Our story starts 10 years ago when I married the sweetest man I ever met. We bought a house and were ready to start our life together. We were pregnant and moving into the cutest little house everything was perfect. On Christmas day 2000 I started having lots of pain in my stomach I was still a couple of months away from having the baby and wasn’t sure what was going on so we tried calling the doctors office but was unable to get a hold of a doctor so I figured we would go do our family stuff and if it got worse I would just go into the ER to get checked. An hour into our family gathering I couldn’t take the pain anymore and we called the hospital my mother worked at and tried getting a hold of an on call doctor but for some reason they were to busy my sister ended up getting her doctor who told me to meet them at their office now. So Christmas day we are in the doctor’s office and the Doctor tells us there is nothing she can do the baby is already gone. They took excellent care of me and I had the procedure right away to take everything out. I was surprised at how little I was in pain. I was uncomfortable but felt nothing on the ride home.
So for two years we healed we knew there had to be a reason and what knocks you down only makes you stronger right? Well I wasn’t going to let this destroy me. She was an Angel in heaven as far as I was concerned. When we got pregnant the second time we were so scared that it nearly drove us apart and we separated for a week while I was pregnant my husband was so scared and couldn’t take loosing another child and I was worried that what If I did something wrong and wasn’t the best mom. We worked our issues out and had a healthy beautiful baby boy on December 3, 2002. Oh he was such a perfect baby I never seen one more beautiful than he was. We were truly blessed. I couldn’t be more proud of my son if I tried. He is such a smart little cookie and he is the most loving and caring child. We learned when he was two years old that he was autistic. We had noticed several months earlier that he has stopped talking and started having sensory issues. This was not the end, it was just the beginning and I would fight for anything he needs. We started Early Intervention right away they were great did speech and occupational therapy and worked with him everyday. He was such a good kid and he worked really hard at all the stuff we did. We got him an amazing Autism Dr who was always giving us ideas on how to handle the behavior issues we encountered. I was not prepared when my son would get frustrated and couldn’t tell me what was wrong he would hurt himself but with the help of our behaviorist and the Doctor and the excellent team of therapists my son is doing better than ever. He makes me so proud everyday. We have found several things that work for my son and one is animals he loves them. He takes good care of his pets and we have found he has talked more with the animals then without they also help with his sensory issues.
Three years ago on April 28th 2006 we had our beautiful baby girl she was so adorable and had the most beautiful red curly hair. She was always a happy baby and very creative. I think my daughter helps my son everyday work on his social skills which makes me happy. When she was one years old somehow (we think it was contaminated dog food) she got salmonella poisoning. Which of course took forever to find out our Pediatrician at the time didn’t know what was wrong with her but she had 105 temperature for many days it would come down for a few hours but go right back up and all they kept saying is well “sometimes kids just get temps”. I am sorry but that comment is wrong if you have a temperature it is a sign that your body is fighting something. If it goes on for WEEKS then something is very wrong. So after blood tests, ER visits, and many cultures finally they saw it was salmonella and admitted her in the hospital. In case any of you are wondering we no longer go to that set of Doctors. Anyways after a lovely stay in the hospital with very little sleep, lots of IV’s, and meds she was able to come back home. A year after all that when she turned two she had another scare while eating an apple she complained her tooth hurt so we made an appt at a child dentist. After an examination he found an infection he said that was leading to her eyes. If we had waited a day or two more she would have been blind another week it would have went to her brain and she could have died. Well that is not what any mother ever wants to hear. So they scheduled emergency surgery and removed one of her teeth and had to flush out the infection as well as start her on antibiotics. Since her salmonella poisoning we were told her immune system took a beating and would take her years to get it back so now every time she gets sick it takes only hours to spike a temp of 104 or higher and we have to constantly be careful with her. But she is doing amazing she is now three years old and tells everyone what to do daily. We call her little mommy because she is always trying to take care of everyone.
Right before our daughter turned three in April of 2008 my husband hurt his back. At the time we thought he might need some rehab and he would be good as new. Unfortunately that was not the case we are told he has degenerative disk diseases and had a sliding disk that keeps pinching a nerve which makes him fall all the time. He has had numerous tests and is currently still getting treated he hasn’t worked in a year and is on work disability but got denied social security cause of his age. We did hire a lawyer and are fighting that decisions cause he isn’t able to work he has a hard time walking most days and is in constant pain. He takes pain killers to manage it but it makes him confused and he is always forgetting things. I am told we are either looking at surgery soon or a wheelchair. My husband says he isn’t going into a wheelchair unless it’s a last resort and I hope that it won’t be necessary anytime soon.
So here we are our house is in foreclosure and we are behind on most of our bills. We do the best we can but with a child with special needs, a three year old, and a disabled husband I haven’t been able to have a job because I am constantly taking someone to the doctors or store for something. I clean some houses for help and have some amazing friends who lend a hand when they can some lend even more. God bless those people. I am told we might loose our house we are trying to save it though. My son is autistic and for those of you that understand what that means great. For those that don’t it means he doesn’t do well with change. If you disrupt his schedule to much it upsets him which leads to him hurting himself. All of our services and Doctors are set up here and I wouldn’t ever want to loose them since they help my son so much and this year alone he has been able to do so much more than even I thought possible.
I have two amazing kids that are the light of my life and all I want to do is be able to provide a good home for them. If you are able to help in any way whether it is financially which any amount would be appreciated to advice or suggestions I would be so very grateful for anything you’re willing to be able to do for me. Thank you and God bless you all for reading my story.
Can someone help us?
Address to send things to is P O Box 521, Palmyra Pa 17078-0521
