This poem is from a time in October of 1993. I went from Neurosurgeon to Neurosurgeon in the State of Missouri and the doctors would not touch my shunt for a different doctor was "following me" down in Texas. I was in Missouri though and needed help right then! So, I did something drastic. I took a boxcutter and "sliced my shunt into two pieces".

I left it alone and was on my way to St. Louis airport when I got hit in an auto-accident. I figured the rise in cabin pressure would have killed me. I did not think about that until much later though.

The ambulance guys saw that I was leaking Cerebral Spinal Fluid, from my brain/shunt, and asked what I had done! Thus, I ended up in a coma and then Step-down of ICU. It was a long recovery period. Thanks for listening if you are still reading this!