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All About VP Shunt Surgery
*** Disclaimer: I am not a doctor. I am not a medical professional. All medical information is based off of personal experience only. If you are experiencing a medical issue or emergency, please seek a health professional first and foremost. *** What is a VP Shunt? A VP Shunt is a medical device used to help divert excess spinal fluid from around the brain into the abdomen where it can be reabsorbed. To get a bit more technical, VP is short for “Ventriculo-Peritoneal”. The shunt is inserted into the “ventricles” or cavities of the brain where the CSF (cerebral-spinal fluid) is then transferred to the “peritoneal” (abdominal) region of the…
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What is Intracranial Hypertension – Pseudotumor Cerebri?
(video below) Intracranial Hypertension is a rare neurological condition in which spinal fluid pressure increases around the brain and spinal cord, often times for no reason whatsoever. This condition also goes by the name pseudo-tumor cerebri, meaning “false brain tumor”, because the symptoms often mimic that of a brain tumor. Symptoms Include: Headache Fullness or pressure in head Nausea Vomiting Dizziness Balance Issues Back Pain Jaw Pain Neck stiffness & pain Whooshing noise in ears (Pulsatile Tinnitus) Auditory changes Ear Fullness Vision changes Pain when looking to the side Papilledema (swelling of the optic nerve) Vision loss What It Feels Like: Like thick caulk is filling up your head and…
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The Way, The Truth, & The Lyme
The Testimony of Jessica Johnson Creatively Transcribed by April Normand When I say Lyme Disease, what is the first thing you think of? Ticks, no doubt. Want to know what I think of? The inability to walk. The feeling of cement in my legs. Being completely unable to move my neck. Inflammation within and behind my eyes that makes it too painful to even see. Spine shattering, gut damaging, life changing chronic illness. That’s what I think of. My Story My name is Jessica Johnson. I was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida, a place of beaches, campgrounds, military, and shrimping. Where small town living meets the big city. The…
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What is Lyme Disease?
Lyme Disease is an infectious disease that can develop when a particular bacteria has invaded the human body. Causes There are many species of bacteria involved in Lyme Disease across the world, but the most common one is known as borrelia burgdorferi. When a tick infected with the Lyme bacteria bites a human, that bacteria can be transmitted into the bloodstream. Although more research is needed in terms of transmission, it is important to note that this bacteria has also been found in other insects such as mosquitoes, fleas, deer flies, spiders, and horse flies. Though Lyme Disease has not been proven to be contagious, it can be sexually transmitted…
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Eight Survival Tips for the Isolated, by the Isolated
I have to say, this time of quarantine has honestly not been so bad. Because for the most part, nothing for me has changed. February 2018, I became too sick to continue going to work. By March, I no longer even had a vehicle. It was just me and my baby home every day all day. And that’s how it’s been nearly every day for the past two years. Now given, I was often too sick to even get out of bed. And yes, many days I had someone there to help me. But it never changed the fact that we were always home and rarely venturing out. So when…
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Depression
⊗ Trigger Warning: This following post contains sensitive material about depression and suicidal thoughts. Please proceed with caution. ⊗ Sometimes I feel brave enough to say it. Sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I feel empowered. I feel stronger. I feel a purpose. And then sometimes I feel nothing but shame. A woman once said not everything has to be shared. I had hoped this could be one of those things. But not everything that is needed to be said is easy to be said. This is that. It has been little over a year since I overcame the very lowest part of my life. But I’m not talking about depression alone.…
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What Are You Afraid Of?
It’s funny. I was the child always terrified of going to the doctor. I was the one who built up major anxiety over visiting the dentist or hospital for a checkup. Who would have thought I would one day have no choice but to overcome my fears. While I thought pregnancy had cleared me of most fear and humility, I was quickly proven wrong. Although both my epidural and blood patch had caused little pain, I was beyond terrified when it came to getting my first spinal tap. As symptoms progressed that summer of 2017, I knew the inevitable was coming, and no amount of mental prepping could relieve my…
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Claiming Thankfulness
Sickness did not sneak up on me. Sickness did not work its way into my life because of any bad health decisions I made. There was no family history waiting to show itself again. In fact, I was perfectly healthy for twenty five years, never a broken bone, rarely a visit to the doctor. My sickness had a cause. My sickness started the day my epidural went wrong. Science is still a mystery to most, and our bodies can do some fascinating things, but no one will ever convince me that my sickness just developed on its own. You don’t go from leaking spinal fluid from a faulty epidural to…
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Not by Sight
Oddly enough, Intracranial Hypertension supposedly can’t kill you. But *spoiler alert* it can make you go blind. When spinal fluid pressure begins to build, there aren’t very many places it can go. This leaves it to push on anything it possibly can, including the optic nerves of your eyes. This type of trauma to the optic nerves causes them to swell, leading to a condition known as papilledema. If left untreated, your vision typically only worsens with the possibility of eventually (or even suddenly) going blind. But God told me I would never go blind. He will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,…
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The Five Lies of Disability – Breaking the Stigma
As if being physically impaired isn’t enough, there can be a lot of mental and emotional damage that tends to affect the sick as well. As one who has lived on both sides of the spectrum of being perfectly healthy and chronically ill, I have experienced firsthand how these thoughts can take their toll. You feel ashamed. Embarrassed. Humiliated. You don’t want to be seen as different. You don’t want to be viewed as fragile. You feel guilty. You should be working. You shouldn’t be in bed all day. You should be taking care of your family, your home. You feel doubt. What if no one believes me? What if…
