Nick Manning: Ageing with hydrocephalus
When Nick Manning was diagnosed with hydrocephalus in 1995, he was concerned that he could lose his job as Senior Bird Keeper at Chester Zoo.
He was on sick leave for many months during the next three years, until his fifth shunt finally seemed to do the trick.
Nick was delighted to return to the job he had done since leaving school – looking after and breeding the variety of birds at the famous zoo.
Caring for almost 200 species of bird ranging from penguins, storks and flamingos, to parrots, birds of prey and cranes was a way of life for Nick.
But in 2002 the back pain he had suffered from for more than 25 years became debilitating and after numerous scans he was shocked to hear that he had spina bifida occulta.
Despite two operations the pain increased and he became less mobile. Two years later Nick had to hand in his resignation. He said: “I had been so ill from the hydrocephalus that when I began to feel better after the fifth shunt, I really thought things would get back to normal.
“I had meningitis when I was just one year old and the doctors thought that was when the problems started.
“I had suffered from severe headaches for some time but in 1995, when I was 39, they became much worse.
“The first two shunts didn’t work and the fluid built up very quickly. In 1997 I had three more shunts within three months. The final one, a programmable shunt was adjusted to minimal pressure, and my hydrocephalus hasn’t really troubled me since then.
“But although I was obviously really ill for much of those two years, I remained positive and the operations didn’t really bother me. I was just keen to get better and back to work.”
Life returned to normal for Nick and wife Eunice, who mans the switchboard at Chester Zoo.
But fate struck again seven years later when Nick was diagnosed with spina bifida. He said: “I had been in agony for so long that I knew something was really wrong with my back. The pain was centred in my lower back with shooting pains down my legs.
But no-one, apart from my osteopath really took me seriously. My GP referred me to a psychologist for six months because they thought that the problems were in my head because I didn’t really want to return to work.”
When Nick finally underwent surgery it was discovered that the lower vertebrae weren’t fixed and were rubbing against his spinal cord. He had a bone graft and plates were fixed either side of his spinal column to keep the vertebrae in place.
He said: “I was back on my feet the following day and the pain didn’t seem too bad. But things quickly deteriorated and soon it was as painful as it had ever been. The operation was successful in that if I hadn’t had it, I would be paralysed by now.
“I tried to return to work but it was so physical that there was no way that I could continue with my job.”
The couple still live in their cottage near Chester Zoo where Nick can still enjoy listening to the sounds of the birds and the animals he loves.
And while he is in continual pain and has difficulty moving around, Nick continues to care for his six noisy parrots and is involved in a falcon breeding programme.
Often the living room, where he now sleeps, is a temporary home to incubators hatching out chicks. “Birds have been my life. I’d be lost without them,” he said.