Finally got into see a neurosurgeon to follow up on my hospital stay back at the end of April. I again have to say how great the staff at Hamilton General are. A doctor came out to the waiting room to call me in, and her first words were "we've met before". She was the NS that performed the bedside lumbar puncture back on May 3rd, the only time we met, but she did remember me.
After a review of my case history and discussion of my current situation, she consulted with the neuro surgeon I was scheduled to see, then brought him into the room. A little more discussion and the conclusion was once again, we are going to untie the shunt on my left side and have both running again. The right side appears to be low in pressure as the bulb does not refill quickly when pressed, but the left side could be moving back into the high pressure range given the fact that I'm once again hearing the "swooshing" sound in my ears when I lay down, bend forward or do anything that causes me to strain. I'm waiting now for a call to go in and have the procedure done, fortunately it is just a simple incision and removal of the surrounding sutures under a local anesthetic.
I'm also waiting on a call for a pain management appointment. It appears the original pain management doctor I was referred to a year ago is no longer around and explains why I haven't received a follow up call since the office cancelled my appointment that was scheduled for October. (I assumed I was still on the wait list as it can be up to 2 years just to hear about an initial appointment)
Hopefully, there won't be too long a wait to get in and be seen by someone as over the counter Tylenol and ibuprofen do not manage the pain very well.
