Monthly Archives: July 2015

What we do matters!

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Need some motivation to get you through these last few weeks of training, or need to be inspired that your effort to raise funds and awareness for this cause is is really making a difference?

One Million Lives

Take a look at  these stories about REAL people attempting to live with Hydrocephalus:
  • Sweet baby Gabriel died of Hydrocephalus when he was just a few weeks old, because his doctors didn’t recognize and treat his condition in time.
  • Amanda‘s shunt has failed more times than she can remember causing her to have to drop out of a normal high school program and forced her study at home alone instead.
  • Katie suddenly developed a difficult to manage  seizure disorder as a result of her hydro, and now lives in fear, not only of shunt malfunctions, but the seizures they cause as well.
  • Priscilla, the first woman ever to be named to the Law Review at Harvard Law School, died prematurely of Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (which would have been treatable!) and spent her last years in unnecessary mental and physical decline — all because doctors, who did not know enough about NPH, misdiagnosed her problems as being due to Alzheimer’s Disease
  • Ryan hoped to swim with us last year, but his Hydrocephalus was acting up so he needed to stay home near his neurosurgeon instead; he hopes to rejoin Team Hydro in 2016
  • John died of a brain infection after undergoing surgery to fix his broken shunt.
  • Our own sister Kate suffered through close to 200 brain surgeries before she finally passed from hydrocephalus.
These stories represent just a few of the people for whom we swim!!
Every life is important!!  WE need a cure now!!!  WE need to help each of the over 1 million Americans struggling with their own stories.

YOU can swim on behalf of someone too!

On race day, all swimmers will be given a hospital bracelet with the name of a person with Hydrocephalus, along with his/her personal story.  If you desire, you may wear this hospital bracelet as you dedicate your swim to this courageous person.

And a Perk for our swimmer-heroes! 🙂

Any swimmer who sets up a fundraising page and raises two donations (of any size) will receive a free Team Hydro T-shirt on race day.  Additionally, all swimmers will have access to our snacks at the start and finish.

As always, the link to set up your fundraising page is here

 

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Thanks, and go Team Hydro!

Guest Post: “Swimming For Hydrocephalus” – Ethan Taswell, Little Falls Swim Coach

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We couldn’t be more thrilled at yet another successful swim by the Little Falls Penguins!

Ethan Taswell, former swimmer and current coach at Little Falls wrote on the experience as follows:

Swimming with patients’ wristbands and in matching purple Team Hydro caps, the Little Falls Swim and Dive Team came together as one to raise spirits, awareness and funds to combat Hydrocephalus. A whiteboard reading “1 mile=64 lengths. How far will you swim?”  stood perched at the end of the lanes, and the team took this challenge to heart, diving in and swimming across the pool with purpose. Despite the threat of thunder in the afternoon, we were honored to see record turnout in our fourth year of this tradition. The unofficial numbers are in, with 104 Penguins swimming for a total of 9253 lengths (the equivalent of 231,325 meters), or over 144 miles.

We were thrilled this year to witness pre-teamers as young as four-years-old join the fight against Hydrocephalus.  With great determination these youngsters used their kickboards to complete many more laps than surely they have ever done before.  Tremendous maturity from kids of all ages was also displayed throughout the course of this year’s fundraiser, starting with a pep rally conversation about Little Falls’ own Kate Finlayson, and carrying through to card decoration for those in the hospital and the reading of real-life personal stories.  In addition, special recognition goes out to 11-year-olds Eli Glickman and James Marder, who each swam over 500 lengths to benefit the cause.

Our hope is that in the coming days and weeks, the donations will continue to roll in, so that we not only reach our goal of $7,000, but surpass it.

 

Thank you Ethan and all the Little Falls Penguins!

You can support them in their goal of raising $7,000 for Hydrocephalus research by clicking here!!!

Read more about the Penguins and their generous new tradition here.

 

Go Little Falls and Go Team Hydro!

 

Penguins Lead Another Successful Swim!

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For the fourth consecutive year, the mighty Little Falls Penguins have lead an incredibly successful swim fundraiser for Hydrocephalus research and awareness.

Working in memory of their fallen teammate and in honor of Hydrocephalus patients worldwide, 96 swimmers swam 125 miles in the swim.  Each swimmer wore on his or her wrist a hospital band with the name of a former patient who battled with the condition.  The generous swimmers also wrote dozens of cards to share with patients currently battling Hydrocephalus in the hospital.

Support them in their goal of raising $7,000 for Hydrocephalus research by clicking here!!!

Read more about the Penguins and their generous new tradition here.

Little Falls Penguins Leading the Charge Once Again!

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Today, the wonderful Little Falls Penguins — a swim club in Maryland and former home to Team Hydro inspiration Kate Finlayson — is rallying together and engaging in a Swim Fundraiser for Hydrocephalus!  This is in follow-up to a successful fundraiser last week at Chipotle, in which the team raised nearly $1000 — well on their way to their goal of raising $7,000 for Hydrocephalus this year.

Let’s all give a cheer and support for this wonderful team.

Thank you, Little Falls!  And good luck with your swim today and with the rest of your season!

 

Swimmer Spotlight: Ryan Purdy

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We hope you had a wonderful 4th of July, full of fireworks and fun!   The freedom we celebrate certainly is a precious thing!  How lucky we are to be able to come and go as we please and take part whatever activities suit us.

But freedom is not quite as complete for a person with hydrocephalus. For at any given moment, the brain shunt they rely on for life could fail, sending them to the hospital for an emergency brain surgery!  Imagine living a life where one’s activities and plans are always confined by the possibility of life threatening medical emergency!?!

As a case in point,  just last year one of your fellow team hydro swimmers, Ryan Purdy, who also happens to live with shunt dependent hydrocephalus, was all set and ready to swim with us at Sharkfest. But the day before the swim, Ryan suddenly began getting intractable headaches. A trip to his neurosurgeon confirmed that the shunt his life depended upon, had indeed failed once again!  So while the rest of us were boarding the ferries for our escape from the rock, Ryan was entering the operating room to undergo brain surgery in an attempt to save his life! Such is the uncertain life of a person with hydrocephalus.  But the uncertainty can end, IF we find a cure!!!

Let’s do what we can to help Ryan, and others like him, by sponsoring research for this difficult condition!!

Won’t you ask a couple friends today to support you in your effort to raise funds and awareness for hydrocephalus research?

If you haven’t set up your fundraising page, you can do it here: it’s easy as american apple pie, and as impactful as a grand fireworks display!!

Happy birthday America! We salute you! We also salute  Ryan,  and all our team hydro swimmers!!  Let freedom, and freedom from the uncertainly of hydrocephalus, ring!!!

If you are uncertain how to raise funds, check out some helpful hints here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lWjWgaFaDf4pgdf8yEAjnEdB8SFrfKlTI6oPAaYTKuI/edit