by Walter Little

Created on: December 01, 2007   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

Hydrocephalus: a survivor's story

Yes. . .the photograph above is me and you might wonder what I mean by the title "Overcoming Life's Mountains." Have you ever heard the term "Hydrocephalic?" That term describes me and the condition that I have lived with for most, if not all, of my forty-four (44) years. Simply put, Hydrocephalic means I have a slightly larger (last time I was measured I wear a size 9 7/8 hat) head that most other people. My intent in writing this article is inform you, my readers, what Hydrocephalus is and isn't and how it affects those of us who have it.

What happens?

The causes of Hydrocephalus are as different and varied as the faces of the people it affects. For some, such as me, it's congenital meaning that it occurred at birth with little or no externally visible reason for what caused it. For others like my dear friend Terri it was caused by traumatic injury and, in the case of some older victims, it is simply caused by pressure changes and is known as Normal-Pressure Hydrocephalus or NPH. Since congenital Hydrocephalus is what I'm most familiar with, that is what I will discuss here. In my case I was not actually "hydro" at birth but, rather, it appeared slowly over the next few days. And, unfortunately, the doctors gave my family little or no hope saying "he won't live more than six (6) months to two (2) years and he will never move." Basically, in their minds, they had given the final verdict and that was "Walter will die."

I would be lying to say that those early years of my life were easy it wasn't. On top of my "hydro," my biological mom decided to abandon me at age five months. Luckily for this then puny little boy (I had also been born somewhere between 1.5 months and 2 months prematurely), God was watching over me and my grand parents took me in and raised me as their very own. Unwilling to accept the death sentence that had been imposed on me by doctors, they sought out help from all available sources including: Grady Hospital Birth Defects Clinic, March of Dimes and Emory University. Although not as bleak as earlier predictions, these doctors still held very little hope for me. Frustrated by the lack of help and hope my grandmother said "Okay. . .fine. . .I'll take him home and raise him like I did my other sons (my dad and my uncle)." She did and look at me know!

The growing years

Growing up with congenital hydrocephalus isn't easy for the child or his or her family. As I eluded to above, the medical field gave my family very

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