It IS Brain Surgery

What is the number one reason for brain surgery?  If you guess Hydrocephalus you are RIGHT.

1 in 500 babies are born with Hydrocephalus. There is no cure. There is only management of the condition. The only management is a shunt. This treatment is not new. In fact the treatment is so old that a new one would be amazing!!

Hydrocephalus is one of the most underfunded conditions in the medical field. It is dangerous and life threatening. Shunts were invented by a mechanic in 1965. It was not invented by a doctor, but a father who was desperate to save his son.

Shunts have a failure rate of about 50 percent in the first year. Some have so many revisions that they lose count. 40,000 brain surgeries are performed on hydrocephalus patients a year. Only 30 percent are patients first shunting.

Tyler has hydrocephalus. Tyler is stable for right now. We have hit the magical number of 2 years since having a malfunction. In fact we are on year #3. We are NEVER ever going to be out of the woods. Ever. Whenever we have the flu, or a fever or vomiting we worry. We worry that we will be in brain surgery within 12 hours. There is always a nagging worry that a behavior is a symptom of something else. There is always a worry that his stuttering is the start of to much pressure.

There is always a worry.

September is Hydrocephalus awareness month. We are aware of it all the time and want to give others the chance to learn more about such a common yet uncommon condition and to raise awareness and money so that a new treatment can be found. A more effective treatment.

For more on pediatric hydrocephalus or to donate please go here!

To see Tyler and all of his Girlfriends, please go HERE and see how amazing he was at the Hydrocephalus walk in Salt Lake City. We will be walking in Phoenix when hot season is OVER.