I had a VP shunt placed 1 month ago, but due to such abdominal pain, I just had it removed. The shunt was working well, I just had these stabbing, unbearable abdominal pain and we just decided to remove it. The real way to tell if your shunt is working is to have a spinal tap (not so pleasant, but a lot better than surgery) and it is quick. This will show your opening pressure and then you will know if your shunt is working properly.(If your pressure is too high than it is not working well)
Unfortunately, I will probably have to have another shunt put in, just not in my stomach area. Hopefully they can find another place to put the other side of the shunt:) I have intracranial hypertension, pseudotumor cerebri~fluid and pressure on the brain.
Good luck,; I really hope you feel better.
By the way, my friend has had a VP shunt in for 2 years and it is working great:)
hi, i also have a VP shunt and have had since i was 14 months old, im now 17 and have had 2 revisions since, one being only 3 weeks ago and once when i was 4.
on both occassions, CT scans and shunt series did not find a thing on me and my intercranial pressure and they foound no problems, the only way they found out was when i went into a coma like state!!
on the most recent revision, i had no problems no headaches or anything, but a routine opthalmology check revealed i had papilledema behind my eyes indicating pressure inside my head.
i underwent a simple surgery the next day and had an intercranial pressure monitor fixed into my head and was monitored for about 12 hours...although its suppose to be for 48!
this showed that the pressure in my head was at 95! (typically being 5-10 for an average person)
i underwent the shunt revision hours after this and now im fine =D
i suggest you ask for the possibility of an ICP bolt to be considered, as this was the only way my pressure was found out. in the surgery when they drilled into my head the fluid shot out across the theatre, this happened both times, so yer good luck and hope this comes in handy! =D x