Working with hydrocephalus

Good morning :) I wonder how many still remember me. I have been so budy lately

Thank you for the ones that were worried about me and sent messages. 

I started out this year with 6 blogs I'm not even logging into facebook I am staying so busy.

Puppy  is 9 pounds now. He loves helping me with my business.  He sits in my lap while I work.

Tries to bring me shoes but he is much better at running away with them. LOL!!!

I have met a lot of people at auctions and yard sales. I have got to tell about my hydrocephalus and brain  tumor.  I feel like I am testifying when I'm teching about hydrocephalus anymore.

This new business is a blessing. With just my disability I did not know what I was going to do to pay my hospital bills.

There was suppose to be more help for us with Obamacare I keep loosing things.

Up date on Smoky Jo. I know his momma would would like to know.  He is 9 pounds now. He sleeps on his back in my arms.

He just lost his last baby tooth.  I even got to save it... don't laugh he is the only baby I got. 


Location : 161-173 State Road 1113, Marshall, NC 28753,
Thank you for helping me with hydrocephalus awareness

Surgery complications

Why is nothing ever as simple as described?


Yesterday I had a family member to have what was to be a simple surgery they were to have lite  sedation for the 45 minute procedure. Most people are awake for. 

It was suppose to be so simple that no breathing tube was needed. This was a cataract surgery. Because my family had back trouble the doctor was concerned he would not be able to stay still so he was knocked out.

So why  when he comes out of surgeries was  he  spitting up blood. It seems there was was a tube put down his throat after all.

I have had 20 surgeries and never had this happen. I have to have the smallest tube used too. I think its a child's because of the radiation I had it has made my throat very difficult to trake.


With all my  surgeries I often come out looking like I have been beat up because of having so much trouble getting the tube down my throat. I even have cracks in my mouth.

The worst was one time they tore my mouth. He goes in today today to get the patch off I hope to get some answers why this happened.

I have a five month old puppy that is a very picky eater. When I say he is a picky eater I mean he refuses to eat puppy food.
I find he will eat fresh pet. I don't care what it cost. This will be much easier since I was looking to start cooking his meals. Then I consulted with his vet and I was suggested to try fresh Pet. The Vet wanted me to wait until he was a year old to start the home diet.
But now I have found that only one out of 10 places I called on your website claiming to carry fresh pet in the puppy do not carry it. So I don't know if I should really drive out to this one place because one lady thought I was calling about cat litter! True storey!!
 So I just need to be able to order fresh pet puppy until he is a year. My vet said I could start a home diet then. I'm really distressed how hard it is to find the fresh pet puppy. But I will do what it takes to keep my puppy happy and healthy. I was told by petsuperstore.
 that they did not carry it because it did not have a long shelf life and they were loosing too much money on it.
 It looks to me like you are loosing a lot of customers not covering the loss of the products. So I come to your .com sight to order what I need all I find is advertisement about your product! Where do people go that can't find what they need? I suggest putting coupons on your site and an easier way to  order.

Monica Ball
www.pepperknowsbest.com
828-768-7401
Marshall,NC 28753

** I was not paid, or suggested by anyone in any of my opinions. I like this product and so does my dog I posted this on my site and theirs as a review.

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Learn About Hydrocephalus

What is Hydrocephalus?

The term hydrocephalus comes from the Greek words “hydro,” which means water, and “cephalus,” meaning head. Simply put, hydrocephalus is excessive accumulation of fluid in the brain. While once known as “water on the brain,” the “water” is actually cerebrospinal fluid (CFS). The excessive accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) results in an abnormal widening of spaces in the brain called ventricles. This widening creates potential harmful pressure on the tissues of the brain. Normally, the CSF flows through the ventricles, exits into cavities at the base of the brain, bathes the surface of the brain and spinal cord, and is then reabsorbed into the blood stream.
CSF has important life-sustaining functions, such as acting as a shock absorber for the brain and delivering nutrients to and carrying waste away from the brain. When the production of CSF versus consumption is out of balance, the over-accumulation of CSF in the brain causes pressure against the brain tissue. This condition is known as hydrocephalus.
Credit: http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/hydrocephalus/detail_hydrocephalus.htm

How Many People Have Hydrocephalus?

The National Institutes for Health which controls most of the federal funding for these types of conditions, states that the number of people who develop Hydrocephalus or who are currently living with it is difficult to establish since there is no national registry or database of people with the condition. However, experts estimate that Hydrocephalus affects approximately 1 in every 500 children, which make Hydrocephalus as common as Down’s Syndrome and Juvenile Diabetes, yet the public is largely unaware of the condition.
Credits: http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/hydrocephalus/detail_hydrocephalus.htm#131713125; http://www.healthscopemag.com/March_2009/Juvenile_Diabetes.aspx; http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1200824-overview

How is Hydrocephalus Treated?

Just over 50 years ago, the prognosis of hydrocephalus was truly devastating. Because there were few treatment options available, and the experiments being used to treat the condition had extremely high mortality rates, hydrocephalus often went untreated. Barely 50% of individuals who had hydrocephalus survived 10 years. More than two-thirds had serious intellectual impairments. Most patients were not offered treatment, and only 20% of children reached adulthood.
The development that ushered in the modern era of hydrocephalus surgery was the introduction of valve-regulated shunts and biocompatible synthetic materials.
The most common treatment for hydrocephalus—and the most common procedure performed by pediatric neurosurgeons in the United States—is the surgical implantation of a shunt. A flexible tube and valve system, a shunt drains cerebrospinal fluid from the brain to another part of the body, commonly the peritoneal cavity. The system continuously performs its function of diverting the CSF away from the brain, thereby keeping the intracranial pressure within normal limits.
The modern shunt system was developed in 1956 by a father, John Holter, working with the neurosurgeon who was trying to save John’s newborn son’s life. The same basic shunt system is used to treat hydrocephalus today. There is a shunt-related operation for hydrocephalus performed roughly every 15 minutes in the United States and those operations cost over $1 billion a year. 70% of those shunt-related operations are for shunts that are malfunctioning. Unfortunately, 50% of shunted individuals require a shunt revision within two years.
While the impact of shunting has increased the 10 year survival rate of children with hydrocephalus to 95%, close to one-third still show some intellectual impairment. Because of the survival rate of those who are shunted, much of the scientific community has become complacent with this procedure to treat the condition. However, shunt dependency is a continued problem.
Despite improvements in mortality and intellectual deficits, shunt dependency and shunt malfunction rates often cause a deteriorated standard of living, with frequent shunt revisions being the rule for most hydrocephalic children. Most children are shunt dependent after they are shunted, and the saying “once a shunt, always a shunt” is true for the majority of these children.
Currently, shunting is one of the basic neurosurgical procedures but also has one of the highest failure rates. It has a high complication rate and is probably the most common operation which has to be redone for either malfunction or infection.
Credits:
http://medgadget.com/archives/2005/07/water_on_the_br.html
http://www.srhsb.org/achievements/an-appreciation-of-john-holter.aspx
http://www.virtualtrials.com/shunts.cfm
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/405733
http://www.hydroassoc.org/education-support/learning-about-hydrcephalus/treatment-of-hydrocephalus/
http://www.aans.org/Patient%20Information/Conditions%20and%20Treatments/Hydrocephalus.aspx

Facts About Hydrocephalus

• Approximately 1 million people have hydrocephalus in the US.
• There are believed to be 180 different causes.
• There is no cure and very little research. The NIH spends 60 cents per person with hydrocephalus per year compared to $300 per person per year with Juvenile Diabetes though the prevalence of each is the same.
• The standard treatment, a shunt, was developed in 1956 and has a 50% failure rate after just two years which is the reason so many have to have multiple brain surgeries just to stay alive.
• 60% of children with hydrocephalus are not independent as adults and require assistance.
• 50% of children with hydrocephalus score 80 or below on standardized intelligence tests.
• It costs the United States $1 billion per year in health care costs to treat hydrocephalus.

Research for this condition is essential. It is our goal to increase the public’s awareness and raise funds for research for the causes of and better treatments for hydrocephalus.
Credit: http://www.hydroresearch.org/pages/hydro_what.html

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Learn About Hydrocephalus

The term hydrocephalus comes from the Greek words "hydro," which means water, and "cephalus," meaning head. Simply put, hydrocephalus is excessive accumulation of fluid in the brain. While once known as "water on the brain," the "water" is actually cerebrospinal fluid (CFS). The excessive Read More...

Learn About Us

The Hydrocephalus Research Fund was created by the parents, Corby and Reina Bell, of two children with hydrocephalus. When our son, Jace, was diagnosed with hydrocephalus at two week’s old, we had never heard of the condition. I just remember our pediatrician Read More...

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The Hydrocephalus Research Fund is a public charity, non-profit corporation registered in the State of Texas and recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c) 3 tax-exempt organization. We appreciate your interest in our cause and welcome any assistance Read More...

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Beautiful day

You would know I would miss it because of having a lovely headache.

Location : 161-173 State Road 1113, Marshall, NC 28753,
Thank you for helping me with hydrocephalus awareness