12-year-old Pauline has an enlarged head size due to a condition called congenital hydrocephalus. She is experiencing severe headaches, and she has an abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid in her head. As a result, it causes increased intra-cranial pressure inside the brain. The elevated intra-cranial pressure may result to life-threatening brain stem compression and could potentially cause convulsion, tunnel vision or mental disability.
The oldest in a family of two children, Pauline is a quiet and shy twelve-year old from Kenya. Her head first began increasing in size when she was only three months old. After an immediate shunt insertion to drain the excess fluid, Pauline was fine. At three years of age, Pauline began complaining of headaches which could not be calmed by painkillers, and needed a shunt revision. It is at this point that Pauline’s father, the family’s sole provider, left the family.
Pauline is now back in the hospital in need of a shunt revision that will relieve her from the severe headaches she experiences. Her now single mother is not able to raise the required funds for the surgery. The income Pauline’s mother gets from washing clothes in the neighborhood is hardly enough to even sustain their simple life’s basic needs, let alone cater for this surgery.
$600 will cover the cost of a shunt revision surgery and a five day hospital stay. The treatment to fix the shunt in Pauline’s brain will allow for normal drainage of excess cerebrospinal fluid into her abdomen.
Her surgery will help reduce the excessive intracranial pressure on the brain, and Pauline will be able to live her life normally again.
“I love Pauline so much and will not give up on her no matter what,” Pauline’s mother shares. “I have big dreams for her, just like she does and the only deterrent is this condition.”