Firstly, a little background. I was born three months prematurely back in 1984. Due to this being the case, my brain didn't have time to fully develop my ventricles. So, I developed hydrocephalus or water on the brain. My body was unable to naturally control my brain pressure and drain off the excess brain fluid.
For this reason, the doctors implemented a gravity fed pump that was connected to a tube which drained the excess fluid into my stomach. Actually, it took them three tries to get a shunt implanted that would work correctly. Other than having a shunt tube extension surgery when I was 13, I had no other major issues with my shunt until I was 35 in 2020.
I was always prohibited from playing contact sports due to the risk of damaging my shunt. I was also prohibited from scuba diving because the downward pressure would crush the shunt. I never had an interest in scuba diving though. Additionally, I was bad at mental math and making decisions on the fly.
All of these downsides were things that I could live with though. I had a relatively normal life. I traveled the world, worked as an English teacher, got married and had a child. Life was pretty good. I always knew in the back of my mind, that my shunt could fail. However, I never expected the six years and counting of recovery that I have had.
One day (I can't remember exactly when) back in 2020, I woke as normal but I was dizzy vomiting and I couldn't walk. I knew something was wrong immediately because I had been living normal life just 24 hours previously. I immediately went to the hospital here in Pamplona Spain. Luckily, they got me looked at quite quickly. I was diagnosed with catastrophic vp shunt failure. Due to being 35 years old my entire shunt system failed all at once.
The immediate affect of the shunt failure, was an uncontrolled increase in my brain pressure. This caused my left pupil to shift off center which affects my balance. The increase in brain pressure also caused facial paralysis similar to a stroke victim, even though I never had a stroke. The uncontrolled increase in brain pressure caused damage to the fourth ventricle in my brain. This is the ventricle which controls your speech, balance, stability and mobility.
As a result of all of this, between 2020-2022, I was constantly in and out of the hospital here in Pamplona. They ended up having to implant a second vp shunt, only dedicated to my fourth ventricle, which had walled itself off and was no longer communicating with the other three ventricles. I ended up having six full brain surgeries between 2020-2022. I was even the first person in Spain to undergo a surgery where they tried to implant a stent on my brain, with the goal of unblocking my fourth ventricle and getting me back to one shunt only. Unfortunately, that surgery failed.
It was during this time, that I was put on a total liquid diet due to the facial paralysis and my inability to hold down solid food. I was vomiting nearly constantly. I lost weight until I was just skin and bones.
Fast forward to 2023, the doctors in Pamplona were out of ideas. They tried their best to help me but I was not getting any better. We started a search for another neurosurgeon. We ended up finding Doctor Poca in Barcelona, Spain. She is actually a pediatric neurosurgeon. However, she agreed to take me on as a patient.
We got me transfered to Barcelona and under doctor Poca's care I ended up having six additional brain surgeries. She took out everything that I had previously, and she gave me two new programmable vp shunts which can have their pressure adjusted up or down, via a special magnet rather than undergoing another brain surgery only to adjust the shunt pressure.
One of the problems that I was having was that my two shunts that they gave me in Pamplona, had no way to sync with each other. So, one would work and the other would not. This was causing me a lot of issues. Dr. Poca solved this issue by giving me two new programmable vp shunts which did have the ability to sync together and not fight against each other. She also solved the issue of my near constant vomiting. She discovered an old piece of my original vp shunt tube lodged in my stomach lining and after she removed it, I was able to gain weight again and go back to eating solid food.
By the time I get released to go back home to Pamplona Spain with my wife and daughter Eliana Valentina, I had spent about nine months cumulatively in the hospital and undergone 12 brain surgeries and one failed eye surgery to try and correct my off centered left pupil. However, I was finally stable and able to slowly but surely recover at home with my family.
Because of the fact that during all of my hospitalizations I went through a period of clinical depression. I was put on an antidepressant. Luckily, I never got bad enough to want to end my life. However, I did naturally have lower levels of dopamine in my brain. That is the chemical that gives you motivation, reward, drive and happiness. For this reason, I wasn't motivated to do anything. I only opened my eyes because it was an automatic response from my body. I got no enjoyment out of life. I was stuck in this negative cycle for a long time. Never being motivated to get any better, never seeing any significant progress. Because I never saw any progress, I was never motivated to try and the negative cycle continued.
After a year or two, my depression lifted and I got taken off of my antidepressant. However, I still wasn't seeing any significant progress. That is, until I had the opportunity to return home to Texas in January of 2026. I won't rehash everything but needless to say, I started making huge progress.
This has not been an easy road to recovery for me or anyone else around me. This has profoundly changed my life in more ways than one. I went from having a relatively normal life, not being dependent on anyone, to in 24 hours, being totally dependent on my wife and those around me just for my daily basic needs. I am dealing with both limited mobility and facial paralysis at the same time. I never expected this nor would I wish this upon my worst enemy.
However, I consider myself very fortunate. I have family and friends who love me. An amazing wife, daughter and inlaws. I do not have a degenerative condition, in fact my situation is exactly the opposite. With time and effort, I will only continue to improve. The closer I get to normal life, the closer I can get everyone around me who supports me back to normal life also. Life is not easy but I have so much to live for. I am looking forward to the possibility of walking again unassisted via the help that I am getting from my Pons Training (see my separate blog post for more details). It is extremely demanding, working out six times a day, six days a week. However, if it actually restores my mobility then it will be worth it. Having to deal with only facial paralysis will be so much easier. I am so much better off than some other people despite all of my struggles. I am grateful, thankful and blessed for every day that I remain above ground.
Til next time, Tyler
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