The 18th of October this year will mark the 28th anniversary of my very first brain surgery at the children’s hospital in Birmingham.
The majority of my readers and followers will know that I was born 15 weeks early at 25 weeks gestation which resulted in me being diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy and Hydrocephulas at a very young age.
I have a device in my head that is called a VP Shunt which is designed to drain a build up of fluid (water) away from my brain because this is unable to happen naturally.
I actually have three devices inside my head because they only last for a certain amount of time, there isn’t a set timeframe that each one will last.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this piece I had my first shunt fitted in 1996 with the second being fitted in 2005. My third and current device was fitted at BCH (Birmingham Children’s Hospital) in the January of 2008.
There a number of symptoms that can suggest someone’s shunt is blocked and not working as it should, in my case those symptoms are:
- Agression
- Sensitivity to light
- Vomiting
I will not be in a position to ask for any sort of assistance once the above three symptoms have taken hold, so I would always advise dialling 999 immediately and staying with the person until help has arrived.
I have the following three tips when it comes to learning all you need to know about the condition as you will never know if you may need to use what you have learned.
Tip 1: Always be on the look out for the symptoms that I have mentioned above as you won’t know what is medically wrong with someone who you come across as unwell in the street.
Tip 2: Do some research about the condition and contact organisations like Harry’s Hats who will be happy to answer any questions that you may have.
Tip 3: Don’t just assume that there isn’t something medically wrong with someone just because they acting aggressively.
The National Health Service’s page on Hydrocepohulas has some useful advice and information, so I have included the link to it here: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/hydrocephalus/.
Did you enjoy reading the second of my four blogs on Cerebral Palsy?, if so why not subscribe to my blog and receive the final 2 posts dedicated to CP Awareness month direct to your inbox once they have been published.
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I would like to take the opportunity to thank each and everyone of you, my readers and followers for taking the time out of your busy schedules to read my latest blog.
Cam
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