A quick update on my situation. I have left the hospital after a 2 day stay and I'm recouping in a nearby hotel. My body is completely shot from the no sleep or food that comes with tricky surgeries. Like the flu: chills, hot, weak, sleepy, in pain, and moments of adrenaline "peppiness." I've managed to eat a bit without throwing it all up. I am getting stronger slowly but surely.

Now for the results. While in the hospital, they drilled a super small hole in my skull to install a tiny long tube to a pressure monitor. After monitoring me for a day and night, they found that my inter cranial pressure is within normal parameters. This means that my shunt is working properly. Good news / bad news. They did not need to install new full body shunt tubing, which would have been a very taxing and dangerous surgery. Bad news, my headaches are due to something else. Good news, they do a ton of scans before surgery, so the headaches are not due to anything major life threatening such as a cancer. They have recommended me a headache specialist. And I will be meeting with many experts to collect a range of opinions.

Emotionally, I am pissed. I have a hard time emotionally believing this is true. I was looking forward to getting everything replaced. I was confident I was going to survive the great danger and the long recovery process. I was convinced the issue was my brain's pressure.

Intellectually, I am accepting. Dr. Bergsnieder is one of the best, if not the best in the world. When I share I am working with Bergsnieder with other great neurosurgeons I have worked with, I am met with looks of wonder, jealousy, and excitement. "Oh My god! He's the guru!" I trust his judgement and diagnoses on this explanation of my headaches.

I remain wary that my shunt tubing is old, brittle and tight. I suspect it will come detracted eventually. When that happens, then I will likely get everything replaced. And medical procedures will have advanced even more, and my risks will be less. For example, 7 years ago, installing a pressure monitor was so huge and bulky that you might as well do whole body surgery instead. Today, pressure monitors are risky, yes, but not nearly so.