Andrew has a surgery on Monday, August 10. Since his shunt was put in, he has been getting headaches when he does certain activities. We believe his shunt is working exactly as it should, but the style of valve it has can lead to over drainage when he does certain things like Jiu-Jitsu. The surgery is to replace the shunt with a different style that we hope will work better for his activity level.

His Current Shunt
For those curious about the technical side, right now, when he does everyday movements like using his core muscles, it creates a brief spike of pressure in his head. His current valve gets tricked into thinking there is way too much spinal fluid. It opens wide and drains the fluid too fast. This creates a temporary vacuum effect, giving him a painful low-pressure headache for 15 to 20 minutes until his body naturally produces enough new fluid to refill the space.

Why the New Surgery Will Help
The new valve he is getting fixes this problem by adding a built-in "speed limit."

While his old valve only measured pressure, the new device (called a SiphonGuard) also measures speed. If a pressure spike tricks the valve and the fluid tries to rush out too quickly, a tiny physical safety mechanism instantly drops into place and puts the brakes on. Instead of dumping the fluid all at once, it restricts the flow to a tiny trickle.

In short: the new valve won't let the fluid drain too fast, no matter what position he is in or how much he flexes. This should finally allow him to move and be active without triggering those horrible headaches.

Our prayers are:

1. That Andrew will not get the cold David has right now so he can be healthy for the surgery
2. The surgery will go smoothly and he will recover quickly
3. That the new shunt will allow him to resume the activities that he has been unable to enjoy because of the headaches he's been getting

Thank you for all of your love, support, and prayers.