Welcome to "My Hydrowarrior Story"!

This book is going to become YOUR hydrowarrior story! It is designed to help people with hydrocephalus record their journey during their time in the hospital, surgery, recovery, going home, and beyond. Every surgery is a story and that story is important.

This book is a fill-in-the-blank format with prompts to guide you to remember all that happened. Some prompts may be perfect for you, and some might need tweaking for your experience. Go for it! Adjust it as much or as little as you need to tailor it to your story. There are also blank pages for you to create your own prompts or to use as a journal. Write in as much information as you'd like. On the picture frame pages, attach a printed picture or draw your own. Make it your own! This book is designed to serve as a keepsake for every part of your Hydrowarrior journey.

Our hope is that this book becomes a chronicle that can be used for your benefit, the benefit of your family, and even the benefit of your current and future medical care providers. It can even serve as sort of a supplement to your medical records.

Have you ever started with a new care provider, and they ask "Any surgeries or hospitalizations?"

and you think to yourself,

"Not again!"

"How much time do you have?",

"Where do I start?", or

"I hope I remember everything!"?

Near the end of the book, there are specific pages designed for you to list your surgeries, location, doctor name, etc. Bringing this book along to appointments and follow-ups will be a big help for you to inform the new provider quickly and easily. You can have confidence that you are better prepared for a lot of the typical questions they ask. One less thing to think about, worry about or hope you remember.

Sometimes it's difficult to put into words what you go through during surgery and being in the hospital - even when everything goes well. This book can help give the most important people in your life a glimpse into what you have been through and all that you've overcome.