The Hydrocephalus Support Group, Inc. 2017 Schedule

All meetings start at 12:45 pm on the third Saturday of each month and run til 3 pm.  We meet in the Casey Conference Room, located in the cafeteria, down the hall from the Starbucks in the lobby.

January 21
February 18
March 18
April 15
May 20
June 17
July 15
August 19
September 16
October 21
November 18
December 16

We will also be participating in the 2017 Brain Awareness Open House at the UW HUB Ballroom.

Hydrocephalus Support Group Inc. Update 1/3/17

Sorry I haven't updated for awhile.  A lot has been going on.  My mother's health declined and she passed away in late December.  I was her sole caretaker, so much of my time was taken up with that.

We are going to be participating in the 2017 Brain Awareness Open House in March at the UW.  Looking forward, as usual, to that.  I've been posting a lot of photos and information from Eric Chudler, the event coordinator, on Facebook.  There should be a lot of great, new information at the event this year.

This year's meeting schedule has also been confirmed, thanks to Jennifer at Swedish Cherry Hill.  I'll be posting that next time.  Generally speaking, we will be meeting on the third Saturday of each month, from 12:45 pm to 3:00 pm.  The dates will be posted later.

Looking forward to this month's meeting on the 21st.

October Meeting

The October meeting will be held on the 15th (the third Saturday of the month) from 12:45 pm to 3:00 pm in the Casey Conference Rm at Swedish Hospital's Cherry Hill campus.  We offer moral support and information to families, friends, caregivers and those (of all ages) living with the condition of hydrocephalus.  Feel free to drop in!  Kids are also welcome.

Summary of September Meeting

As usual, we were a small meeting but got a lot accomplished.  We discussed ways to increase our visibility during the rest of National Hydrocephalus Awareness Month.  There are so many good ideas, but they take more money and prep than we have.

We also discussed shunts and the history of shunts.  Actually, the history is very interesting and only makes us appreciate even more the time(s) we were born in.  As 'barbaric' as some feel today's shunts are, they were much more so hundreds of years ago.  Today's doctors have scans and imaging that weren't available until the last 40 yrs or so.  Previous to that surgeons were working 'blind'.  Prior to those days, there were all sorts of methods tried for managing hydrocephalus that WERE barbaric and risky.

We talked about the different generations of hydro survivors.  Those of us born before the shunts developed by people like Roald Dahl (yes, the author & former husband of Patricia Neal), in the 1950's being 'first generation'.  Then those who were born after the CT scan became an available tool being second generation, those born after the MRI and now those born after the programmable shunt.
As we've discovered the evolution of hydro treatment and management, we've really come to appreciate the research and development that has taken us this far.  It isn't perfect, but nothing is.  It gives families and patients options though, as well as neurosurgeons.  There is far less over draining and under draining.  We can recline and not have to worry about whether the shunt is going to continue working or not.

I've said this before, but I would love to know what happened to the research being done on using a patient's own DNA to grow their own shunt tubing in a lab, potentially reducing the opportunity of infection or rejection of a synthetic tube.  I saw a paper on it published in the 1970's, but nothing more.

We also discussed Zika and some information that was talked about on Doctor Oz.  While so much is NOT known about the long range ramifications of the disease, it has been around since the 1940's!  It has similarities to Denge Fever.  I'm interested in how it might be a cause of hydrocephalus.  That is a whole topic unto itself!

Looking forward to October's meeting.  Hope to see faces, new and old there.  As always, it will be on the third Saturday, from 12:45 pm to 3 pm in the Casey Conference Rm at Swedish Hospital's Cherry Hill campus (16th & E. Jefferson, Seattle).  We offer moral support and information to families, friends, caregivers and those (of all ages) living with the condition of hydrocephalus.  We welcome drop ins and those with an interest in brain issues, particularly hydrocephalus.

September Meeting! National Hydrocephalus Awareness Month

Anticipating the September meeting coming up on Saturday, the 17th, from 12:45 pm to 3 pm, as usual.  The difference being that this is also National Hydrocephalus Awareness Month.  I've been posting a lot on my Facebook, taking every opportunity to share and 'like' others' work to promote awareness of hydrocephalus.

I would really like to do some tie-in promotions and several other things to generate interest and awareness.  It would also be great to get back to having an annual picnic again, as another community outreach effort.

It would also be nice to get some more of the hydro dolls and do a 'traveling' project, like the Gnome, complete with a Facebook page to 'follow' them on their travels, then auction them off at the end.

Looking forward to seeing the meeting regulars and possibly some new faces.

August Meeting

Sorry for the delay in posting about the August meeting.  As always, we discussed ideas for increasing awareness about hydrocephalus, as well as the meeting.  I'd love to see us get back to having an annual picnic.  It would also be great to be able to do some additional promotions.

I'm hoping that increasing our presence on Facebook will help.

I'll have to cut this short for now.

July Meeting

The July Meeting will be held in the Casey Conference Room at Swedish Hospital's Cherry Hill campus (17th & E . Jefferson, Seattle) , from 12:45 pm to 3 pm.  We offer moral support and information to families, friends, caregivers and those (of all ages) living with the condition of hydrocphalus.  Drop ins are welcome.

Great way to start off the summer!