Overheard at the HennHouse

I don't remember how it came up... But she was sitting on the table, I was sitting in a chair in front of her, and her plate of broccoli was sitting beside her on the table. She was eating the flowers off the broccoli and leaving the stalks. That's just how she eats it. She reached up and touched her neck...

Esther-Faith: "This is my shunt."

Me: "You can feel it?"

Esther-Faith: "Yeah. It goes down to my belly."

Me: "Where does it start?"

Esther-Faith: (tapping the exact location of her shunt with her pointer finger) "In my brain."

Me: "Why do you have a shunt?"

Esther-Faith: "It helps my brain work right."

Me: "But why?"

Esther-Faith: "Because I have hydrocephalus."

Me: "Oh. Do you know what that is?"

Esther-Faith: "It is why I have a shunt."

Me: "Do you know what caused the hydrocephalus?"

Esther-Faith: (shaking her head "no" as she sucked the juice out of the top of another piece of broccoli)

Me: "You were born with Spina Bifida."

Esther-Faith: "No I wasn't. Spina Bifida is a castle."

Me: "It is?"

Esther-Faith: "No. It's a tall tower at the castle. Guarded by a dragon. I live in the room at the top of the tall tower."

Me: "In the Spina Bifida room?"

Esther-Faith: "Yes. And Daddy lives there, too. And Isaac. And the dragon. And a baby dragon."

Me: "Oh. What is the baby dragon's name?"

Esther-Faith: "Girl-Jackson. And Isaac is Prince Charming. And Daddy is there to rescue me."

Me: "Where?"

Esther-Faith: "In the highest room in the tallest tower."

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She's only four. I'm amazed at how much she knows about her own medical care at such a young age. So, I'm really ok with Spina Bifida being the highest room in the tallest tower for now.