"There's an elephant sitting on my head"

"There's an elephant sitting on my head"... A sentence that my family can laugh about now but when it was said back one morning when I was in third grade is was not funny at all! When I was very young (around 3 weeks old) I was diagnosed with hydrocephalus which is a build up of fluid in the cavities deep within the brain. The treatment for this is to place a shunt in the area to drain the fluid to the belly. Therefore relieving the pressure. Well on that particular day my shunt stopped working! My parents rushed me to the ER and I was rushed into surgery to replace the shunt and relieve the pressure. The surgery required the doctor to shave 1/2 of my head! Can you imagine at 8-9yrs old waking up after what has already been a scary ordeal to find out half your hair is gone?! On top of that there were staples in my head and belly! My hair eventually grew back and everything healed (Not without scars of course!) and went back to normal but that experience has always left an impression on me. I have since then learned different signs that my shunt may be malfunctioning.  I also now have my shunt checked 1-2 times a year to ease any fears. I can honestly say right now if a shunt malfunction happened today and they had to shave my head I would most certainly not be upset like I was back then! To me if it means the difference between me being alive or not being alive... I would most certainly deal with having no hair! 

💕Hugs💕 

   Kelley