Thanks to all of you who responded to my post on changes and worries. Your well-wishes have calmed me down, even though I’ve not taken any action on the voicemail situation yet.
Oddly, those of you who wrote concerning your own issues with technology soothed me the most! I guess it’s true that misery loves company. I hope each of you gets resolution soon.
Since writing about my phone predicament eased my angst, I’m going to burden you with one more change I’ve been dealing with. I’ve written before about the shunt that was installed in my brain in 2017 to drain off excess cerebral spinal fluid after I was diagnosed with normal pressure hydrocephalus.
One of the symptoms the shunt helps with is my sense of balance, so after taking a recent trip to Colorado and noticing that I was having trouble walking without holding someone’s hand, I decided to gather more information about my condition.
The neurosurgeon who did my procedure retired, so I was referred to Dr. S. who wanted a CT scan and a series of x-rays of my shunt to be done before he would make an appointment to see me. This request required referrals from my PCP who is on leave, and this slowed down the process.
When these referrals were accomplished, I ventured downtown to a maze of buildings and parking lots I’d never visited before. The tests weren’t invasive, so that was a good thing, and the surgeon’s office got the test results a matter of seconds after the tests were completed. But then I learned that the earliest appointment was in two weeks.
When the appointment finally came and I was sitting in the exam room, he took a quick look at the test results and informed me the shunt setting was at 2. The records indicated that my surgeon had set it at 1.5.
I had known nothing about shunt settings and suddenly realized that I am carrying around a sophisticated piece of equipment. He adjusted the setting by holding a device up to my skull and informed me that he wanted to see me in eight weeks.
It’s been a little over two weeks now and I am feeling a little more like myself every day. Thanks for reading about this change I’m dealing with. I wanted you to know.
