RECOMMENDATIONS:

Firstly

have

regular

check-ups

with

the

neurosurgeon

this

will

help

ensure

that

the

shunt

is

working

correctly,

and

progress

is

on

track

freeing

you

to

live

a

normal

lifestyle.

Hydrocephalus

requires

long-term

follow-up

care

so

it

is

important

to

have

regular

check-ups,

Therese

attending

physician

dismissed

her

after

the

first

follow-up

without

scheduling

future

care,

the

neurosurgeon

needs

to

monitor

your

patient's

progress

and

make

a

test

for

any

changes

that

may

indicate

that

there

is

a

shunt

malfunction.

After

the

patient's

discharge,

there

will

be

a

transition

back

to

your

health

care

team,

and

attending

medical

check-ups

is

recommended,

Physical

and

occupational

therapy

may

speed

the

recovery

and

further

enhance

the

patient's

health,

since

this

is

all

about

Therese

you

need

to

know

that

Therese

had

her

share

of

therapy

done

at

home

by

a

private

company,

after

the

completion

of

the

schedule

seven

visits

her

therapy

is

being

done

by

me

her

husband.

I

have

cared

for

her

those

last

six

years

and

now

well

into

her

tenth

month

of

living

with

a

shunt,

so

many

strange

and

unusual

happenings

with

Therese

prompt

me

to

record

her

daily

life,

seeing

such

signs

as

walking

difficulties,

poor

bladder

control,

and

progressive

de

-

mentia,

all

of

this

can

be

slowed

down

given

the

proper

care,

that

being

said

brings

me

to

the

most

important

weapon

you

will

have

in

this

venture

it

is

emo

-

tional support.

EMOTIONAL

SUPPORT:

Whether

you

know

it

or

not

if

you

are

caring

for

someone

with

hydrocephalus

you

are

not

alone

there

is

an

institution

that

you

can

reach

out

to

for

help,

but

the

most

important

is

the

family

and

emotional

factors

for

you

and

the

family

must

be

considered

that

is

why

sharing

the

respon

-

sibilities

is

recommended

and

needed.

Regular

feelings

with

your

doctor

will

help

them

provide

the

best

professional

guidance

for

you,

while

the

help

of

rela

-

tives

and

friends

or

other

professional

help

may

be

necessary

for

moral

support

and

what

is

best

for

the

patient

to

accomplish

this

goal.

Therese

is

gradually

showing

signs

of

loss

of

interest

in

our

quality

time

together,

she

rather

spends

most

of

her

time

sleeping,

She

is

having

difficulties

moving

her

right

leg

when walking, Therese's shunt is placed on the right side of her head. I will be updating this blog four months from today.

THERESE TODAY: NEUROLOGY NEUROSURGERY: The surgery was performed because Therese needed to relieve pressure on her brain, which goes by the name of Hydrocephalus after a thorough examination of Therese the doctor recommended placing a shunt may be able to provide a long-term benefit. Without going into much detail about shunting, let me end by telling you about the different kinds of Shunts. Different Kinds of Shunts Different shunt systems re-route the excess fluid to: The abdomen The lung The heart The neurosurgeon will discuss the pros and cons of each approach with you, Therese procedure re-routes the excess fluid the abdomen. OK now back to when we left off, Therese was just approaching her eighth month of living with a shunt, remember me telling you about the rough time spent with her those first couple of months, the vomiting and the nightly visual watching over her making sure her throat passage is clear and so forth. Later came the difficulty in feeding herself, her total sanitation I mean everything, brushing her teeth, sponging her body and cleaning her private parts, styling her hair and cleaning up after herself when she uses the toilet, also doing the cooking and laundry, plus scheduling and maintaining her daily medication intake, making sure she attends her mandatory doctors visit. All of this may sound tiresome it is indeed tiresome when you don’t have any help with the mandatory tasks needed to keep her healthy. Somehow I have with the help of my God pulled through, Therese has been ill since 2017, she suffered several strokes, which left her speechless and unable to move her legs efficiently, she also has slight amnesia.

THERESE JOURNAL

What is a shunt? It is a hollow tube surgically placed in the brain (or occasionally in the spine) to help drain cerebrovascular fluid and redirect it to another location in the body where it can be reabsorbed. Four months ago if you have been following Therese journal I told you of the difficulties, the triumphs, and the failures, four months later today January 15th Therese is still with us, those last four months have not taken her for the worst, she is gradually making small strides on her own. FEEDING: Therese is trying to feed herself with great difficulties for example, she would stare at her plate in front of her contemplating what to do next, holding her hands and scooping up some food and placing it in her mouth seems to do the trick, she then will hold the utensils in her right hand continuously poking at the food while with the other hand, she will scoop up another portion from the plate, after she slows the helping she will then put the empty spoon to her mouth as if there were some residue of food to be eaten. STOOL: Therese has to stop vomiting after ingesting her meals, however using her bowels has become somewhat of a difficulty, she continuously has to struggle to accomplish number two, plus her stool is very hard, so a dose of a stool softener is needed periodically to accomplish a smooth bowel movement. SLEEP: Most nights she goes to bed at a scheduled time, it helps if you make up a sleep schedule time, it takes her roughly thirty minutes to fall asleep, sometimes more. Snoring is not something you want to hear when you go to bed next to someone, however, when you have a patient with a shunt sleeping next to you snoring comes like a welcome gesture. SANITATION: Therese is not able to sanitize herself, she needs help to get it done, again if you have a schedule that is a good thing, Therese schedule is flexible, at ten in the morning she takes her medication, followed by a bath, or a body sponge, first the top part then the bottom half, next she enjoys a cold or hot breakfast, by the end of her breakfast she returns to the toilet and then back to bed for another two hours of sleep Getting closer to Almighty God. Today Therese has a doctor's visit she is having her annual medicare wellness, to be honest, I look forward to the result for there is a secret I want to share with you, Therese has been ill a long time now however that space of time I have taken care of her, yes it's just Therese and myself in the home, Therese illness has brought me closer to Jehovah, you can say caring for her has become my joy for Jehovah God has touched and visit me often, yes that is my secret caring is sharing, caring is love, caring is patient, when combined you find out that you are closer to the god of creation Jehovah is his name.

Simply Devin Inspired by Jehovah Spirit Revelation Of A Poet

Jehovah who can be like you? Well, I thought I would have more to tell you, I thought Therese would decrease in capacity and worsen to the point of taking her to the hospital, but that is not the case she shows me that only God can heal, yes friends healthy she is just like you and me with ups and downs, next month will be the anniversary of the shunt placed in Therese's head if the Lord is willing I will get back to telling you about her progress, may the Lord bless you all and cheerios for now. Come back on Therese's Birthday Click birthday if the Lord Jehovah is willing Therese will then see her 77 birthday, come the month of May, for the blessings she has received from almighty God is priceless, come altogether let us praise Almighty God, the only God who created the universe, you can quote me but never doubt me, there none like Jehovah. Compassionate Family-centred Care We are all children of one God, with gifts to match our existence, there is no force placed upon you to serve him, but you do well if you surrender your will and become his servant, he will befriend you till the last minute of your life here upon this earth he has made by uttering only two words, let there be and it was, Thank you, Therese, for the joy you have given me throughout out our journey. LIVING WITH AN IMPLANTED SHUNT 2023 AUGUST REPORT: Howdah fellow traveler if you are reading this, then this is a continuing history of Therese Atkins, a patient living with a cerebral shunt, for those who are not familiar with the term, a Cerebral Shunt is a surgical procedure in which a tube is placed in the patient’s head to drain out excess fluid. Now that you have a little knowledge about the topic of my conversation, let’s proceed! It was well over a year ago that my wife Therese was operated on, she has been living with this.