Credit: http://onelittleproject.com/rice-krispie-treat-pumpkins/

Credit: http://onelittleproject.com/rice-krispie-treat-pumpkins/

Spina bifida is a fault in the development of the spinal cord and surrounding vertebrae's, leaving a gap or split in the spine. The spinal cord hasn't formed properly and may be damaged as a result, in some cases for those suffering. Spina bifida means 'split spine'.

WHAT CAUSES IT?

The cause for Spina Bifida is unknown, but through extensive research it's been found that taking folic acid before and during pregnancy, can reduce the risk in unborn babies.

TYPES OF SPINA BIFIDA

There are 3 main types of Spina Bifida, which present themselves at birth.

1. Spina bifida Cystica myelomenigocele
2. Spina bifida Cystica meningocele
3. Spina bifida Occulta 

TREATMENT

Most cases of Spina Bifida are treated through surgery, shortly after the baby is born. In some cases, surgery is not needed, and doctors allow the spinal cord to heal on its own with no intervention. With Spina Bifida Occulta, if it present symptoms later on, it is most likely that the patient will require surgery to fix the problem. 

MY DIAGNOSIS

I was diagnosed, by accident, in mid 2015. I had been having trouble with my hips for some time, when I got an X-ray to see if there were any underlying joint problems when they noticed that I had Spina bifida. The diagnosis came as both a shock and a sigh of relief, to finally know what was causing my hip joints to hurt so much. The hip pain was put down to a side effect of the condition and from how religiously I danced. Something I had been doing since a very young age. After numerous physiotherapy sessions to help regain some movement in my hips and to help deal with the pain, I stopped dancing, performing in my last show in May 2015. I'd say that was the worst part of being diagnosed. You never want to give up something you love and have been dedicated to for such a long time. It broke my heart to do so but it had to be done for me to get better.
Fast forward two years and I had, had no more side effects or consequences as a result of my diagnosis. Until a couple of months ago. It started off with little bouts of back pain that I put down to over-working myself before it grew to something much worse. As it's ongoing, I'm not going to go into much detail about it. In short term, I turned out to be 1 in 1000 that developed consequences as a result. Spina bifida Occulta, my form  of Spina bifida, is the most common, and a large portion of the population have it but are unaware as it never presents itself as a problem or goes undetected in the scans during pregnancy. However, for some, it does present itself as a problem and can develop consequences as a result, due to treatment being needed as child but not receiving it and to the child growing up, the spinal cord growing too, and as a result it being unable to cope, causing the side effects to occur.
My diagnosis story is ongoing and will be until I receive treatment. I'm aware that I am very lucky compared to others and that is something I'll be eternally grateful for. My story, however, is far from over, just yet.



 

 

Hello! It's becoming a little bit of a trend,  that I begin my blog posts apologizing for my absence in recent months. I also know I've said this a couple of times before, but this time it is for definite. After a little time away, I'm back. I thought the most fitting first blog post back, would be a little life catch up on everything that's happened in the recent months.

The biggest change in my life has been starting year 13, my final year of sixth form and secondary school. It's been a little strange if I'm honest. I had my final last day at the school I've been attending for the last 6 years. I started and finished my application to university, after attending numerous open days and drafting and re-drafting my personal statement a few times, with the help of my teachers. The workload hasn't quite yet stepped up from year 12, but I know for sure, after half-term it will, as everything seems to kick off in those 6 weeks after Halloween and before Christmas, a.k.a my favourite time of year.


Just before I went back to school, pretty much 3 days before we went back, I released a little short film, the first in its series about the struggles of suffering from mental health and it affects you. The reaction to it was insane, I was overwhelmed with such a positive reaction, being flooded with messages from people I'd never met or knew very well that shared mutual friends with me; telling me how my little film helped them explain to loved ones, with how they're feeling and what they're going from. The point of the film was to give those who didn't know what they were suffering from, a voice. I'm extremely proud to say that it did just that.

I shall be doing a blog post about the process of making Ango, which you can watch here. 



Now, in regards to blogging it took me a little bit of time to get back into the running of things and I had a little bit of writer's block over the summer. I wrote some things and decided to scrap them as I just didn't like them any more. A little while ago, I added a 'Film' section on this blog, as it's something I'm extremely passionate about and I wanted a space to discuss issues and debates in the film industry on here. I'm writing in bulk, which I have done many times before, as this is the best way for me to get blog posts out regularly and on time, leading me up to the next school break, in which I can write in bulk again. In terms of structure, I shall be posting at least three times a week on here, with some festive blog posts making their way on here very, very soon.
Last year I did Blogmas. While it was amazing it was also extremely hard to keep on top of, and to continuously create content that was enjoyable to read and that I loved, in such a short space of time. This year, I won't be doing 'Blogmas' in the same format. I will still be posting Christmassy blog posts but not every day. They'll be more regular than the three post a week schedule that will occur leading up to December and afterwards, probably at around 4-5 blog posts a week instead.

October is 'Spina Bifida Awareness Month'. I've never really told anyone, other than those close to me about my diagnosis with Spina Bifida Occulta. At the time of my diagnosis, it wasn't affecting me much. I got extremely lucky with my type of Spina Bifida, being the most common form of Spina Bifida and the least severe. However, in recent months I've been suffering from the symptoms again. Sadly, its suffering that comes with it, and it has affected me before. It was after all, how I got diagnosed. As it is the awareness month, I'll be posting a more in detail blog post about my diagnosis, what it is, how its diagnosed, and how you can help raise awareness and support those suffering from it. It is one of the most common birth defects, yet it's rarely talked about, even though it has devastating consequences for so many children. That will be up within the next week or so.

Can we call this a new chapter, here on my blog? I apologize once again for being so inactive, I needed a little of time to think about both the direction of this blog and to settle into my new school routine and begin to find the balance between school work and fitting in everything else I do, in terms of hobbies, filmmaking, blogging etc.

So, here's to a new beginning on this blog.

In honour of the new season of Stranger Things, I decided to do a little roundup of the posters they released in the marketing campaign leading up to the release. They paid homage too a whole lot of classic horror films and posters from the 1980's, which were inspiration for the show, released in the lead up to its release on the 27th October.


+ FIRESTARTER+


+ ALIEN +

+ GOONIES +


+ THE EVIL DEAD +

+ JAWS +

+ A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET +

+ THE RUNNING MAN +

+ STAND BY ME +