A Bit About Corey
Corey was born on the 10 August 2005 at only 28 weeks gestation, he was our second child. We were told that a lack of oxygen in the womb caused the spontaneous labor. Being so small and premature Doctors were not able to assure us that he would survive. However he pulled through after the first few crucial days and after 2 months in the Intensive Care Unit for Babies we brought home our new son. As months passed Corey started to miss his developmental milestones and remained in infantile floppiness. We just assume this was due to his prematurity and he would eventually ‘get there’. However our fears were realized when at 8 months old a physiotherapist started mentioning the words Cerebral Palsy at Coreys’ sessions. This was later confirmed by his pediatrician (Cerebral Palsy Spacitity Quadraplegia). Immediately we begged the Doctors and therapists for answers to our questions. Would he be able to walk? Would he be able to talk/communicate some how? “What sort of quality of life would he have? Every time it was the same response, they did not know and we would just have to wait and see. Our dreams for our son dissolved and in their place an insurmountable mountain of worries and fears for his future continuously occupied our thoughts. After months of crying, depression and frustration in trying to deal with his diagnosis we slowly started to crawl back to the reality of today and started looking at ways to ensure that we provided Corey with every opportunity to receive the help, support and stimulation he would need to reach his best possible quality of life. This is whats brought us here. How Corey is affected is weak torso, very tight legs, especially the right. Tightness in both arms (however not as bad as his legs), with slightly more tightness in his left arm. His speech is effected to some degree. He talks, but drops off the ends of words (mum & dad generally know what he is trying to say). He has come a long way to-date, but he is still totally dependant on having someone with him constantly. He is unable to turn in his walker, sit independently, go from laying down to the sitting position or pull himself up into a standing position. He can feed himself with only some assistance, roll from back to front and crawl on his belly using his arms to drag himself along.
Life is busy with all the running around for doctor/therapists appointments and all the other activities we are incorporating as a part of his wide range of stimulating therapies. Amongst all of it we have the utmost respect and appreciation of the child development unit of Queensland Health. The therapists have worked hard with us and Corey to help him develop at his own pace.
Add comment July 29th, 2008
