Last updated at 15:51, Thursday, 13 September 2012

A LIFE-THREATENING brain condition has not stopped Barrow’s Janene Price living life to the full. CLAIRE CRISP finds out more

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WHEN Janene and Michael Price made their wedding vows to each other 15 years ago, promising to cherish each other “in sickness and in health”, they could have no idea how sorely tested these vows would be.

Seven years into their marriage, the couple who live in Barrow’s Roose Road, faced the biggest challenge of their wedded life when Janene, 37, was struck down with a near-fatal brain condition.

Janene, a learning mentor and SERIS worker at North Walney Primary School, recalls how her life, and that of Michael, 42, and their two daughters Nicole, 11, and Abigail, nine, changed almost overnight.

She says: “In July 2005 I started feeling very tired and had blurred vision. But I had two young kids, the girls were just two and four then, so I just got on with it. But progressively things got worse. I started to have blinding headaches which woke me up at night. I would wake up crying with pain, feeling sick and dizzy. I knew they were not just normal headaches and they got worse and worse.”

On July 14 Janene celebrated her 30th birthday: “I didn’t feel well but I went out with friends and a few days later I was helping out at my daughter’s school and felt very unwell.”

At the time the mum-of-two also worked part-time at Asda and despite feeling poorly went into work as normal. “I was working with another colleague in the warehouse when I collapsed. I was very scared and just sat there crying and shaking, while my colleague called for help. My manager came and I tried to stand up but collapsed again and so he decided to take me straight to Furness General Hospital,” says Janene.

At hospital Janene was rushed into Accident and Emergency. She says: “Most of what happened I cannot remember, as I was so ill and even now I still suffer from slight memory loss.”

However, she does recall gradually realising how serious things were: “They asked who my next of kin was and I heard them phone Michael, saying ‘we need you here now’. I could sense the urgency in their voices and I felt really frightened.”

At FGH doctors told Janene they suspected hydrocephalus, – fluid on the brain – and carried out scans to confirm the diagnosis.

She adds: “Over the next 24 hours my health went downhill rapidly and I was rushed in an ambulance, accompanied by my mother-in-law, to Preston Royal Hospital.

“At Preston I underwent emergency brain surgery and had a shunt and tube fitted to release and drain the fluid pressure from my brain into my stomach.”

While Janene admits her memories of the time are vague, she says: “After the operation I had to lie flat for 24 hours and I woke up feeling like I’d been hit by a bus.

“I remained in hospital at Preston for two and a half weeks. I could barely lift my head up without being sick at first. This was very hard for me as my girls were so young and I missed them loads.

“But my husband travelled through every day to visit me and eventually, after learning how to walk again, I went home, but remained very ill, at times unable to even get out of bed.”

After many subsequent visits to her GP and FGH, in October 2005, around three months after her initial operation, the specialists at Preston told Janene the first shunt they had fitted appeared to be blocked. She says: “Because I was still getting terrible headaches, they suspected a block and unfortunately the only way to rectify it was to do the operation again. It was an horrific thought because second time round I knew exactly what to expect.”

But she adds the new shunt had many benefits: “They fitted a digital ventricular shunt which has a valve which can be adjusted without requiring more surgery.”

After the second operation Janene finally started out on the long road to recovery. She says: “Eventually my health started to improve, though it took about a year to fully recover and, at times, even now I can have periods when I feel unwell.”

Despite everything she has been through courageous Janene doesn’t lose sight of how lucky she has been to recover from what can be a fatal condition if it goes undetected: “At Furness General the doctors said I was lucky to have some warning signs, some people don’t and aren’t so lucky.”

Nonetheless she still has to live with the debilitating results of her brain condition. She explains: “My long term memory is OK but my short term memory is the main problem and doctors have told me it will never be 100 per cent again, so I have to write lots of lists and reminders for myself.”

In addition to this there are many things that Janene simply cannot do anymore: “I can’t sit backwards on trains, listen to loud music, go on fairground rides or even turn around quickly. But apart from that I do my best to lead a ‘normal’ life and not let my condition stop me from doing things.”

She says of husband Michael: “He’s been a brilliant support throughout it all. Many people probably wouldn’t be able to cope with what we’ve been through but, in fact, going through all this has brought us even closer as a couple. Also, if it wasn’t for the support of other family and friends, we wouldn’t have got through it.”

Last month, to celebrate their 15th wedding anniversary Janene, who had been voted the Evening Mail/Debenhams bride of the year in 1997, and Michael decided to renew their vows with a ceremony in front of close friends and family at Michaelson House in Barrow, where they’d celebrated their wedding a decade and a half ago.

Second time round Janene says it was important to write her own vows to read to Michael: “I really wanted Michael to know how much he means to me and that he really is my soulmate.”

After her recovery Janene decided to leave her job at Asda and pursue her lifelong ambition to work in childcare. She says: “I realised life’s too short to put things off and so I went back into working in childcare. I also did a foundation degree in childcare and education and early years at Furness College. I wanted to update my qualifications and ‘better myself’.”

While Janene admits it wasn’t easy at times: “It was hard studying because of my memory but the college were very good and offered me a Dictaphone so I could record lectures.”

She finishes by saying: “I really want to show that after being diagnosed with hydrocephalus normal life can go on and what you can achieve.”

First published at 16:28, Wednesday, 12 September 2012
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk