I am telling this story because so many people have asked me about my daughter’s struggle with hydrocephalus. This site is for all the new parents who have children who have been recently diagnosed and want to know what kind of complications can come from shunting. My intent is not to scare anyone, but to share our experiences and the challenges we have faced over the last few years. If anything else, I hope that the experiences we share will help you to understand how serious hydrocephalus is and how quickly it can become life threatening. This site is also for the parents who are out there whose children or themselves or someone they know have had complications due to shunting. You will see that you are not alone in this fight. This site will also help me keep up with my daughter’s condition so that I can later refer to it if I need to. My memory seems to be slipping as I get older! lol My daughter’s symptoms vary so much when it comes to her shunt malfunctions. Sometimes she may only have a slight headache; sometimes it may be just an upset stomach; sometimes she displays cold symptoms or stomach virus symptoms. She never runs a fever with her shunt malfunctions and very seldom has vomiting. She only seems to have the vomiting when the headaches are extremely strong from the pressure being up too high. Children can also have common childhood illnesses. That sometimes makes it difficult to determine if it is a childhood illness or something going on with the shunt. I have to use my judgment and go with my maternal instincts. No one knows your child better than you do. If you feel like something is not right; don't hesitate to get a second opinion or keep pushing till they listen to you! You are your child’s best advocate and because of my persistence, it has saved my daughters life several times. In the beginning, I always felt like doctors thought I was the over protective hypochondriac Mom because it seemed like we were always in the ER. I have only been wrong a few times. Her doctors reassured me that I am doing the right thing by taking her into the ER to be checked out. It’s better to be safe than sorry. I also joined two support groups for parents with children with hydrocephalus. If you are interested in joining, send me an email and I will send you the links. I am so thankful that I found these support groups. I soon realized there were other parents out there just like me. They are full of advice, very supportive and I have met some great friends through the support groups. Through Gods divine intervention, my family and my friends we have made it through all of this. If you have any questions about hydrocephalus, please feel free to write with questions and I will do my best to try and answer your questions. If I can't answer them, maybe I can be a friend to lean on when things get tough and offer emotional support and prayers. Please put Hydrocephalus or Delonie in the subject line so my email program won’t delete your email by accident or by me thinking its spam before reading it! . Also, please take a moment if you would like too and send me an email if you have/had a child or know someone who has/had Hydrocephalus and would like to add their name to our Hydrocephalus quilt. Please send name and their state. This is something new we are doing on our site. :) This site is for informational purposes only. Always seek the advice of your physician or a specialist if you are worried or not sure about something. Do not delay or disregard medical advice based on information on this site.