New Member - Sharsky

[sharsky]

Hi, I'm new to this forum and I joined because my 64 year old (healthy except controlled high blood pressure on one medication) father suffered a Grade 4 SAH Dec 26th 2014 and had endovascular coiling and had a prolonged hospital stay because of a bleeding gastric ulcer that required 10 units of blood and emergent endoscopic treatment of the ulcer.

He was in the hospital for almost 1 month.  He went home end of Jan an in Feb he wasn't improving much motor and cognitive wise and in fact completely stopped talking.  His repeat CT end of Feb showed hydrocephalus so on March 6th he had a VP shunt placed.  He was in the hospital for 2 weeks after the VP shunt since he kept having nausea/vomiting.

The doctors said it wasn't due to the shunt, but due to ileus or his bowels not moving well.  Since being home he continues to have vomiting 3 hours after meals but he's been having bowel movements.

For those who have a VP shunt, did you have symptoms like this after the shunt was placed?  Any input would be much appreciated.

[Tina]

Hi Sharsky a very warm welcome to BTG

I don't have a VP shunt but others on here do and will be able to share their experiences.

Glad you found us.

Wishing you and your Father well.

Look forward to hearing more from you, take care.

[Mandy Wright]

Hi Sharsky and welcome to the forum. I'm afraid I don't have a shunt either but others will be along soon to share their experiences, I'm sure. I do hope that your dad starts to improve soon, for both your sakes. Mx

[Winb143]

Hi Sharsky,

 

I have a shunt fitted and I was sick a few times.

 

Does Dad chew his food in small bite sizes as I used to gulp mine down then felt the need to be sick.

 

If in any doubt take him to Docs/Surgeon.

 

My Family gave me some boiled water. old fashioned !!

 

We can't give medical advice on here as we are not medically qualified, only our experiences.

 

I do hope your Dad feels better soon.

 

Good Luck to you All

 

WinB143 xx

[Super Mario]

It could be that the shunt is not on the correct setting for your dad. It does take a while sometimes to find. The correct setting for everybody is different. Seek medical attention and ask for another referral to see his neurosurgeon.

[Daffodil]

Hi Sharsky, sorry to hear about your Dads recent ordeal. Your description took me back a bit. I also had a grade 4 and then subsequently had to go back and have a VP shunt placed when the hydrocephalus reappeared and they couldn't control it with lumbar punctures and yes I also suffered a LOT of sickness after the shunt was placed . As Super Mario said it may be the shunt may not be at the right setting for him but also shunts can overdrain sometimes as well so if his sickness continues they might decide that needs to be checked. We can't advise you medically so best seek some proper and knowledgable advice from the neuro team.

I have learnt from my experiences that Shunts are put in at a factory setting recommended based on the persons size/ weight and some other factors in order to trigger draining but that's not the right level for everyone, it's wasn't for me and ii was pretty miserable until i got to the right one. I knew it was brain related and CSF fluids so I pushed for changes to my setting ( although it was pretty obvious as I couldn't even raise my head) as I could compare it to my reaction post lumbar punctures when I had to have pretty significant intervention to manage the sickness each time including sub cutaneous intravenous anti sickness meds because I reacted so strongly if my CSF pressures went too low for me.

I became quite familiar with signs of low or high pressure during this period. Don't forget though that he is also recovering from the effect of having been accustomed to having a unusually level of high pressure on the brain from the hydrocephalus and it's now being managed at safe but lower levels but this takes a while for the brain to adjust in my experience plus it's healing from SAH. It'll improve in time.

Anyway I Definitely suggest you contact the team who treated him and ask them to listen to Dad and investigate rather than trying to battle with the sickness, I would really hope there is a specialist nursing team you could contact to chat through , I also had to have anti sickness meds for months after shunt was placed until we finally established my good setting, it took some time but we did get there. Does he have any other effects or symptoms that increase with the sickness like dizziness, loss of words, head pain as that could indicate if it is connected to the shunt or not.

Win gives good advice to cope with sickness though , small meals, small bites, don't allow him to get hungry if you can, I had build up shakes, not nice but helped keep me topped up, also don't lie completely flat and always try to raise up from sitting or lying in very slow gentle stages until you get used to the way the shunt drains, no getting up quickly.

Good luck and Pass him our regards.