Walk

Well the 2nd Annual Hydrocephalus Walk was this past weekend at the Milwaukee County Zoo. We were really looking forward to it and Jackson was super excited about going to the zoo with friends. But on Sat morning Jackson woke up with a headache and not feeling well and just wanted to lay down. Being a parent of a child with Hydrocephalus is hard because you never know when a malfunction can occur and even if it's only a cold or a virus the craziest things go thru your head. Jackson gets up so early that we just let him lay down and sleep a little hoping that when he woke he would be alright and we would then start our day and head to the zoo. But when he woke he was still complaining of head pain and didn't want to move and had a slight fever. At that time we knew that we wouldn't be making it to the WALK and were hoping we wouldn't be making a trip to the ER.

In the past when Jackson had a malfunction his symptoms were pretty much always the same; he would cry and hold his head, lay down (he would scream if we would try to hold him up or sit him up), throwing up and being lethargic. When he is sick we go thru the symptoms in our heads and see if he has enough of them to warrant a call to the Neurosurgeon or a trip to the ER. We decided to wait it out because he didn't have all the symptoms and he had a flu shot or the nasal mist earlier in the week. As the morning went on he would sleep and wake and cry of head pain and then sleep again. We started to pack a bag just in case. He woke again in the early afternoon and said he was feeling a little better. We even went out in the yard to enjoy the sun for a short time and then went back in to lay down because he said his head hurt again and he slept a little more. The next time when he woke he was ready to go. Like the rest of the day hadn't happened. We decided to take it easy and ended the day playing Wii. We had missed the WALK but thankfully we didn't have to make a trip to the ER and we think that the symptoms were from the nasal flu mist. Next year we are going back to the shot!!

Thank you to everyone who donated and supported us in the WALK we really appreciate it and hope that one day there really is a cure for Hydrocephalus. And a special Thank you to the Tollstams and The Tobey's who went to the WALK in our place. You are always there when we need you and so amazingly supportive. We love you!!

Liam, Madelyn and Geyer

Team Jackson (minus the 3 of us) Madelyn, showing her moves. :)