Sunday, September 16, 2012

SEPTEMBER MEETING

September is National Hydrocephalus Awareness Month!

The September meeting was nice.  It was great seeing a new face.  Hopefully we will see more in the future.

We discussed a lot of things at the meeting, specifically about shunts and the very real possibility of future surgeries, as well as living without shunt problems for long periods.  Basically, the old insurance belief that we ALL have shunt failures every 18 mths, requiring surgery, isn't accurate.  Those of us living with (& without) shunts know that things could always change at a moment's notice, but life is definitely worth living to its fullest!

We also talked a bit about the history of the modern shunt and how life was before the early 1950's.

We also discussed a case in the news this last week, updating information about Christopher Harris, a young man who was severely brain damaged due to an overzealous police officer's actions almost 3 yrs ago.  The officer's actions took Mr. Harris from a young man in the early years of his career & a newlywed, to being severely brain damaged, requiring round the clock care for the rest of his life.

Hard to believe that there are only three meetings left in 2012!  2013 will be here before we know it.  I'm including the remaining 2012 schedule here.  We always meet on the third Saturday of each month in the Casey Room at Swedish Hospital's Cherry Hill Campus (17th & Jefferson in Seattle) from 12:45 pm to 3:00 pm.  Drop ins and children are welcome.  We welcome anyone wanting information about living with the condition of hydrocephalus, however it is acquired.
  • October 20th
  • November 17th
  • December 15th

Saturday, September 1, 2012

September: Hydrocephalus Awareness Month

Hard to believe that September is here already!  How 2012 is flying by.

September 1st, the beginning of Hydrocephalus Awareness Month.  I sent a reply to Seattle's Mayor McGinn about it, as part of a response to his newsletter that I recieved in today's email.

I'm hoping to make contact with someone in the Neuro department at Swedish Hospital this week about ideas for bringing more awareness to hydrocephalus in the community during the month.

Look forward to this month's meeting on the 15th.

Take care.