Living With Hydrocephalus
Marc Rutte
ENGH63/24C/Lubrano
Personal Narrative—Draft #1
24 February 2009
Narrative Essay—My Life with Hydrocephalus
In preparing for this essay there were a couple words that came to mind. The word that stood out the most for me was compassion. The definition of the word compassion is: “ A deep feeling of sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.” I was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and when I was about two months of age I was diagnosed with Hydrocephalus or, “Water on the Brain.” It is a congenital condition that causes abnormal swelling of the brain due to overproduction of cerebrospinal fluid. I was operated on and a shunt was installed draining the excess fluid from my brain. Blockages of the shunt and seizures would sometimes occur, and did.
One such occurrence happened when I was eight while I was visiting my grandmother in eastern France. My mother, sister, brother and I were having a great time. My father had stayed home in England because of work where we happened to be living at the time. My grandmother’s cottage was located in the countryside, surrounded by farms, fields and livestock. The aroma of cow manure seemed to always hang around like an unwanted visitor. A flour mill occupied the land next to where the old mill had been burnt down in World War 2 by the retreating German Army. house was located. The babbling stream that ran through the back yard once powered the mill. The nearest town was fifteen minutes and the nearest city was at least an hour’s drive.
One morning I woke up and had difficulty moving my body. It felt like my arms and legs were being restrained. My body seemed to be working against me. My head was really sore and I had unknowingly vomited since my pillow was all but covered. I attempted to call for my mother, but, felt so weak that to yell sounded like a mere whisper. I was finally able to get my...
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