Jacob has Hydrocephalus (Water on the brain) and has had four brain surgeries since he was seven months old. His Neurosurgeon explained Hydrocephalus to me like this, "We're all born with a hole in our head for the fluid to circulate and drain but Jacob wasn't born with that hole. "He explained to me how placing a shunt in his head would drain the CSF (cerebrospinal fluid, a clear fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord) from his head but could be complications like shunt failure,infection,etc. Which would mean more surgery. There was another surgery that could be done, Third ventriculostomy ( uses a laser to make a hole ) that had less risk. So my husband and I talked about it and chose the laser surgery hoping for less surgeries for Jacob.Unfortuntly it was unsuccessful and Jacob's head was growing instead of being normal size.The next step was to place a programmable shunt in his head.A programmable shunt can be opened and closed without surgery to control the flow of CSF but a person with this type of shunt can't be exposed to magnets. Shunt was successfully placed without complications.
I was trying to keep Jacob from using his health issues as a crutch in life but have recently come to terms that I was in denial about my child having special needs. No one wants their child to have health problems and certainly not multiple ones. He was doing well with the Hydrocephalus, so well he only had to see his Neurologist yearly. Then the summer he turned six he began spacing out, then starving afterwards and body stiffing up. My Mom and I rushed him to the local hospital where they transported via ambulance to the hospital where his Neurosurgeon was. Jacob had a third brain surgery but his shunt was fine. After spending several days in ICU he was diagnosed with Epilepsy which is common with head trauma.But through it all he was my sunshine.
So another bump in our journey......
