4-Year-Old Wyatt Whitworth From Ohio Selected as 2015
National Ambassador of Hydrocephalus Awareness for Incurable Brain Condition

Wyatt was born three months premature on Dec. 21st 2010, and weighed only 2 lbs 8 oz. I , his mother, contracted E Coli which caused me to go into preterm labor. Because I lived in a remote area, I was jetted to Boise’s hospital that had a NICU.

Wyatt was born the next day. Due to his severe prematurity, he suffered a right grade 4 intracerebral hemorrhage, and a left grade 3 hemorrhage. He was also septic , on multiple IV antibiotics, and on a ventilator.

I didn’t find out until the next day that Wyatt had the brain bleeds and was told he would probably not make it, but if he did, he would have moderately significant cerebral palsy, severe brain damage and that a normal outcome was not possible for him. The prognostic factors included clot size,early development of hydrocephalus and the severity if the prematurity.

Wyatt had a CSF reservoir implanted for serial taps to help manage his progressing hydrocephalus at two weeks of age.
A month later, a dye test was done to determine if there was a blockage in the subarachnoid space and what could be done to manage his hydrocephalus once discharged. The test showed that Wyatt had obstructive hydrocephalus.

Wyatt’s neurosurgeon , Dr. Bruce Cherney, felt the primary option was a ventriculoperitoneal shunt, though an alternative option would be Endoscopic Third Ventriculostomy “ETV”.

The ETV’s results were poor in his age group, with only a 15% success rate. But if it was successful, the failure rate was very low compared to a shunts.

I decided to try the ETV and it was a success for Wyatt! Praise The Lord!

As of today, Wyatt has not had any complications associated with the ETV and has not had one seizure ever (even though he was at high risk for them)! He has yearly MRI’s done to check his hydrocephalus, has mild cerebral palsy, wears AFO’s (braces) and started walking in October 2013, has had multiple eye surgeries, he goes to a special needs preschool (which he loves), receives private pediatric Physical and occupational therapy weekly,enjoys playing basketball, going to church, dancing, being around people and spending time with his family.

After everything Wyatt has gone through and overcome in his short life, I believe he will be the perfect representative to bring awareness to the PHF.