will be frank and endeavor to tell you w h a t I think you should do, it is up to you to ahead with my instructions or reject them altogether, but I hope you don’t please read carefully, ok back to the consultation with the surgeon, what I did not know at the time of the consultation with the surgeon was that the whole procedure is base on two surgery to be final. The first one is the intraventricular shunt placement , which is where a hole is drilled into the scalp to release the pressure on the brain by draining the brain fluid buildup, a tube is then inserted into that hole to extract the build-up fluid, and a dispenser bag hanging at the bedside collects the fluid as it drains from the scalp. Depending on the success of this procedure, the success is measured by how much fluid drains out per their calculations. This may t a k e several days with the patient lying on the bed during the drainage process, sorry to be so blunt but if you are to take anything from this information blog I must tell you what I witness done to Therese. The second step to the first step providing the surgeon is satisfied that the patient is ready to proceed to the next step is the intraventricular drain placed, it was twenty-five days later this procedure was performed on Therese, and the surgeons were pleased with the drainage and therefore proceeded to perform the intraventricular drain placed. CAUTION FOLKS… Two operations two different procedures, the first is the intraventricular shunt placement, in a nutshell, drill a hole in the head place a suction tube, and measure the drainage to a satisfactory limit CAUTION FOLKS . The second operation is the intraventricular drain placed, this surgery operation entails much more than the first to satisfy the first procedure, if it seems that I am going in circles bear with me for I had no knowledge of this procedure and I was not brief about it being done, I knew nothing at the time, however even though I was told it would not make any sense to me, so please right at this juncture make sure you are informed of what will be taking place on this surgery you must do! To be honest you must do it. CAUTION   FOLKS .   I   learned   later   on   after   making   research   on   this   last   surgery   procedure,   some   important   decisions have   to   be   made   concerning   the   placement   of   the   drainage   tube,   the   tube   itself   what   type   will   be   put   in,   and   a   whole   lot of   other   technicalities,   their   decision   will   be   made   for   you   if   you   don’t   intervene,   let   me   tell   you   there   is   a   lot   to   know in   this   juncture,   first   of   all   when   placing   the   suction   tube   it   can   go   into   the   tummy   or   it   can   be   left   outside,   there   are several   types   of   the   suction   tube   on   the   market,   please   research   and   make   your   decision   as   to   which   one   to   use, Therese   had   I   believe   a   ventriculoperitoneal     (VP   )   Shunt A,   what   is   it?     well,   Ventriculoperitoneal   Shunt   1   People   of any   age   can   develop   hydrocephalus   and   therefore   require   a   VP   shunt.   2   VP   shunt   procedure.   Doctors   typically perform   the   placement   of   a   VP   shunt   while   a   patient   is...   3   Recovery.   Recovery   from   a   VP   shunt   placement   takes   three to four days. 4 Risks of VP shunting don’t forget to read up on the risk of VP shunting. Naturally,   I   did   not   know   that   definitely   I   did   not   have   even   a   clue   even   though   it   was   now   residing   in Therese's   head,   to   make   matters   worse   they   did   not   tell   me   anything   about   what   I   have   just   told   you about   the   procedure,   because   I   did   not   ask   about   the   surgery   they   left   me   in   the   dark   blind   as   a   bat,   so yes here is the question. What is a vp Shunt procedure VP    shunting    is    a    surgical    procedure    that    primarily    treats    a    condition    called    hydrocephalus.   This condition   occurs   when   excess   cerebrospinal   fluid   (CSF)   collects   in   the   brain’s   ventricles.   ...   Doctors typically perform the placement of a VP shunt while a patient is under general anesthesia. Yes,   however,   if   you   have   a   loved   one   with   Hydrocephalus   I   employ   you   to   read   up   on   this   and   look closely   for   all   the   signs   involve,   of   course,   how   could   you   know   those   things   beforehand   luckily   for   you, you are reading my blog it will help you with some of the answers. OK,   it's   time   to   bring   you   up   to   par   with   the   procedure   done   on   Therese,   what   you   are   about   to   read   is   the   doctor's   general   information regarding   the   procedure   done,   and   its   aftermath.   We   will   skip   this   for   it   has   no   use   to   you   and   the   procedure   would   leave   you   clueless   as did to me, if you ask me what this means I would say it means a successful operation was done on Therese, A   successful   surgery   means   to   you   the   care   giver,   your   work   has   now   begun   how   will   it   affect   you   the   caretaker,   shortly   since   I   have   gone through this trip I will venture to tell you as the patient car giver what you should do to keep in the loop. After   the   (VP   )   Shunt   was   placed   in Therese's   head   she   spend   some   time   healing   at   the   hospital,   during   this   time   frame   interval   you   should decide   your   next   move.   Before   the   patient   is   released   you   are   given   several   choices   for   future   care   for   the   patient,   continuing   therapy   is   a must,   choose   wisely   where   you   put   your   loved   one,   there   is   a   good   reason   that   I   am   telling   you   to   choose   wisely,   in   Therese's   case   my choices were bad ones, keep reading to know why this is so important. NORMAL PRESSURE HYDROCEPHALUS OVERVIEW CAUTION   PLEASE   NOTE .   According   to   the   surgeon   who   operated   on   Therese   this   is   a   progressive   scan   of   her   brain   To   begin   with,   living   with Hydrocephalus,   yes   that   is   what   its   called,   read   carefully   this   is   not   your   everyday   illness   and   recovery   back   to   health   is   not   a   walk   in   the park, recovery from any sickness is never easy but this one is different quite different for you and especially the patient. At   the   time   of   Therese's   dismissal   no   one   told   me   the   huge   responsibility   I   would   go   through   nursing   her   back   to   health,   you   are   not being   told   that   because   you   at   the   time   don’t   realize   you   are   dealing   with   a   situation   involving   Hydrocephalus,   I   have   already explained   what   it   means   to   have   this   illness,   but   what   I   was   not   told   is   how   this   illness   affects   the   patient   and   what   happens   going forward   in   their   life,   both   the   caregiver   and   the   patient   as   well,   I   will   try   my   best   to   enlighten   you   as   to   the   observation   in   treating Therese for the last six years, After   the   first   three   months,   your   patient   will   exhibit   some   kind   of   behavior   issues,   this   is   the   reason   why   I   ask   you   to   choose carefully   the   rehab,   come   to   think   of   it   I   don’t   believe   the   rehab   is   the   problem,   it   could   be   the   finest   establishment   if   you   don’t have   prior   knowledge   of   this   illness   you   have   lost   the   battle,   I   believe   the   problem   lies   with   the   staffs   who   take   care   of   the patient and how much they know about Hydrocephalus. When I say the staff it comes with an explanation, In   Therese's   case,   she   has   been   kicked   out   of   both   rehab   which   I   chose   for   her,   yes   they   were   high-class   rehab Columbia   St.   Mary’s   and   Bellin   Hospital,   but   both   rehabs   found   fault   with   Therese   during   the   seven   weeks connectivity   she   stayed   there,   eventually   kicking   her   out   without   any   good   reason   other   than   she   is   stubborn   and hard     to deal with. NEXT SIGNS TO LOOK FOR AFTER A SUCCESSFUL VP SHUNTING

THERESE MEDICAL HISTORY

2022 The diary of Therese Atkins brought to you by - poetry Oasis and Kenvil Atkins for Pwindaykye

2021

Foward to PG 5