is a VP shunt removal possible?

[taylord123]

I am a 14 boy, i received my VP shunt a little over a year ago,. it has affected my life in good and bad ways. I received it for PsuedoTumor Cerebri. I received 3 spinal taps prior to the shunt's placement. Yes, it has majorly helped my PTC, but it has limited me so much. I used to play football, and after a year off due to my surgery, the question has come up, shall i play again? The doctor who did the surgery, said he didnt see any problems with playing, except, all of the other doctors i have had all said no, except a few questionables.

on a side note, me and my friends all joke around about the "tube"/

I really really want to play football again, and i really just want this thing out of my head, the doctors all say a VP shunt can not be removed, but i believe there is still hope for me.

2 questions,
   1. after only about a year and a month or so, can a VP shunt be removed?
    2. If they can not remove the shunt, can i play football?
    

I may be young, but ive been through enough to know a lot about my "System(?)"
any help would be much appreciated.

thanks.

[Zubi22]

Hi
what do you mean by "disconnected" this disconnection was done surgically or it happened by itself, please do reply as my daughter is also having VP shunt and I want to know whether her shunt is working or not. Thanks

[murad_hafiz]

I am from Bangladesh.
On 25 November 2013 I became a father of a baby girl after 2 days on 27th the doctor said my daughter need to be VT Shunting immediately and the put a shunt on my daughter on 30th. Till I had no idea what the VP shunt is! From then I am surfing on internet looking for the answer when will my darling daughter move around free without the catheter under her skin. I don't want to believe that my daughter have to wear the catheter rest of her life.

[rreg]

I also have a shunt due to meningitis when i was only 9 months. I am soon to be 29 in a few months. I have dealt with bulllies as a kid and  people just curious to why I have a scar on my head. I  grew my hair out to cover the scar, however am proud to know I survived and am happy to tell my story. I didn't let it stop me from living and I am very athletic. I played basketball, track, football, volleyball etc all through high school. I have bumped my head a few times and am fine. The doctors also told me that my body has adjusted well and the shunt is not working no more. I was told however that it may cause more trouble than good  to remove it seeing that I have had it for so long and that tissues probably have grown around it. I am still going to inquire some more and have some scans done but if I can't remove it, am happy. I have lived healthy this long, and I rather live many more years with it than a miserable life without

[redhead1964]

Yes they can be removed. Depending on your situation you may need a shunt but there are alot of options now. I have PTC as well. I was diagnosed 3 years ago. I was shunted first because my ear doc had performed a myringotomy for fluid in my ears. It turned out to be leaking CSF. My Neurosurgeon put in a shunt to take the pressure off and devert the fluid. It was a programable shunt. It worked pretty good for a few months. Then it stopped working and he put a new one in as well as a second valuve for shutting this enterily down when i drained too much. Well then that one didnt quite drain enough. This past year a new programable valve came out to treat kids going through chemotherapy. My neurosurgeon said he thought it would work great for me becasue it has ten settings including a virutal off setting which allows it to come on by itself when my pressure rises. This seems to have done the trick. Yes it has taken me 3 years to really get in great shape but it sure beats the alternative. Do not give up and make your doctor think outside of the box for other options. Good luck everyone....

[Prettytessa020214]

My husband has a vp shunt since he was 8 years old and I was surprised reading the messages here that they had it revisioned. My husband told me that eversince he had the operation, he never had it revisioned. Now he is experiencing unexplainable headaches, pounding his head on the right side. His doctor told him to take pain killer like mefenamic acid or paracetamol but I know it's not just like that. This is the first time he experienced such aterrible headache, so painful that he does not even want to move. Can you please let me know any suggestioms that we need to do? Thank you so much.

[taylord123]

See, I've been working out a lot over the past 2 years, and I've slowly transformed my body from the chubby 14 year old I was when I wrote this. but now that I'm skinnier, I've been working on toning up my abs, and I'm just curious how its going to look around the incision in my stomach.
and how does it work around larger pec muscles?