Cerebral palsy 2?

my niece was diagnosed with cerebral palsy recently, she was taken into hospital last pm with breathing difficulties and docs have said she has a blockage in her abdomen, this is the second time in 3 months that she has been taken in with the same prob, could this be due to her condition?

she has had problems from birth and we were told it was due to the fact she was prem, she was 9 months old when she was diagnosed and the doc said it was only because my sis was leaving the country permanently and she felt it better to come from her rather than a stranger. we were told when she was born that she has a growth on her brain but nothing more has been said about that, the 1st time she was admitted to hosp they talked of trying to remove it but she got better and nothing more was said about it. my sis is only 17 and has no confidence in asking questions and we stay at the opposite end of the country so cant help her there, i have been on sites to find out more about the condition and they all seemed pretty vague. we were also told when she was diagnosed that her condition would result in nothing more than a slight turn in her hand and that has changed to moving to an adapted house and the need for a wheelchair in the future, we dont know who to trust anymore!

Aw, sounds like you and your family are having a tough time......one small step at a time.

In the UK, SCOPE are the experts. The main charity offering advice and info. Plus all areas will have Social Services depaertmetns with special needs childrens team who will be able to help with all sorts of things............do ask them, they'll be great, promise.

Plus, the hospital will have an Advocacy service, sort of service that can translate "doctor speak" into English! Do speak with them for advice too.

Ples where is the little one's health visitor? They should be providing extra support, not just for the little one but for your sister too, she needs support as much as anyone.

Thinking really positive thoughts for you...............

Heya, you're more than welcome, shout if you need more info.
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meh

yes, people with CP can have other maladies associated with CP. She may have problems emptying her bowels because she is not cognizant of what she needs to do, and theus getting constipated.
Her doctor ay want to put her on a lite laxative once in a while or re-evaluate the condition in case it is due to another problem (mechanical).
good luck

It could be related, or maybe not. Cerebral Palsy is a kind of blanket term for nerve dysfunction that started due to brain damage of some kind, usually from birth. Technically, it's supposed to start at birth, but I have seen where some doctors call it "cerebral palsy" even if it didn't start at birth. It can vary greatly in severity and there can be a lot of problems for some people. A lot of folks with CP have bowel problems, constipation or incontinence. I'm not sure about the breathing problem, but it does sound logical that it could have a neurological cause.

I work in in an agency that helps people who have mental retardation and "developmental disabilities" like CP, Epilepsy, Autism, etc. I have some basic medical knowledge from my degree in Health Info Adminstration and experience from reading a lot of medical records as part of my job.

How odd! Cerebral Palsy is usually diagnosed at birth due to its causes. How old is she? My daughter has CP too, but we knew it fairly shortly after she was born. She had hydrocephalus and a grade 4 bleed in her brain due to being born severely premature and actually dead, but the doctor got her going after about a 2 hour workout on her. Brain damage causes CP and that can happen from an accident too, I guess. My daughter had to have brain surgery to put in a shunt which channels out the extra fluid away from her brain down into her stomach. She had a blockage once and the doctor thought she had appendicitis and the surgeon actually took her in to do an appendectomy, removed her appendix, and then found she had adhesions on her small intestine. Adhesions are sort of like scars, but on the inside. They were shutting off her intestine and causing a lot of pain, just like a bad appendix would, and in the same place. He removed all the adhesions and then ended the surgery, sewing her up and all that. He said they could grow back, but so far they haven't and it has been about 5 or 6 years. The CP shouldn't be causing any blockages anywhere, but if she has had any similar surgeries, maybe it's like what my daughter experienced. Ask the doctor to be sure. Good luck!