Actually looking forward to brain surgery

I was hoping they got you fixed up. I'd wish you good luck but I hope the surgeons are skillful enough so you won't need luck.

As the saying goes, "If it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all."
 
Speedy recovery, brah.

tenor.gif
 
ralphc1 said:
I was hoping they got you fixed up. I'd wish you good luck but I hope the surgeons are skillful enough so you won't need luck.

As the saying goes, "If it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all."
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Haha yeah, the bad luck has been piling up the last 7 months, but this surgeon I’ve got on my side in Vancouver is one of the best, so I’m in good hands now I think.

Love that song. Cream was truly one of the greatest bands.
 
Starck said:
How'd you make it in China for years with this shit? Does it usually go years between problems?
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As a kid it would only go about 3 years in between shunt revisions, and when I was 10 I had two surgeries in Calgary within a week during Easter holidays. That sucked lol.

But then I went 14 years without a surgery, then 3 within a year. One was in Calgary, then one in mainland China a year later at a public hospital in Kunming where that surgeon fucked up royally, so I had to get flown to Hong Kong to get it done right.

After the surgery in Hong Kong (that surgeon was awesome. Brilliant guy who did his schooling in UK) I went 15 years until I had two surgeries in 2017 here in Kelowna (since they didn’t fix the problem properly the first time, so I had a second surgery a couple of days later), then this time having that forming panel fall on my head in December triggering this shunt malfunction. If I didn’t have that panel land on me I would probably still be going strong right now with no problems.

That “surgeon” in the public hospital in Kunming should be fucking shot (not kidding), since he almost killed me. The surgeon in Hong Kong told me that that idiot didn’t anchor the shunt valve with a suture, so it pulled out of my ventricle and slid down to my neck while I was going for a walk. I very easily could have died from that. Asshat. The surgeon in HK actually had to drill another hole in my skull at the front and put the shunt there (my hair covers the scar).

But that was a public hospital where they don’t give a fuck. The good surgeons in China get snatched up by the good foreign private hospitals. My mom had an excellent surgeon do her surgery for chronic appendicitis in a brand new hospital in Kunming years after my shitty surgery. There are good surgeons and other doctors in mainland China. You just have to know where to find them.

But yeah, generally as an adult I’ve usually gone several years in between shunt revisions. Sometimes the entire shunt is replaced, valve and ventricle catheter and all, and sometimes only the bottom tubing is replaced without having to go digging around in my brain.

Cliffs:
1. With great difficulty
2. As an adult, yes.
 
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koolinkunming said:
As a kid it would only go about 3 years in between shunt revisions, and when I was 10 I had two surgeries in Calgary within a week during Easter holidays. That sucked lol.

But then I went 14 years without a surgery, then 3 within a year. One was in Calgary, then one in mainland China a year later at a public hospital in Kunming where that surgeon fucked up royally, so I had to get flown to Hong Kong to get it done right.

After the surgery in Hong Kong (that surgeon was awesome. Brilliant guy who did his schooling in UK) I went 15 years until I had two surgeries in 2017 here in Kelowna (since they didn’t fix the problem properly the first time, so I had a second surgery a couple of days later), then this time having that forming panel fall on my head in December triggering this shunt malfunction. If I didn’t have that panel land on me I would probably still be going strong right now with no problems.

That “surgeon” in the public hospital in Kunming should be fucking shot (not kidding), since he almost killed me. The surgeon in Hong Kong told me that that idiot didn’t anchor the shunt valve with a suture, so it pulled out of my ventricle and slid down to my neck while I was going for a walk. I very easily could have died from that. Asshat. The surgeon in HK actually had to drill another hole in my skull at the front and put the shunt there (my hair covers the scar).

But that was a public hospital where they don’t give a fuck. The good surgeons in China get snatched up by the good foreign private hospitals. My mom had an excellent surgeon do her surgery for chronic appendicitis in a brand new hospital in Kunming years after my shitty surgery. There are good surgeons and other doctors in mainland China. You just have to know where to find them.

But yeah, generally as an adult I’ve usually gone several years in between shunt revisions. Sometimes the entire shunt is replaced, valve and ventricle catheter and all, and sometimes only the bottom tubing is replaced without having to go digging around in my brain.

Cliffs:
1. With great difficulty
2. As an adult, yes.
Click to expand...
Have lived in China for 6 years, luckily never had to get surgery done. It's funny tho, locals generally regard the big public hospitals as being head and shoulders above others. I've not had any bad experiences (besides TCM being pushed on me) in either public or private hospitals except for some medical student who fucked up a ruptured eardrum of mine even worse on a Sunday afternoon.
 
Starck said:
Have lived in China for 6 years, luckily never had to get surgery done. It's funny tho, locals generally regard the big public hospitals as being head and shoulders above others. I've not had any bad experiences (besides TCM being pushed on me) in either public or private hospitals except for some medical student who fucked up a ruptured eardrum of mine even worse on a Sunday afternoon.
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They like the public hospitals cause they’re cheaper and have a fast system testing and diagnosing. I’ll never get surgery in a public hospital there again. No thanks. Your eardrum ordeal is pretty much par for the course in the public ones.

My mom had her surgery at the new (at the time) Tongren Hospital there. Can’t say enough good things about that one.

I’m still on the fence about whether hospital care here in BC or at the private hospitals in mainland China is better though.
 
koolinkunming said:
They like the public hospitals cause they’re cheaper and have a fast system testing and diagnosing. I’ll never get surgery in a public hospital there again. No thanks. Your eardrum ordeal is pretty much par for the course in the public ones.

My mom had her surgery at the new (at the time) Tongren Hospital there. Can’t say enough good things about that one.

I’m still on the fence about whether hospital care here in BC or at the private hospitals in mainland China is better though.
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Public hospitals are packed madhouses here, or at least the biggest ones are. The big private hospital is pretty low traffic and only marginally more expensive, so I typically just go there.
 
Starck said:
Public hospitals are packed madhouses here, or at least the biggest ones are. The big private hospital is pretty low traffic and only marginally more expensive, so I typically just go there.
Click to expand...
I had to go in for a routine test a few weeks ago and the place was empty. It was before the mask law was enforced but everyone still was wearing one, till I had the procedure where I had to take it off.
 
fingercuffs said:
I had to go in for a routine test a few weeks ago and the place was empty. It was before the mask law was enforced but everyone still was wearing one, till I had the procedure where I had to take it off.
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Being in an empty medical facility sure does feel good, doesn't it? I'm accustomed to lines and having to wait forever for results.
 
koolinkunming said:
Here’s a link that explains the days following surgery:

https://www.healthline.com/health/ventriculoperitoneal-shunt#outlook
View attachment 775622 View attachment 775623 View attachment 775624
View attachment 775625
In the following weeks I’ll be laid up due to stitches and my equilibrium being a little off, but after a week or so I’ll be able to do the usual things around the house, go for short walks, etc. On a side note, sexy time with the missus is fine right off the bat as long as she’s gentle. Driving isn’t recommended for 6 months or something but I don’t have any way around that. I’ll just have to be more aware and cautious.
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Can you go to the hospital and refuse to leave until you get a bed? Much safer than being at home.

Please contact newspapers also.

The hospitals treatment of you seems very negligent. Is this normal in Canada?
 
MXZT said:
Are you going to be knocked out before the surgery?

And good luck to you, hope everything turns out well.
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God damn, I sure hope so. <45>

Wish you the best T.S.

May you live a long heakthy life.
 
Starck said:
Public hospitals are packed madhouses here, or at least the biggest ones are. The big private hospital is pretty low traffic and only marginally more expensive, so I typically just go there.
Click to expand...

Hasn't changed a bit then. lol
 
Shit man. I’m sorry to hear this. Hope you get the attention you need. As a Canadian, I hate to hear this. Hopefully you get treated soon.
 
ikareteru said:
Can you go to the hospital and refuse to leave until you get a bed? Much safer than being at home.

Please contact newspapers also.

The hospitals treatment of you seems very negligent. Is this normal in Canada?
Click to expand...

Yeah, you can refuse to leave, but then they'll just try to ignore you or be lax with treatment. Not much you can do. Actually last week I basically just stayed there until they saw I wasn't gonna leave and insisted they bring down a neurosurgeon to check me. Turns out he's the head surgeon at the hydrocephalus clinic at the hospital, so I lucked out getting to see him at all.

I'm back in Kelowna at home right now, but I think my old man is ready to drive back at the drop of a hat. I'm trying to grin and bear it until tomorrow, then be in emerg Monday morning.

I've seen way worse instances than what I'm going through on the news in the past, and it's well known that BC's health care is going down the shitter.
 
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