"Your son has had a stroke.” The six most unfathomable words in the English language. At least that is what we thought until the moment we heard those words. Our son is only 10 months old! How could this be? He is just a baby! Strokes only happen to adults! Unfortunately,strokes do occur in babies, sometimes before they are born. We asked about the prognosis. We were told the effects could range from being very mild to possible never being about to walk without assistance.
We were left with a feeling of incomparable helplessness. What do we do NOW? We didn’t even know children could HAVE strokes? Well, we learned a lot – quickly. The first thing we learned is that if someone is going to have a stroke, it is best to have one in utero. A child’s brain is still developing, and it has an amazing ability to adapt and transfer neurological responsibilities from the damaged part of the brain, to the perfectly good parts.
We also learned how to help our son recover from his injury. We spent most of our son’s first two years either in doctor appointment to therapy appointments, or in the car driving to doctors appointments and therapy appointments. You name it, and our son has has been there/tried that. Cranial Secral therapy? Don’t knock it till ya try it . . . God bless our friends and family for helping us juggle our other two kids children and their schedules so that we could make every available treatment available to our little guy.
Let's fast forward another 2 years. Our son now attends Pre-school Services in Wilton. We could not overstate how critically important thisprogram has been for him and for us as a family. We still see some private therapists in our "spare time," but if not for the outstanding effort by the Wilton staff, and the resources available to them, our son would not be capable of doing what he can today. He is quit a kid - a personality bigger than Texas - and I can say that because I am a bonified Texan! Our oldest son's baseball and football teams have made him the un-official mascot of their teams. And now he is FINALLY playing baseball himself. OK it is just a recreation league, but nothing couldstop him from participating in every aspect of the game and making it clear to every adult that he would be the pitcher (did I mention it was T-Ball?) This has not been the easiest of journeys, but he is ours and we wouldn't change a thing!
So the next time you see a kid named Patch running through town, get out of the way for your own safety! Not bad for a kid who was told he might never walk!
Statistics from www.CHASA.org
Stroke occurs in 1 of every 4,000 babies before birth each year, and in 1 of every 300 children per year, with 20-40 percent of these cases being fatal; and,
More than half of child stroke victims will have serious, long-term neurological disabilities, including paralysis, seizures, problems with speech, vision and learning, and could face surgeries and physical therapy; and, he permanent health concerns and treatments resulting from pediatric stroke result in heavy financial and emotional tolls on the child, family and society; and,
Because little is known about the cause, treatment and prevention of pediatric stroke, only medical research can aid in the identification and development of effective new strategies; and, Early diagnosis and treatment greatly improves chances for recovery from pediatric stroke and prevention of recurrence.