Hydrocephalus

The medical condition from hell.

I was trying to control everything that happened in my life as usual. For this reason, everything was perfect. I was perfect, right up until I had received my scan results back from the hospital. I was informed that my shunt had completely blocked and that the only way to resolve the issue was to have major brain surgery. I was petrified, but the said it would fix me. Nothing could fix the mental scarring that had occurred deep inside my head. Physically I looked fine, I was perceived as fine. I wasn't, no where near. My heart paced rapidly and my brain pulsed to the perimeter of my skull. I was examined thoroughly and then placed onto the surgical table. Heart tabs were placed onto my chest and they were then hooked upto a large monitor. A canula was carefully inserted into a vein on my right hand as the surgeons prepared their surgical instruments. Anaesthetic was put into a syringe which passed through the canula into my blood stream. A repulsive taste filled the back of my mouth as a countdown began. 5...4...3...2...1...total darkness.

My eyes struggled as I awoke from the operation. A painful sensation filled my head as I sat up to see that total chaos had erupted in the recovery room. The nurse abruptly lied me back down as I questioned what had happened. A diversion split the room between myself and the doctors. They murmured, I listened. A panic amongst myself arose. I went blue! I lacked oxygen! My body had slowly started to suffocate as the oxygen machine mimicked each breath I took. My mother raced to the recovery room, convincing herself that I was going to be okay. I felt a deep pit fall in my stomach as the doctors explained the incident to my mother. The anaesthesiologist had took out my breathing tube far too early and had struggled to put it back in. I felt nauseous, I escaped death! The experience emotionally scarred me, however it was not the only time a situation like this had took place.

Laying on the silent neurosurgery Ward, my mother sat by my beside. I experienced cold chills, a fever and an escalating headache. I began to have hot sweats as I felt a tingling sensation travel from the right side of my brain right down the bottom of my right foot. My bare leg began to go numb, pins and needles continued in both hands and feet. I expeditiously explained my symptoms to the doctor; they rushed me down to surgery once again on the emergency list. I was examined, placed on the surgical table and anaesthetic was injected into my vein. A countdown began, then total darkness.

I awoke feeling uneasy, uncertain of how the procedure went. I was took back to the ward and the nurse explained the situation to myself and my mother. They said that if they had of waited any longer for me to have surgery , then I would have been severely brain damaged or I could have ended up dead. Now I see a different side to life. I am not a victim of hydrocephalus nor will I ever allow myself to be. I live my life with passion, determination and I carry  positive energy with me wherever I go. I have high aspirations and I want the best out of my life. I want to see the world , I want to be happy , but best of all I want to act. I want to achieve something and that is becoming an actress, whatever it takes I'll get there. I will never let my medical condition get the better of me, as I am going to prove it: and everyone around me wrong.

Based on a true story
By Lauren Campbell Ward