Lance was born at 26 weeks weighing only 1 lb. 15 ozs. He had a grade 3 bleed about a month later in the neo unit of the hospital. He had to spend 4 months there until he got to 5 lbs.  After the grade 3 bleed, a VP shunt was inserted.  He's just turned 14 yrs. old and to date has had about 9 revisions. One really bad emergency in 1998 was our last bad time with shunt problems. (Knock on wood!) At that time the complete shunt had to be replaced as opposed to just a revision where only part of it is replaced. He has seemed to be doing fine with it for the last few years, and I'm so grateful for that. He does have cerebral palsy and multiple disabilities, due to the grade 3 bleed, but has a very good life. He's been in school since he was 2 yrs. old and is now in middle school. We have had very positive experiences in school. He's very popular and all the kids love him. He loves school more than anything, besides the 'mall', maybe!  He has a very varied social life, with bowling for special olympics, going to movies, concerts, and just about anything I can find for him to be involved in.:) I will send a picture so that you can see who I'm speaking about. He's the light of my life!

Thanks, Donna (lancesmom)