This didn't make it to the list yesterday, and I referened it in a
later email that probably left people scratching their heads, so here
it is.
Heidi,

I was just born when my hydro was first suspected - as a matter of
fact, my dad is a (now retired) general surgeon, so was one of the few
fathers to be in the delivery room back in 1960, when I was born.  He
was a little over halfway through his fellowship in vascular and
thoracic surgery then practiced GS, because there wasn't anyplace in
Wyoming, where he wanted to live, that was developing a
thoracic/vascular department)  so the N/S rotation was still fresh in
his mind.  He suspected hydrocephalus right away, and got in touch
with a friend who was a neurosurgeon and asked him to come have a
look.  Dr. G. came over within a day or two, said he also suspected
hydrocephalus, and said to watch for motor issues.  At that time, my
head was at the 95th %ile, so they decided to watch it for a while, as
Dad's side of the fgamily has large heads to begin with.  By 2.5
months my head was at the 110th percentile, or thereabouts, but I
wasn't showing profound symptoms of the hydro.  By 3.5 months, it was
at the 125th, so they decided to do a pneumoencephalogram - remember
this was well before CT and MRI, and ultrasound back then was "iffy"
at best.  The pneumo showed the hydro, so I was shunted at 4 months.
CP was officially diagnosed when I was about two, and wasn't walking,
or even cruising well yet.  I eventually walked at around 3 and a
half.  I talked right on schedule or early, and learned to tell people
when I needed to go potty, so I was potty trained before I could walk.

The hydro was caused by a cerebello-pontine angle (CPA) cyst that
obstructed the Aqueduct of Sylvius.  I had an intra-operative stroke
(middle cerebral artery) during a shunt revision when I was 16, and
ended up with left hemiplegia on top of my spastic diplegic CP.  The
silver lining in this was that I got sent to the University of
Cinncinatti Children's Hospital after the stroke and a subsequent
shunt infection, and during the workup for the CPA cyst, the head of
Peds neurosurgery said "I think we can fenestrate this, and you can be
shunt-free."  I haven't had a shunt since Friday, January 13th, 1978.
So I look at Friday the 13th as my Lucky Day!  (Wonder what'll happen
tommorrow?)
;-{)}

Self diagnosis is a significant risk for those of us who were brought
up in the medical profession, or work(ed) in it, so I applaud your
caution, but I will mention a hyperactive gag reflex as being one of
the signs that I was in shunt failure before my cyst was fenestrated,
as it produced a psuedo Arnold-Chiari malformation.

 I also subscribe to a listserve for people with hydrocephalus, so
forgive the "gory details," people.  It's populated by a bunch of
people who approach the condition (necessarily) from much more of a
medical model.
-- 
Kendall

An unreasonable man (but my wife says that's redundant!)

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one
persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all
progress depends on the unreasonable man.

-George Bernard Shaw 1856-1950

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