Hello, and thanks for dropping by. You are about to meet one of the most
precious things we could have ever have been given. Our son Rodney. Now
he had a bit of a rough start and all since he just couldn't wait to bless
the world with his presence. He decided to venture into life about 3 months
before his time making his first starts in life very scary and difficult
for all of us..
Rodney
came to us on July 10, 1994. His birthdate wasn't supposed to be until
the end of September begining of October 1994. I had began to bleed and
after being examined at the hospital was found to be 5 centimeters dialated.
There was no stopping this little man! Well after about 5 hours of back
labor Rodney was born and weighed 2lbs. 11 1/2 oz. He was shipped immediately
to The Childrens Hospital of Buffalo (CHOB) NY. We live in a small town
in Pa and that was the nearest hospital with an NICU for us to go to. While
in the NICU or neonatal intensive care unit, Rodney had many complications.
He was diagnosed with many things like Retinopathy of Prematurity this
can cause blindness but we were lucky that didn't happen to him. Respiratory
Distress Syndrome and Brochopulmonary Dysplasia both things very common
in preemies that most outgrow. It has a lot to do with the being on a ventilator
and having the machine breathe for them. But with no ventilator no life
and at this point we are in a big fight with our son for his life. 
Gastresophageul
Reflux (GERD) which then was no big deal that didn't cause any problems
until this past year and I will get into that a little later. And the big
diagnosis Periventricular Leukomalasia (PVL). This is brain damage to the
white matter in the brain. The white matter in the brain is what can be
described as cable central, unfortunately certain parts of the white matter
are dead. And as a result of the PVL, Rodney has Spastic Quadraplegic Cerebral
Palsy. However, Rodney has had many complications and struggles over the
past 3 years of his life...He's gone through 2 more surgeries. One was
to place a feeding tube and the other was to keep his reflux from going
back up his esophogus and vomiting. The feeding tube was placed for "failure
to thrive", he had a hard time sucking a bottle and was not gaining weight
at 1 1/2 years old my son weighed 14lbs. 10oz. After his feeding tube was
placed his GERD became a terrible problem. He would vomit 75% of his feedings
and at 2 1/2 years old he only weighed 19lbs. So after his last surgery
in Dec. 1996 we had some minor complications but we worked them all out.
They were mostly just learning issues.
He just turned
3 July 10, 1997 and he weighed 38lbs. Rodney recieves
Occupational Therapy 4
times a week, Physical Therapy 3 times per week, Speech Therapy 2 times
per week and he will soon start hydrotherapy one time per week. All these
therapies are a necessary part of our lives and most peoples lives that
have special needs children. It is a lot of work but it is worth it. Rodney
is now eating five times a day. He is not off of his feeding tube, but
with a little more practice we hope to have his tube removed. He begins
school on September 2,1997 and will be in with "normal" children. There
is no reason why special kids need to be seperated from the norm. Kids
learn from each other and our kids have a wonderful lesson to teach.....Please
take a minute to get to know our kids. You might be surprised how normal
they really are.
You can send us email
by clicking on the Dancing Jerry Bear down below. Don't forget to
sign our guestbook. And thanks again for stopping by. Have a great day
and check back soon for an update page.
Links
Family Pics
NICU Pictures...
More Pics.....
A Tribute to My
Mother
Rod's Song of
Love
Kelly's
Ferret Page
Jesse's Exotic
Pet's
Rodneys List of
Links
Sign My Guestbook