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Benny
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having a shunt in my head, i was afraid to ride many coasters in fear of hurting it. Even though rollercoasters are what i have always desired, except for wooden. until one day i saw The Beast and thought that i would try it. I tried it and know im hooked all coasters especially wooden.

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having a shunt in my head, i was afraid to ride many coasters in fear of hurting it. Even though rollercoasters are what i have always desired, except for wooden. until one day i saw The Beast and thought that i would try it. I tried it and know im hooked all coasters especially wooden.

Quoting you earlier:

Im short too, im only 4,9 I got my head bumped around a lot, but I loved it so much

I mean this kindly, given your medical condition, is that wise? Do your doctors know you are riding? None of us want to see you hurt...

http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?...st&p=137646

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I agree about asking your doctor about riding coasters. I have had back surgery myself. I was not able to ride coasters for about five years. Doc thought that the jarring would probably hurt me. After five years, I called back to ask again. I was told to go ahead and ride. And, if it hurt, don't do it again. If it did, guess you are ok to ride.

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Im only a med student, so I take zero responsiblity if my info is not 100% correct, but:

A shunt is put into to move fluid from one compartment to another. They are generally put in when one compartment has too much fluid (and thus too much pressure) to relieve that pressure. In the head this can run the whole range from minor to extremely important:

A shunt can be placed through the ear drums to drain the middle ear of excess fluid and prevent ear infections (you probably know someone who had this, they were the ones that had to wear ear plugs when they went swimming.)

However a shunt can also be placed in the brain to drain CSF (Cerebral Spinal Fluid) from the ventricles in the case of hydrocephaly, which is when due to either a blockage or the body making too much CSF the ventricles (fluid filled spaces) within the brain. This can cause mental retardation (this is not a slur in this case, I mean it literally, a slowing/loss of higher brain function) loss of consciousness, paralysis, and even death.

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I had cervical fusion surgery performed on some disks in my neck and had a metal screws and rod inserted and there is NO WAY I will ride the roller coasters. The metal looping coasters jerk my neck way to much and I do not want to risk further injury. I would ask my doctor before I would attempt riding them if I were you.

Mike

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If you read the fun and safety guide instructions in the front of the rides, almost all the rides say that if you have a neck/back/bone injury, heart condition, pregnancy, recent surgury or illness, you should not ride. I would definitely consult your doctor about it before even going to a theme park

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  • 1 month later...
I agree about asking your doctor about riding coasters. I have had back surgery myself. I was not able to ride coasters for about five years. Doc thought that the jarring would probably hurt me. After five years, I called back to ask again. I was told to go ahead and ride. And, if it hurt, don't do it again. If it did, guess you are ok to ride.

I havent loggged in in a while, the villain was my first coaster and i loved. my doctor used to say no contact sports, but also said that there have been people who played it, so i ride coasters as if i am playing football, and take the risk. I have a lot of fun on them, and i listened to my neurologist, and have fun on rollercoasters while still being carefull. i hold on at all times and hold my head steady, if i can especially during my favorite loop {as seen in Vortex} the corkscrew. i also read the signs about head back neck and heart problems. and if i could i love coasters so much that i would just tape a sign to my chest saying, i am riding under my own will, and will not sue. i had the shunt put in when i was three, as i have hydrocephellin

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Benny, I would really reconsider your decision then, no matter how much you hold your head in place, you still experience G-forces, which may cause your shunt to slip out of place. You shunt is quite literally in the middle of your brain, and if it were to slip out of position you would experience a massive headache and loss of consciousness. If it were to be violently moved (and damage your brain, or worse a blood vessel) you could quite literally kill yourself (because blood moving into your ventricles would bring white blood cells, which would cause inflammation, which would cause the eating away of brain tissue and the blood would clot causing even more problems.)

Is riding a roller coaster really worth that?

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Benny, I would really reconsider your decision then, no matter how much you hold your head in place, you still experience G-forces, which may cause your shunt to slip out of place. You shunt is quite literally in the middle of your brain, and if it were to slip out of position you would experience a massive headache and loss of consciousness. If it were to be violently moved (and damage your brain, or worse a blood vessel) you could quite literally kill yourself (because blood moving into your ventricles would bring white blood cells, which would cause inflammation, which would cause the eating away of brain tissue and the blood would clot causing even more problems.)

Is riding a roller coaster really worth that?

I think my shunt is rubber, and i get a ct scan on it every year and its been fine, im going to have to get it replaced as im growing, anyway. It is on the outside of my skull under my skin. I do all i can, to protect it i just have a big coaster fetish, and The Beast helped me get over the fear of my shunt . I do not want to bring anything bad to the coaster industry whatsoever, my shunt moves all the time, not that much but it does. My neurologist says that there has been people play football with shunts, so i can as long as i be as careful as i can. I never put my hands in the are, only hold on tho the lap bar, and press my head firmly against my headrest.

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Guest kwindshawne
Benny, I would really reconsider your decision then, no matter how much you hold your head in place, you still experience G-forces, which may cause your shunt to slip out of place. You shunt is quite literally in the middle of your brain, and if it were to slip out of position you would experience a massive headache and loss of consciousness. If it were to be violently moved (and damage your brain, or worse a blood vessel) you could quite literally kill yourself (because blood moving into your ventricles would bring white blood cells, which would cause inflammation, which would cause the eating away of brain tissue and the blood would clot causing even more problems.)

Is riding a roller coaster really worth that?

I think my shunt is rubber, and i get a ct scan on it every year and its been fine, im going to have to get it replaced as im growing, anyway. It is on the outside of my skull under my skin. I do all i can, to protect it i just have a big coaster fetish, and The Beast helped me get over the fear of my shunt . I do not want to bring anything bad to the coaster industry whatsoever, my shunt moves all the time, not that much but it does. My neurologist says that there has been people play football with shunts, so i can as long as i be as careful as i can. I never put my hands in the are, only hold on tho the lap bar, and press my head firmly against my headrest.

I would think playing football would be more hazardous that riding a coaster....however, I would still check with the doc on the whole thing. If the doc clears it, go for it.

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I would think playing football would be more hazardous that riding a coaster....however, I would still check with the doc on the whole thing. If the doc clears it, go for it.

A neurologist is a brain doc, so i assume it is ok, also my regular doc has ok'd it too, but i think if i had survived the Villain as my first coaster, {ROUGHEST RIDE IN THE WORLD}, and The Beast, it might be ok but i still must be careful.

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  • 15 years later...
On 11/4/2007 at 8:41 AM, Benny said:

having a shunt in my head, i was afraid to ride many coasters in fear of hurting it. Even though rollercoasters are what i have always desired, except for wooden. until one day i saw The Beast and thought that i would try it. I tried it and know im hooked all coasters especially wooden.

Can anyone tell me what rides I can go on with a shunt at King's Island?

 

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I never had a shunt, but 2 summers I had were after major abdominal surgeries and I asked my doctors before doing anything remotely questionable to my health.  It sucks, but part of the medical condition thing is gaining the courage to brace for giving up things you were once able to do.   I got lucky in being able to retain a vast majority of those things, but the idea of giving up things for my better health are things I would do no questions asked, but with a great deal of grieving for those losses.  

Ask your doctor and accept your limits, it'll help you in the long run.

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On 5/31/2023 at 12:07 PM, Rayna said:

Can anyone tell me what rides I can go on with a shunt at King's Island?

 

I can tell you that the forces a roller coaster will put upon your body can drastically affect the way fluids flow inside of your body and that people with cardiac and brain conditions can and have died on roller coasters hundreds of times before. If you have a shunt, you really need to speak with your doctor about any sort of activities that could put your health at risk. When it comes to the brain you generally don't have long to have catastrophic anomalies repaired before they cause irreparable damage.

 

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