Vp shunt and random fits.

[Governoress86]

Hi all

I have a 7 year old dd who was 11 weeks 6days prem. Long story short she had to have a vp shunt inserted 2 months after she was born due to a bleed on the brain.

When she was 4 she started having fits but only 2 a year around march- august and is still having them now. They are completely random. However the neurosurgeon says that there is nothing wrong with the shunt and was referred to the epilepsy clinic where dd had bloods and an eeg done but discharged her before we got the results.

The nuerosurgeon has re referred us again and have an appointment on 10/03/17.

After these episodes she goes completely back to herself and the fits only lasts a few seconds to a minute.

She has chicken pox at the moment and she had a fit yesterday and nearly went into another one today but she lay down and was fine after 10 mins or so.

I am just wondering if anyone else has had the same problem.

Sorry for the long essay.

That sounds very frightening. DS2 had a very similar start in life to your DD and is also 7. He hasn't had any fits.

How often do you see the neurosurgeon? I would have thought it would be something they would be concerned about and trying to get answers for you. I hope you get some at your appointment.

The nuerosurgeon is not overly concerned with it at all. We see the nuerosurgeon once every 12 months.

It is very frightening. I just want to know what is causing the fits.

Sometimes I feel like vp shunts are a bit of a mystery even to the neurosurgeons who put them in. DS2 had a bit of a scare over the summer when he had blocked shunt symptoms and there was no way of knowing if it was or wasn't unless he became very ill.

When you went to the epilepsy clinic, did they give any indication that they thought the fits were connected to the shunt? Might it be from when she was a baby and had the bleed on the brain?

DS2 has some slight motor skills problem and problems with reading and writing and I think this is from the damage the bleeds and hydrocephalus did to his brain rather than anything to do with the shunt.

It's really hard not having clear cut answers and I'm often disappointed that the experts don't have them either even though they did a brilliant job when it was a crisis.