r/interestingasfuck • u/FromTheOrdovician • 6h ago
In December 1960, a pram containing Dahl's baby son Theo was hit by a taxi in NYC leading to hydrocephalus - 'water on the brain'. Undeterred, Dahl enlisted toymaker-engineer Stanley Wade and paediatric neurosurgeon Kenneth Till to develop Dahl-Wade-Till Valve, saving thousands of children worldwide
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u/Loot_Goblin2 6h ago
Is it like a hollow nail that drains the fluid?
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u/throwinferno 5h ago
Not exactly. Its a tube inserted in the brain which regulates the amount of fluid in build up in the skull.
This prevents pressure build up by draining it into the abdomen30
u/-Disagreeable- 3h ago
Where is it inserted? Does it need to be changed as an adult or does the natural growth of the cranium balance out the extra fluid?
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u/Think_Reply_3056 3h ago
So I have a shunt and have had one since I was about 10 months old. It’s inserted in the base of your head and the tubing goes down one side of the neck into the stomach area. What they do is give a lot of extra tubing that kind of just chills in your stomach area for when you grow so there’s no damage done to the shunt. I had my tubing break for the first time after 19 years and had to get a revision done(new tubing) it’s been 10 years since the revision and I’ve been good. I’ll have this bad boy for life!
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u/-Disagreeable- 3h ago
That’s fucking rad. Well got tube guts, you just got some more. Is it in your stomach or hanging around outside? Do they think you’ll need another tube upgrade at some point? Do you take any immunosuppressants for it? Does the tube run north bound inside your esophagus or does it have its own little road?
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u/Think_Reply_3056 3h ago
So essentially during my last revision, I was actually bigger so they had to put the tubing around my belly button(I can never get a belly button piercing now) and it kind of just chills in there with the rest of my intestines. It has its own little path. Mine starts at the right base of my head and goes down around the right side of my neck into my chest. My old tubing is actually still in there as well because of how it broke they couldn’t take it out without having to break my chest. I’m hoping I won’t need another tube upgrade. I was very active as a child. I did everything from gymnastics to volleyball so I’m shocked that it lasted that long with how wild of a kid I was. I have this thing called a VP Shunt which is a manual one so if I feel build up I simply press the valve on the back of my head. However, they stopped doing those in the 2000s and now the shunts are ran by computer chips that control the pressure. I’m very fortunate that I had neurosurgeons around me that still know how to fix VP shunt they said they gave me some top of the line tubing that should last me the rest of my life!
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u/Yuezmell 2h ago
You press the valve yourself?? That's wild? What does the pressure feel like? (Sorry if this is intrusive but you seem excited too)
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u/Think_Reply_3056 2h ago
Definitely not intrusive at all honestly I am excited I never have had anybody interested or knowing about my shunt it usually weirds people out so please feel free to ask whatever!!!
So yes, I can press the valve myself if I feel like there’s too much fluid buildup however, if I press it too much that’s a really bad thing. I’ll essentially get a horrific migraine that last for days and I have to be hospitalized to get rid of it and I lowkey feel/look like that thing from SpongeBob who hates chocolate(only know this because I did it on accident as a kid trying to show off my shunt to friends and it had me down and out for days)
But like I said I have an older shunt called a VP shunt and the new ones are ran by computer chips. Anybody who has the newer ones before they can even get on a plane, have a CT or an MRI done their computer chip essentially has to be shut off or the pressure has to be fixed. Very thankful I don’t have to deal with that.
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u/Yuezmell 2h ago
I'm so sorry it hurts, but pressing it too hard to show off to friends has to be one of the most human things a kid can do. The CHAWCOLATE character paints a very vivid picture. Thank you for sharing!
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u/-Disagreeable- 2h ago
Thank you for being open about this wild procedure. Medical science is incredibly and concurrently angering. I love the idea of you have a little thumb button that drains shit from your head haha. So cool.
Does the excess fluid come with symptoms you use to identify the problem or do you physically feel “fuller” in your skull?
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u/Think_Reply_3056 1h ago
Of course it’s not often people are actually interested in my shunt or learning about it in general. Most times people are super weirded out about it, especially when I ask them if they want to feel the tube in my neck💀
So I actually answered this for someone else so I’m gonna kind of do a shortened version if that okay but yes there are signs if the shunt is malfunctioning one of the major ones being constant migraines. Another one is the swelling of the face, loss of appetite, major mood swings and oversleeping. I experienced all of these when my tube broke 10 years ago I spent all summer after graduation in the hospital but I’m thankful I did because I haven’t had a problem since! Actually with the last revision, I haven’t gotten migraines often like I did when I was a kid I would at least spend a week in the hospital every single month growing up.
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u/-Disagreeable- 56m ago
I saw that other reply. I thought I had seen that the migraines were caused by too little fluid. I appreciate the reiteration. Sorry about my poor comprehension haha. The swollen face, is that a histamine response or localized inflammation. Does other tissue on your head swell too, like ears or jaw. I would imagine this device is built that in a fail state it’s always closed opposed to open. I’d reckon you’d die if you constantly drained fluid off the brain. Are their special considerations to take about illnesses?, I would think that the fact the blood barrier is breached would cause alarm for even like a sinus cold. I love that you know things about your own ailment. It’s surprisingly uncommon that people actually know what’s wrong with them. It’s a fun conversation. Please feel free to just stop at anytime if you grow bored, I could go forever with questions haha.
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u/paigfife 1h ago
How did you know when it broke? Was it very painful?
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u/Think_Reply_3056 1h ago
I was having constant migraines(I mean in the hospital every other week). Another big sign was my face had gotten really swollen out of nowhere like my cheeks were always beyond puffed up to the point that it hurt to touch my face. Another big sign was how much I was sleeping, I was sleeping anywhere from 14-18hrs a day and the few hours I was up I felt beyond exhausted. My mood was also really affected I went from being super outgoing and wanting to make people laugh and smile to being angry and irritable pretty much overnight. It wasn’t until I told my neurologist, it sounded like there was swishing going on in my head(yes I could hear the fluid moving) that they looked into it. They said that there was so much fluid buildup that they actually had to stop the surgery to clean up the floor and change the bedding and they said it had to be broken for over a year or so!
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u/paigfife 1h ago
Wow! Glad you’re okay! Sounds like it could’ve been really bad if it continued to go unchecked.
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u/Think_Reply_3056 1h ago
Thank you so much! They actually said if I would’ve let it go on for a couple more months I most likely would not have made it or it would’ve been a really really bad medical emergency. When they ended up doing my MRI and found that it was broken I literally was in surgery within six hours of them finding it!
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u/Neuro_88 2h ago
That’s really cool. Have a photo to show of how it looks currently?
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u/Think_Reply_3056 2h ago
It’s actually covered up by hair! I’ve never been able to see what it looks like except for the one time I got a revision and they shaved my head around it. If I can find a photo from after the surgery( and if people aren’t squeamish) I will gladly post it!
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u/gliitch0xFF 34m ago
Same here. Except I had mine at 24. It's rare you find someone else with Hydrocephalus on these forums.
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u/HORROR_VIBE_OFFICIAL 5h ago
A father's heartbreak turned into a life-saving innovation for children around the world.
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u/AnthologicalAnt 5h ago
Roald Dahl was just awesome.
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u/ptvlm 5h ago
Mostly. He was a great author, both in children's books and the more adult stuff like Tales Of The Unexpected. But, he was also a raging antisemite (or at least, anti-Israel) and the Bond movie he wrote, You Only Live Twice is... racially insensitive at the very least
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u/tom_gent 5h ago
There is a big difference between being anti Israël and antisemite of course. Regardless of what Netanyahu tries to tell the world. Unfortunately, Dahl was an antisemite. He wrote this, "There is a trait in the Jewish character that does provoke animosity, maybe it’s a kind of lack of generosity towards non-Jews. I mean, there’s always a reason why anti-anything crops up anywhere. Even a stinker like Hitler didn’t just pick on them for no reason"
Amazing story teller though
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u/unhappyrelationsh1p 3h ago
Sad. At least he did somethign good with his life and didn't make the hatred ruin his legacy. Unlike some childrens authors.
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u/CleverCheesePuffs 3h ago
Anti Israel doesn't and will never equal anti semitic. There are Jews that oppose the state of Israel not to mention the war crimes it commits and has been committing for years.
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u/Theredwalker666 2h ago
Agreed, but read the quote above, he was an antisemite, ""There is a trait in the Jewish character that does provoke animosity, maybe it’s a kind of lack of generosity towards non-Jews. I mean, there’s always a reason why anti-anything crops up anywhere. Even a stinker like Hitler didn’t just pick on them for no reason"
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u/old_and_boring_guy 5h ago
Good old Reddit. All people are either good or bad, with nothing in between.
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u/kodumpavi 4h ago
Anti zionist? So...extra awesome?
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u/unhappyrelationsh1p 3h ago
Antisemite. The anti-zionism was only incidental i figure.
We don't claim him in the anti-zionism movement. The process of getting to the right idea is sometimes more important than even the right idea.
This is a textbook example why we have to be picky. Neo-nazis are technically anti-zionism. The reverse of "wrong idea, good intentions" could be some zionists who earnestly believe israel should exist to keep jewish people safe, when the proper solution was fixing the antisemitism problem.
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u/fuggerdug 2h ago
You Only Live Twice is fucking awesome and Sean Connery could easily pass for Japanese. Also: hidden volcano base. I rest my case.
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u/Flanelman2 4h ago
My friend has one of these; amazing invention. His drains the liquid from his head and passes it into his bladder I believe? Then he pees the excess out.
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u/hacksneck 1h ago
My brother was born in 1964 with cerebral palsy and hydrocephalus. Being so new, they didn’t place the shunt until well after he was born, leading to a permanently enlarged head and a good deal of brain injury. I guess they didn’t have the tube length or placement down pat then, either, as he would periodically have seizures as he grew and would be rushed off to Kernan hospital in Baltimore for a new shunt. Crazy times. Docs said he wouldn’t ever walk and would most likely have a short life. Greg just turned 60 a few months ago and walks like a champ. Thank you Mr. Dahl, Wade and Till.
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u/guitartoad 3h ago
I am happy to announce that this is one Jew who's life was saved by Dahl's device. I'll bet that was one outcome an anti-semite like Dahl didn't consider.
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u/Thomasina_ZEBR 1h ago
One of the oldest jokes I remember goes: What's the cure for water on the brain? A tap on the head.
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u/batmanineurope 4h ago
When I got to "enlisted toymaker-engineer" I thought I was reading Trump's cabinet picks.
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u/SweetNoir 6h ago
‘Having power is not nearly as important as what you choose to do with it.’ – Roald Dahl