Hydrocephalus

Today I went on my first home visit in Morogoro with the physical therapists and his assistant. Do you think we went by car? No way Jose! We went by bike so for all of you doctors back in Sweden and else where never ever complain about tiresome house visits. First girl was sitting outside and shared 3 mud bricks to sit on and she was waiting and chatting with the kids all day until her parents came back from work. Next we went to visit a little girl who was suffering from hydrocephalus or "vattenskalle". It is a pretty big problem here in Tanzania because the children rarely get the opportunity to have a shunt which would lessen the pressure on the skull and the brain tissue. Often these children do not see a doctor until its too late and by then they often suffer from other problems caused by the pressure inside the skull. This girl for example didn't learn to walk until just recently. But she is still wobbling around because many of here muscles aren't strong enough. Forunately, she has made a lot of process just in the past two weeks. The physio hadn't even seen here walk yet. It also means that just getting the help from the Amani center physical therapy department have made this little 3 yr old girl's life so much easier.