OCTOBER MEETING

The October meeting was small, although we did have a conference call during the meeting with a member who wasn't able to attend in person.  Overall the meeting was a good one.  Caught up on everyone's life since the September meeting.  Everyone is doing well.

I will be posting the 2015 meeting schedule shortly.  Thanks to Jennifer, at Swedish (Cherry Hill campus), we have our schedule already!

Again, a deeply felt thanks to the Great Wheel for showing their support of September's National Hydrocephalus Awareness Month by lighting up the wheel on September 29th.  As well as mentioning both the Hydrocephalus Support Group, Inc. & The Hydrocephalus Association on their Facebook page.

I had thought about bringing the Hydrocephalus Doll with me to this month's meeting, but decided not to.  May bring it to November's meeting.

October Meeting!

Hi!  Can't believe that we are already coming up on the October, 2014 meeting already.  We will be meeting on October 18th, as always, we will be meeting from 12:45 pm to 3:00 pm in the Casey Conference Room at Swedish's Cherry Hill campus (17th & Jefferson, Seattle).  We welcome anyone with an interest in hydrocephalus.  Drop ins are encouraged.  Kids are welcome.

Looking forward to seeing familiar & new faces.  I will be bringing the hydrocephalus doll.

THANK YOU, GREAT WHEEL--Seattle!

The Hydrocephalus Support Group, Inc. would like to thank the Great Wheel, Seattle, for lighting up the ferris wheel for National Hydrocephalus Awareness Month.  We truly appreciate the effort & assistance in bringing public awareness to this issue.  We encourage viewers of our blog to visit The Great Wheel Seattle's Facebook page.

PBS: Frontline Rerunning 'A League of Denial'

Just heard that Frontline is going to be rerunning the documentary about CTE, 'A League Of Denial'.  It is an excellent piece about the growing body of information about CTE, resulting in large part from concussions during contact sports--like football.  Definitely worth seeing.  Every parent with a child even considering contact sports, at any age, should watch this piece at least once.

Unfortunately, they don't mention other issues, like acquiring hydrocephalus & what that means over the lifetime of someone who has acquired it.  As we always say, every case is unique, but life without it doesn't have nearly the challenges over a lifetime.

This documentary can really open up a vital discussion about head injury in general & how it relates to contact sports specifically.  They also discuss the false sense of security provided by helments & touch on the risks for those who DON'T use helmets--like cheerleaders & soccer players.  Sad to say, one of the shortcomings is that they do talk about the 'right way' to head a ball, which is also simply wrong.  It was long ago proven that heading a ball, especially without a helmet, DOES cause frontal lobe damage.

The Close of National Hydrocephalus Awareness Month

September is coming to a close; 2014's National Hydrocephalus Awareness Month as well.  While we are looking forward to planning the 2015 Awareness Month, we still have a few days left in this year's.  Looks like the Seattle waterfront's Great Wheel will be lighting up for us!  Really looking forward to it.

The Great Wheel will have a picture on their Facebook page.  I'm hoping to be able to post a picture here as well.  I also sent a press release out to the tv stations to let them know.  Hoping that they pick up on it.

Next year we will have a bit more time to plan & get set schedules.  I'm also looking forward to next March's UW Brain Awareness Open House, again.  That is, right now, our biggest event every year.

LinkedIn is proving to be a great resource!

SEPTEMBER: NATIONAL HYDROCEPHALUS AWARENESS MONTH

Sorry I haven't posted for awhile.  Medical stuff going on & lots of conflicting opinions on what to do.  Went to see my neurosurgeon and GP resident disagrees with his findings.  So I'm caught in the middle.  Complicated story that could/should have been so much simpler!

Looking forward to this month's meeting on the 20th.  Hoping to see new & curious faces at this one & in the coming months.  Got started on social media this month & made lots of connections.  I've made our desire to build on our membership known, so hoping that we see some interested folks coming to the meetings, as well as those with their own hydrocephalus experiences to share.

As always, we will be meeting in the Casey Conference Room at Swedish Hospital's Cherry Hill campus from 12:45 pm to 3:00 pm.  The campus is located at 17th & Jefferson on First Hill in Seattle.  We welcome drop ins and kids.  Our focus is on living the best life possible with hydrocephalus.

I haven't yet got confirmation of the date & time of our publicity effort for the month.  I said that it would be great if it would happen the week of the meeting.  When I have confirmation everyone will be hearing about it!

AUGUST MEETING REMINDER

Hard to believe that the August meeting is coming up next Saturday, the 16th.  As always, we will be meeting in the Casey Conference Room at Swedish Hospital's Cherry Hill campus from 12:45 pm to 3:00 pm.  Anyone with an interest in hydrocephalus is welcome to drop by.

Also, hard to believe that next month is already National Hydrocephalus Awareness Month!  Still hoping to get some awareness projects done throughout the month.  But I have some medical 'stuff'--some hydrocephalus related--that I need to deal with.  I'm always hoping, every year, that awareness month gets more attention than it does.

This is also my birthday month!  How quickly they seem to come now, like it or not.