Never Give Up: A Cerebral Palsy Story
Evie was born at 27 weeks gestation. At less than 48 hours old, Evie suffered a severe brain bleed. Evie's father and I were told to prepare for the worst. We were told that if by chance she did survive, the bleed would cause damage to the brain, and how the worse was yet to be seen.
After another 24 hours the bleeding stopped, but as expected had caused damage and we were told it would result in Cerebral Palsy. This was a condition we had heard of but knew nothing about. This was going to be a learning curve for all of our family, but we were ready for the challenge. In the coming months Evie was also diagnosed with high frequency hearing loss in both ears, and currently wears hearing aids. She was also diagnosed with chronic lung disease, along with silent aspiration (where what you swallows goes into your lungs without any warning signs. Evie has had a PEG fitted for feeding purposes. And many other minor conditions. We were told that there would be a lot Evie would unlikely be able to do in terms of her development. ie: never sit up unaided, never talk or even communicate.
Evie proved she can and she will do whatever she sets her mind to. She can hand shuffle her way around anywhere and, even though she is beginning to make sounds she communicates using makaton and BSL. We have many appointments and have to do therapy every day with Evie, the hardest part is trying to find new fun activities to do so she doesn't get bored. Actually there are a lot of ideas and pages on social media which really help. Every child is different and works at there own pace bit Evie is proof that you can do whatever you put your mind to. Never give up! To all the parents out there who have to go through troubled times like these: keep the faith and keep strong, these tiny babies are a lot tougher than they get credit for.
