Hydrocephalus

The nurses measured my head to see if I would have hydrocephalus, which is backup fluid into the head. Twelve days later, I had surgery to insert a shunt, It's a tube that goes into the head down into the stomache to drain the fluid.

When it would break down, the doctor would do surgery to change the tube depending on where it was blocked. I had about 10 shunt revisions from the ages of birth to 10.

After birth

After I was born, the doctor woke my mother and told her I had some problems. He said I had myelomeningocele, heart murmur, and clubbed feet. He asked her if she wanted to see me. She said yes and they showed her my face, my back, and my feet. The doctor told my mother they were sending me to Rhode Island hospital Potter building.Then they took me away not knowing what was coming next. My mother was in the hospital for 5 days, so It took my mother a week to see me. The day after I was born, they did the surgery to close my back.