By Sharmain GraingerA gleeful Christina embraces her motherAt the age of 15 Christina Issardeen is as ambitious as the next girl her age, or perhaps even more,Cheap NFL Jerseys, as she lives every day to the fullest. Her reason for taking this approach to life is not merely coincidental but rather is linked to the fact that even before she was quite seven years old she underwent three surgical operations all intended to save her life.She has, not only the scars as reminders of how blessed she is to still be alive, but a very visible tube even today runs just under the skin of the right side of her neck extending from her brain to her abdomen.? Although it may appear stylish to some and jaw-dropping to others, the medical contraption was in fact implanted to allow for excess fluid to be drained from her brain.It was a mere two weeks after her birth on October 28, 1997, at the West Demerara Regional Hospital, that doctors were able to detect that something was vitally wrong with Christina’s brain.? Her condition was diagnosed as Hydrocephalus or ‘water on the brain’ which according to her mother, Farina Fareed, was getting worse by the day.This condition, according to medical experts,Cheap NBA Store, occurs when cerebral spinal fluid or CSF – the clear,Cheap NFL Jerseys, water-like fluid that surrounds and cushions the brain and spinal cord – is unable to drain from the brain. This results in the fluid accumulating causing a back-up of fluid in the skull. The condition is known to cause severe headaches and if left untreated, doctors say it can lead to brain damage, a loss in mental and physical abilities and even death.Reflecting on a time when she thrived on nothing but her faith in God to get through each day, Farina, who currently resides with her family at 448 Bell West Housing Scheme, West Bank Demerara, disclosed that “there were many ups and downs” as she struggled both emotionally and financially to get her young daughter needful medical help.However, there was nothing to suggest that something was initially wrong with Christina at birth, as according to Farina, her pregnancy was normal although she underwent a Caesarean Section as she did for her first daughter, Ann Marie.All was well with baby Christina based on the observation of medical personnel who discharged her three days after birth. However, Farina disclosed that she was not immediately able to take her new baby home as she (Farina) was required to remain a few days more for observation.She was happy to eventually take her new baby home and believed that all was well except for the fact that a few days later Christina took on “a malnourish look”.? This development did not bother the second-time mother in the least as she decided she will adhere to the exclusive breastfeeding advice of nurses at the hospital.However, it was two weeks after the birth that Farina was required to take her baby back to the hospital for a routine medical check when the doctor made the startling discovery that Christina was not well at all.“The doctor just look at her and then turn to me and said ‘this baby is sick’…I asked her how so and she told me ‘look at this baby’s head, it is swollen’.” A paediatrician was immediately called in to attend to Christina and a decision was immediately made for her to be transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).According to Farina there were no other evident signs that something was wrong with the child except for the fact that her head kept on swelling, a deduction that was made on the basis of regular measurements. Christina would remain a patient of the GPHC for two weeks before doctors there decided that nothing more could be done there for her.In fact Farina disclosed that a doctor gave her a letter stating that a needful medical procedure could be done at hospitals in the twin-island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.Given her modest existence, Farina recalled that finding the needful money for the operation, accommodation and airfare was no easy task.Recognising that the condition of her few weeks old baby required urgent attention, Farina left for Trinidad even without the requisite sum. She was advised to seek the medical care at a privately operated Hospital in San Fernando and a doctor there explained how a cerebral (brain) shunt would have to be surgically inserted into her daughter’s head to allow the excess water in her brain to drain.Farina disclosed that while she was in Trinidad she had learnt that many children had died having undergone such operations.At 28 days, Christina for the first time would go under the knife of the attending surgeon to have the shunt inserted. And according to Farina although she got some assistance from family members and friends, the procedure wa

…….plans to sue Town CouncilBy Leon SuseranA Corentyne poultry farmer is blaming inefficient drainage works carried out by theThe view of from another section of the pensMayor & Town Council of Corriverton for his loss of over 10,NHL Jerseys Authentic,000 chickens at his #75 Village farm.Mahauda Ganga of Lot 16 Rampoor, Corriverton, has been operating a chicken farm for over 25 years and took Kaieteur News on a grisly tour of the chicken pens where a pungent smell accompanied a sight of thousands of dead chickens,China Jerseys Free Shipping, ravaged by flood waters from extensive rainfall in the area last week Monday evening through Tuesday.He made the horrific discovery of all the dead chickens early last week Tuesday morning.Ganga is blaming the Town Council,Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic, and Town Clerk in particular, for placing a 6-inch pipe to drain the lands surrounding the chicken farm in a drainage culvert built to accommodate a 30-inch culvert box.“Because of the pipe, when the rain falls, it cannot take off the water. The water rebounded and come straight inside my pen. My pen is the highest pen in the whole of the village”, he said.He showed this publication the other side of the road where the land did not experience any flooding whatsoever, all because it had the 30-inch box at both ends.“When you talk to the Town Clerk, he said it is an act of nature, but this is a direct fault of the Town Clerk,Cheap MLB Jerseys Authentic, because we talk to him already. They know they have to do this but they just don’t care”, he argued.“We had this same problem last year and we had to break the dam, for the water to pass”, he recounted. “The water then dropped within half an hour.”He estimated his losses at over $3M. “10,000 by 125 equals $1.25M, plus the feed. They done eat 146 bags of feed,” Ganga told Kaieteur News.Mahauda Ganga is in shock as he points to the remains of some of his chickens“The Town Council was informed about the problem but has still not acted. I can’t start right away because that is a big loss, and then I have to find finances to take them to court. Because the Town Clerk and each and every one in the council,Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale, when you go to meet them and tell them they always promise to come, but they never, ever appear,” he said.Another farmer, Suresh, who has another chicken farm a few blocks away said that his farm is also flooded but he is not rearing any chickens at the moment.When contacted,Cheap NFL Jerseys Stitched, Town Clerk, Mr Narendranauth Sookram said, “We addressed the situation. There was a blockage there earlier in the rainy season.”Superintendent of Works, Marlon Garraway said there is a 12-inch pipe in the drain. “The water was so much that it backed up. When we went there on Tuesday morning, we cleared the front of the pipe, but in front of the pipe is the sideline and the water is very high and the people are throwing a lot of waste there. So it could be that that assisted in the blockage, too. We went and cleared the area and the water dropped a little,” he said.“It was a terrible situation in the town on Tuesday, since everybody was complaining about flood. The M&TC office was under 6 inches of water in Tuesday and 4 inches on Wednesday morning. As long as the koker close, the water would keep building up. It depends on the tide. If the tide is up the koker cannot open”, the Town Clerk posited.Mr Ganga is planning to take legal action against the Mayor & Town Council of Corriverton.

The Customs Anti Narcotics Unit (CANU) yesterday afternoon issued a wanted bulletin for three men in connection with drug trafficking.The men were identified as Laurence Brian Downes,Cheap Jerseys From China, whose last known address was given as Lot 178 Campbell Street Albouystown,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, Georgetown; Obead Quail Bazilio,Cheap Soccer Jerseys, whose last known address was 36 John and Durban Streets,Cheap Jerseys, Lodge,Jerseys NFL China, Georgetown,Cheap Jerseys, and Oslen Lejuane Adams of 115 Amelia’s Ward, Linden.The three were fingered as people who reportedly gave cocaine to some of the mules arrested while smuggling cocaine out of the country through the Cheddi Jagan International Airport. One of them was identified as a person of interest in another cocaine bust.Anyone with information should contact 227-3507. All information would be treated confidentially.