My blog is dedicated to my son Nicholas. Nicholas is almost four years old. He has left sided Hemiplegia which is a form of Cerebral Palsy.
I want to use this blog to share my non medical experiences with others.
I will begin by telling you a little about Hemiplegia!
What is Hemiplegia?
Hemiplegia literally means paralysis of half of the body. When someone has hemiplegia ('hemi' means 'half' in Greek) it is because one of the hemispheres of the brain has been damaged, usually before, during or soon after birth. Childhood hemiplegia is a relatively common condition, affecting up to one child in a thousand.
How does hemiplegia occur?
The causes of congenital hemiplegia are mostly unknown, and usually parents become aware of their child's hemiplegia gradually during his or her infancy. There is a higher risk in premature babies, and it is unclear whether a difficult birth may be an occasional factor. In most cases, however, the damage occurs during pregnancy, and researchers have as yet been unable to isolate any contributory factors - in other words, it would appear to be mostly a matter of chance. Parents often worry that they may be somehow to blame, but this is not the case.
Acquired hemiplegia results from damage to the brain during childhood. The most common cause is a stroke (when a bleed or blood clot damages part of the brain), but it can also result from an accident or infection.
What are the effects of hemiplegia?
It is difficult to generalise: hemiplegia affects each child differently. The most obvious result is a varying degree of weakness and lack of control in the affected side of the body, rather like the effects of a stroke. In one child this may be very obvious (he or she may have little use of one hand, may limp or have poor balance), in another child it will be so slight that it only shows when attempting specific physical activities.
Following Nicholas's diagnosis my husband and I felt initially upset and angry. We did ask the initial question "Why us" and I constantly questioned myself "What did I do wrong during the pregnancy?"(I still do ask myself that question but not as often!.) I felt very helpless and isolated and felt that I had a real lack of emotional help.The practical help has been mostly good, lots of boxes were ticked and numerous forms were filled in, which probably helped to contribute to monthly statistics and pie charts which made many managers very happy! However the emotional support and help was lacking. I want to share my journey up until now with others and hopefully my experiences, both good and bad will help anyone who is about to start on the journey that I am travelling on.
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