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Nathan ' s Early Years Family Photo him with Cerebral palsy. Though we suspected that something was wrong with his development since he was months old, we never suspected anything this serious, let alone this debilitating. The diagnosis of Cerebral palsy came as a shock. I didn’ t even know what this all meant, because outside of the name of the disability and what my son will never ever be able to do, no other information was given to us by the neurologist.
hospital in Kingston, Jamaica, before he was discharged and sent home. I still remember the feelings of jubilation when he came home. We were so happy to receive our baby who we had been waiting for from the moment I found out and made peace with the fact that I was pregnant. He was discharged from the hospital and we were never given any information or prepared for what was to come. When we left the hospital with him that day, we thought the worst was over. None of the medical or healthcare personnel prepared or even alerted us that something might go wrong with his development because of what he had gone through.
Nathan came home and we noticed very soon that he was not developing typically like his siblings. For instance, at four months, he still behaved and responded like a newborn. He could not hold up his head, could not sit even when supported, had problems eating, could not track or focus on any objects and seemed unaware of the world around him. I brought this to his doctor’ s attention during his post-surgery clinic visits, but the doctors didn’ t respond satisfactorily. So, I stopped going to the Hospital’ s pediatrician and took him to a private pediatrician. It was there that my concerns were taken seriously, and we started a process of tracking his development or lack thereof more closely.
At nine months he was still significantly delayed in almost all his milestones. He was referred to a pediatric neurologist, who diagnosed
I went through a period of utter despair. I thought the diagnosis was a death sentence, and that my son would have died as an infant. I became very afraid of leaving him alone, let alone going to sleep. Fear was my constant companion for a long time.
From the time of the diagnosis until Nathan was 2 ½ years old, were the most difficult, as we struggled to find information to figure out what services he needed, where to find these services and what we … I could do as a mother to help him.
After two years, I was no closer to understanding this condition and the effect it would have on my child. I felt helpless, as I did not know how to help my child. I was shrouded with a deep sense of grief and loss, as all I was told