I hope my friend Ace doesn’t mind that I post this, but it seems significant since I’m pregnant, and so I’m posting this link with information on hydrocephalus, otherwise known as “water on the brain”. Ace’s brother and his wife were just told at their latest ultrasound (she’s five months along) that their baby has this condition, which can be fatal if left untreated. Please pray for them as they work through this news and decide what to do. Their doctors want a “decision” in the next two weeks – to either terminate or go forward.
Either way it’s a devatasting decision. On one hand, by terminating the pregnancy she reduces the chances for stillbirth at a later date (stillbirths run at a 10% risk rate), but if she doesn’t terminate she could end up having a stillbirth, or a child that dies due to complications.
There are many cases of children with hydrocephalus living long lives – I even found a continuously updated website done by a 46-year old man with hydrocephalus. When a live birth occurs doctors will install a shunt in the brain that scuttles the extra fluid to the stomach for proper dispensation.
Hydrocephalus is often associated with spina bifida, which is a disorder whereby the spinal cord doesn’t fully close, this leaking fluid which reaches the brain. But other things can cause hydrocephalus, including toxoplasmosis (which most people associate with kitty litter nowadays), and even a form of herpes known as cytomegalovirus, which has symptoms of the common cold.
Please pray for Ace’s family, specifically his brother and sister-in-law as they spend the next two weeks learning more about hydrocephalus and how it’s treated. Hopefully they’ll be able to come to a decision and feel great peace about it.
Another Link: The Hydrocephalus Association
That is terrible news. I will be praying for them and Ace. It affects him too!
Oh God. Prayers, thoughts, whispers with every breath.
My prayers will definitely be with them. This is an extremely heartbreaking decision for them to have to make.