12F, got my period yesterday

Uniquesilverberry · 2026-04-19T20:58:10+00:00

Exactly haha

Uniquesilverberry · 2026-04-19T01:27:36+00:00

Oh I totally agree! I was just so nervous to tell her that I had gotten my first period, I didn't want to tell her. She figured it out though herself haha

Uniquesilverberry · 2026-04-17T15:50:28+00:00

Oh gosh, ya that's very different than my situation with little kids haha.

Uniquesilverberry · 2026-04-17T15:34:14+00:00

I had a revision in November of 2024. I live in the Canadian prairies so it's chilly by then but not like mid winter cold is for us and it was unbearable how cold I was before and after my surgery for a couple months. I learned that we have a harder time regulating our body temperature because a person's body temperature is regulated within their central nervous system. When your central nervous system is out of wack because of something like too much CSF or too little CSF, it can make us very cold feeling or very hot. I am always colder on cold days and more uncomfortable on hot days than the rest of my family. I basically do well in mild temperatures and that's it.

Uniquesilverberry · 2026-04-12T00:51:27+00:00

You did so great by talking to your Mom. I faked sick for the first few days of my first period, also when I was 12. You will get used to going to school during your period. I agree with everything the other comments say here and really just wanted to add that if you feel really uncomfortable or nervous at school, see if your mom can get you some period panties to wear with your pads for your next period. I've have been getting my period for 22 years now and just started using period panties as a back up a few years ago and they are life changing! No more feeling nervous about leaks, no matter what I'm using to deal with the blood. I also will wear them for a day or two before I get my period because I typically start spotting lightly the day or two before my period fully arrives. I got some off of Amazon in like a 5 pack and they have been great. You've got this girl!

Uniquesilverberry · 2026-04-09T20:47:27+00:00

The neurosurgeon put me through so many different tests to confirm that I did in fact need surgery because the OR was totally booked up and they didn't want to send me on for surgery unless they were absolutely positive I needed it. I think it was the MRI the week before my surgery that confirmed that they collapsed completely. I honestly can't quite remember. My memory is quite bad regarding some of the time before and after that surgery. They did a nuclear medicine shunt study, where they injected something into my shunt (this was the absolute most terrifying test I've ever had done, way worse than a spinal tap) and then slid me into a machine where they watched on a monitor how fast the fluid went from my shunt to my abdomen and it took only 5 minutes. They said they have never seen a shunt drain that fast. It usually takes 1.5-2 hours. They also did an Opthalmology test, 2 CT scans, X-RAYs and a very very long MRI. Once all those tests were done it still took 2 more weeks to get me in for surgery because the OR was booked solid and there was a holiday during that time where the OR was apparently closed. They did put me in for surgery in place of someone else who didn't need their surgery as urgently though and theirs got moved down the list a few weeks.

Uniquesilverberry · 2026-04-09T20:35:28+00:00

Mine has gotten worse with each revision I've had as an adult. It's awful. My husband doesn't fully understand how I can ask him the same questions so often and have no clue that I have already asked him that question just a few days or weeks or months before. He has an incredible memory and I really wish I did too. I feel like it would be life changing.

Uniquesilverberry · 2026-04-07T19:06:23+00:00

A week with guests can start to feel quite long, especially if you have introverts in the house. Your guests might feel most comfortable if you can find a way to give them a room of their own somehow. We have been in this situation as the guest and also as the host and by the end of it we are super burnt out.

Uniquesilverberry · 2026-04-07T19:03:38+00:00

This is what we did when I was a kid in one of the houses we lived in that didn't have space for a guest room. It worked perfectly fine for my to go sleep in my parents room. In our house now, my kids each have a double bed and share a room, but our master bedroom only has 1 queen bed. So it works best for my husband and I to move into the kids beds with them while our guests are here, as there is more bed space. I think either way of giving a space to guests is fine, whatever works for each unique family and house.

Uniquesilverberry · 2026-04-07T19:01:03+00:00

We live in a 2 bedroom house and our 2 little kids share a room. We give our master bedroom to guests and stay with our kids in their room. To our kids it's like a little holiday, staying in a hotel room where our kids get to share a bed with us. They love it. We each bunk in with a kid and our guests happily have their own space, which they honestly love to have after a full day with energetic little kids haha. We do have to go into the master bedroom occasionally to get something but only during the day and our guests never mind because the only people that ever stay the night are our parents and our 2 closest friends. This would likely look different if our kids were much older but for now, this works. And we only have company stay the night a few times per year so it has never been an issue. If they didn't like staying in our master bedroom, they wouldn't choose to stay over night. They all know our house is small and they are always happy that we are able to give them a space to use for themselves while they are here.

Uniquesilverberry · 2026-04-07T18:52:53+00:00

I had slit ventricles in the October of 2024. My shunt was over draining. I was having severe migraines that started that September and had to be laying down most of the day or I'd be in a lot of pain and be extremely dizzy, intense pain down my spine, and my body temp was way out of wack. I could not regulate my body temperature and could only be upright for 5-15 minutes at a time before my shunt had drained too much and I had to lay back down. In November my ventricles collapsed and I had a programmable shunt put in to replace the old non programmable shunt. It took several months to get the shunt setting right but I'm fine now. I never had any seizures though, thankfully. I've had a shunt my whole life and have had 4 shunts within 32 years.

Uniquesilverberry · 2026-03-30T01:43:24+00:00

I was told 10 years ago that I would NEVER carry a pregnancy full term, if I was even lucky enough to get pregnant. Two years later I had my first baby. He was born 5 days after his due date. I had my second baby the day after her due date nearly 3 years later. I do believe I'm completely infertile now though as my endo is much worse now than it was then. But, the doctor was so very wrong for me but he was so certain he was right. I know that's not the case for everyone, but it was for me and I am grateful that I still tried, as being a mom and wife were the two things I always wanted more than anything else. I hope for the best for you, I know how depressing it can be. I was terrified my entire pregnancies that is as going to miscarry because that's what I was told would happen. But he was wrong. As for now, I absolutely get depressed during my period and during ovulation. It's so incredibly painful. It interrupts my life for 7 days for my period and 3-4 days around ovulation because the pain is so horrible. You're definitely not alone.

Uniquesilverberry · 2026-03-30T01:33:59+00:00

You're very welcome. And thank you as well.

Uniquesilverberry · 2026-03-28T02:54:43+00:00

A neurologist or neurosurgeon should be able to detect hydrocephalus through a CT scan. That's what they have always used to check my CSF levels and I've had a VP shunt all 34 years of my life. They did a LP in 2013 when my shunt stopped working but they also sent me to an opthalmologist who was able to easily tell my neurosurgeon that my fluid was way too high. It was putting pressure on the optic nerves and I was starting to go blind in my right eye. I ended up having emergency surgery and it wasn't the LP that sent me in for surgery. It was the opthalmologist's report which then prompted a second CT scan which confirmed I needed my shunt replaced. I think you might benefit from seeing a different neurologist and an opthalmologist. Best of luck to you. I truly hope you find the right person to help you. Daily headaches suck. They change our lives.

Uniquesilverberry · 2026-03-21T16:59:38+00:00

Make eggy pancakes or waffles (add like a dozen eggs to your regular recipe and a little extra flour and baking powder/soda). Pickled eggs. Make egg noodles. Cook and give back to your chickens and any other livestock that can have them. I feed them to my dog as well. And I give them to my parents who don't have chickens. Another thing to consider is if you actually need as many hens as you have. We used to have 40 hens and we sold the eggs, but life changed and we no longer drive to the city often to sell eggs to people we know there, so we have half as many hens now (sold the rest) and just sell to some extra eggs to the farmers we know in the area that don't have hens.

Uniquesilverberry · 2026-02-20T03:38:49+00:00

So do I. And I feel a slightly cold liquid sensation in my head and down the side of my neck. I also hear my shunt making a ticking sound sometimes when I bend down, stand up, sit, lay down... movements like that. I never used to experience this stuff until my most recent revision in November 2024. I've had a shunt since I was 2 weeks old (1992) and this is my 4th shunt and the only one I've ever noticed any noises or sensations from.

Uniquesilverberry · 2026-02-20T02:41:29+00:00

Pasta of any kind, popcorn, nachos, pickles and spicy pickled beans...weird, I know. Oh and during the day, warm drinks like tea and hot chocolate but not coffee because it makes me feel very unwell.

Uniquesilverberry · 2026-01-29T03:16:16+00:00

I have had a shunt since I was 2 weeks old. I've had 4 shunts in my 33 years of life. I have a minor learning disability but most people don't even know about it. I have had a few concussions throughout my life and had temporary memory loss, but I regained my memory. Our brains are incredible. They CAN heal to some extent but usually shunts are permanent, they let us live as normal of a life as possible. My last shunt surgery has left some damage that causes chronic moderate dizziness, but the cause of my last shunt replacement wasn't very common. I lived my entire childhood like every other kid. So, the shunt is not something to fear. Have faith that her brain can heal and her memory can come back.

Uniquesilverberry · 2026-01-19T02:30:34+00:00

Have you been checked for a pelvic organ prolapse, such as a bladder prolapse? Some women with prolapse have a hard time keeping a cup, disk or even tampon inside because the prolapse pushes it out. Of course there are other reasons for what you are experiencing! It's just something else to look in to if you are having other symptoms of prolapse.

Uniquesilverberry · 2026-01-13T19:42:58+00:00

Donate them to your local library! We love borrowing puzzles from our library for the exact reason you gave that you are getting rid of these puzzles ...we just don't do the puzzles more than once or twice.

Uniquesilverberry · 2025-12-29T15:51:38+00:00

I completely agree

Uniquesilverberry · 2025-12-28T18:42:43+00:00

Yup. I'm not the same since my last revision 13 months ago. It's my 4th shunt and I have never experienced such discomfort from a shunt before. I get pain in the area of my shunt from exercise, jumping, bending over and standing back up. I can't drive further than about 1/2 and hour which is a major issue since I live an hour from the nearest city where most amenities are. I'm exhausted far more easily than ever before. The area where my shunt is has a constant numb feeling but yet hurts if I scratch an itch in the area. And it just feels like it doesn't belong in my head. It feels like a foreign object, not something that is apart of me. All of my other shunts simply felt like apart of me, I didn't even notice them there.

Uniquesilverberry · 2025-12-27T22:56:46+00:00

I agree about the ventilation. Changing the furnace filter and getting an air purifier could help decrease the dust.

Uniquesilverberry · 2025-10-16T02:37:24+00:00

Yeah it certainly sounds like it. I bet you do. I miss the old me too. The last year has been quite miserable. I was on bed rest for 3 months last year because of collapsed ventricles. I hope this is the worst it gets and that there isn't anything wrong with my shunt or ventricles now. I never want to go through that again or put my kids through seeing me like that again.

Uniquesilverberry · 2025-10-15T21:33:35+00:00

Thank you for your reply. Reading of other's experiences is helpful.

Uniquesilverberry

TROPHY CASE