Monday, September 29, 2008

Hydrocephalus


This picture might be a little more clarifying. The image on the left has hydrocephalus--this is similar to how Jeff's brain looked prior to the surgery. The image on the right is a normal brain with a functional draining system. The ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt was placed in the third ventricle which is the area where the white arrow is pointing to. Pretty soon--if the shunt works correctly--Jeff's brain will look like the normal one. I also thought I might add that when Jeff and I were in the ER Friday night, Dr. Gaufin, the wonderful neurosurgeon, said that he had performed 300-400 of these procedures and that there was a 95% chance of everything going as planned. So we are thankful that everything did!

A Weekend To Remember

This past weekend has been one that I will never forget. Hopefully I can tell you the story of my brain surgery experience. On Thursday I went in for an eye appointment to update my prescription and buy another year's worth of contacts. My eye doctor saw something on the photos of the inside of my eye where the optic nerve is. He noticed a change from last year that he thought might be something significant, but I felt completely normal and had none of the symptoms that he mentioned. He wanted me to go to the BYU health center within the next couple of weeks just to make sure and mentioned he would call them and explain the situation. That night, when I was in class, I received a call from the health center telling me I needed an MRI ASAP. Friday during my lunch break, I went and got an MRI of my brain to confirm that it was nothing. The doctor there told me they would have the results back by Mon or Tuesday. Friday evening at 6:00 PM I received a call with the results back from my MRI. The doctor explained to me that I had spinal fluid blockage in my brain and the pressure was building up in my ventricles. He continued to tell me to go to the ER immediately and see a neurosurgeon about having surgery. Saturday Morning at 11:00 am I went in for brain surgery to correct the hydrocephalus and I had a shunt placed in my brain to help the fluid drain. The shunt goes from inside my brain all the way down into my abdominal cavity where the spinal fluid will now drain when the pressure gets too high. I feel really grateful for my eye doctor who saw something different and had the courage to act and make sure it got taken care of. The surgery went as planned and I was able to come home Sunday evening with some painkillers and an amazing wife to help take care of me. As long as a painkiller enters my body every four hours I am doing okay for having brain surgery two days ago. To think that if the doctors hadn't corrected the problem, serious issues would have risen such as a coma or even death. I feel eternally grateful for all those involved and for all those that helped with me. Life can be short and we need to always be prepared for anything that comes are way. The Lord cares about us and loves us so much. I felt his love through him and all his children that helped me.

Had to make due with the haircut. Ranked #7 in the country how can you not put it on your head.
This is where the tube ends in my stomach.

Here's the scar from the hole they drilled in my skull (dime size) Going for a Walk, I literally felt like a Old Man who was 80 yrs old.

Friday, September 12, 2008

It's Been an Interesting Morning

So far today I have:

1. Built a bookshelf
2. Broken out in hives all over my body. I have never had hives before so it's quite strange.
3. Killed the LARGEST spider I have EVER seen with a hammer.

Kind of a weird start to my day...

-Brianne