Rachels Chiari Journey so far: Christmas Camp

Hi

Hi and welcome to my blog! I am 29 yrs old and have been through a rough few years. I got married in Aug 09 and by Sept 09 I was very ill. I was diagnosed with Chiari Malformation I, Syringomyelia and Hydrocephalus. I had surgery in Sept 09 to relieve the pressure on my brain and to stabilse it, this was called Endoscopic Third Ventriculostomy (ETV). In Feb 2010 I had foramen magnum decompression surgery to remove a section of bone from my skull (craniotomy) and the back part of my c1 vertebrae (laminectomy) to create more space for my cerebrospinal fluid (csf) to flow. Unfortunately for me 4 weeks later I was back in hospital with meningits....I had to have more surgery.....another ETV (which failed straight away) and a ventriculo-peritoneal (VP) shunt inserted. After that I was well and discharged from hospital...but my walking was worsening so I called the specialist nurse who arranged an MRI for me....which showed a massive syrinx (collection of fluid) in my spine....more surgery yet again....so in Aug 10 I had a syringo-subarachnoid shunt inserted into my spine. I spent 9 weeks in hospital (6 1/2 of them in rehab) and have been in a wheelchair learning to walk since then. I hope I don't bore you too often!!

Friday 23 December 2011

Christmas Camp

Well, this last weekend, I went to North Wales to a little village called Lllansannan with a group of Scouts. It was a great weekend, Friday night was Christmas Eve, we decorated the place and then the kids decorated stockings to hang on their bunks for "Father Christmas" to fill with goodies!! Saturday was Christmas day and all day we spent making various things to take home! and then at 7pm we all sat down to a 3 course meal in black tie!! Sunday was boxing day and we tidied the place and got packed up for going home!! All weekend I had to wear a delightful hat, with my name on so the kids knew who I was!!

One of the things we made, was a fantastic little christmas tree made out of safety pins and beads!!