Happy Shunt Birthday to me!

Wahoo.....another shunt birthday! This is the third shunt birthday for this particular device....thank you Medtronic!

On average, shunts last 3-5 years so reaching this date feels a little thrilling and threatening. Thrilling because every day it lasts is an accomplishment, but the 3-year mark adds an imagined pressure in my mind.....oh, bad choice of words. :)

Anyway, last night and again this morning, my thoughts have been consumed with reliving that day. It all happened so quickly (which is expected) and before I had time to think, I was back to bald and staples. This is when they had checked me in and I was waiting for surgery (which was ridiculously fast because as you can see, I was about ready to pass out from pain....not exactly my finest hour - lol).Post surgery, my mom started keeping track of visitors....I was getting a little stir crazy in the hospital after a few hours without my email (ever the insane Type A person), so my mom was trying to distract me with visitors and list-keeping. We kept this up and continued updating it throughout my hospital stay. Thanks to those of you whose name is on this list!These are a few pics from different points in the healing process. (If you don't know about hydrocephalus, please visit www.hydroassoc.org for more information.)

In the past, I have always celebrated my shunt birthdays by Alex taking me to fantastic dinner and then picking out lots of presents (we celebrated shunt birthdays as much as Christmas and normal birthdays). Since that's obviously not happening this year - and I don't have other plans this evening - I am considering ordering myself a present from Crate and Barrel today. I am desperate to have 2 new sets of chargers, lime green and fuchsia pink (http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=14376&f=36910). No, I don't need them (I already have 8 colors of chargers), but none that are ruffled or in these colors so they seem super important for my shunt celebration. :) I hope y'all enjoy a wonderful Monday, April 19th!

(And yes, for those noting the time stamp, I am running late for work, but I had to post this early so I could celebrate the whole day)