Coping With Hydrocephalus

I was born in Feb 1994. After a difficult 2-day labor for my mother, the OB opted to do a C-section. When I was born, they immediately noticed that my head was abnormally large. I was flown to another hospital about an hour and a half away by MedFlight where I was diagnosed with hydrocephalus. I had a VP shunt placed when I was only 2 days old.

Over the years, things continued to go well. At age three, I had a tube extension done. Things went great until the age of 11. In September 2005, starting 6th grade (the first year of middle school) was a challenge in itself, but on top of that, I started getting debilating headaches that would cause me to miss school about 3 days a week. My father took me to the urgent care center at the local hospital. The nurse suggested that I have a CT scan done in Madison (city I had my surgeries in) so the next day, I found myself in the CT scanner.

When we got home, there was a message from the hospital informing us that my shunt was not working. My neurosurgeon that did all my other surgeries had retired, so we had to find another. Well, we did and set up an appointment with him.

On October 17, 2005, I had the consultation with the neurosurgeon. He told us that I would need a surgery immediately. He suggested the third ventriculostomy, in which they go through the skull bones and have an endoscope and make a hole with a laser in the third ventricle of the brain for the cerebral spinal fluid to drain into. I had my first ever MRI scan that same day and found out I was a good candidate for the surgery.

On Wednesday, October 19, 2005, I had the third ventriculostomy done. I recovered well and was released from the hospital a few days later. I have to have yearly MRI scans to make sure everything is okay, and so far it is. Throughout this experience, I have learned to love life more and to live it to the fullest. I hope my story helps people, or families of people who have just been diagnosed with hydrocephalus. It is a conditioin we will have to live with the rest of our lives, but if we can have fun on this earth while we are here, let’s do it!

Thank you for letting me share my story.