Hydrocephalus
- water in the head.
In the summer of
2002 my mother was diagnosed with
hydrocephalus - water in the head.
We all produce
appx. 1/2 liter of fluid in the head
every day - to clense the brain. And we
all have natural "holes" that
lead the fluid away from the brain again
and into the body - to be disposed via
the usual way.
But for some
people - the passage can become blocked,
and the fluid cannot get away - and
increased pressure in the head is
therefore the result, as the fluid cannot
get away. This condition has the medical
term hydrocephalus, where cephalus means
brain and hydro means water - or the
popular term water in the head.
My mother went
through several operations in the head
for hydrocepahlus, where the doctors try
to "simulate" the normal
function of leading the fluid away, via a
"shunt" - sort of like a valve,
that when the pressure becomes too high,
opens up, and lets the excessive fluid
out into the body.
My mother was 57
at the time.
After the
operations in 2002, my mother was very
confused and disoriented. The doctors
gave her celexa / cipramil becaused they
thought she was depressed. - From that
she became a vedgetable. She eventually
was taken off the medicine, recovered,
and was able to speak and walk again.
Unfortunately in
early 2004, the shunt didn't work any
more, and the pressure and thus the
hydrocephalus was there again.
This time the
doctors tried a new procedure, where they
tried to open up a passage in the brain.
Unfortunately as a sideeffect it looks
like they have cut in something else
also. - Today my mother is unable to
speak and walk. - A living vedgetable.
She is 62 years
old today, and it is like she died on the
operating table under the operation for
hydrocephalus that early day in 2004.
There's a hole
sidestory regarding my mothers husband,
that I might tell another day - but here
it suffices to say, that only the spouse
in reality has something to say - not the
grown children. And in my opinion, he choose to focus on
other things than trying to find the best
medical treatment for my mother.
So my conclusion
after these events is, don't postpone
living your life now - don't postpone
until tomorrow, what you can do today -
because there might not be a tomorrow...
60 years old -
having worked most of your life - looking
forward to being able to travel, being
with your grandchildren - and life is
over - not being able to speak or
remember, not recognizing - as good as
dead.
So either don't
become sick at all or live your life
every day as much as you can.
Category:
Personal, Date: 2007-October-4, By: Rene
M. Plambek
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