We are going through a difficult health situation with our son Jonah, who is 3. He has struggled with walking and talking over the past year and a half, and we did not get care earlier for him due to our pediatrician telling my wife Kristy not to worry. Over the past month we have finally gotten him to a neurologist, and into semiweekly appointments for 3 types of therapy (physical, occupational, and speech). Unfortunately, last week an MRI revealed that his cerebellum is too small. There is substantial loss of volume over both hemispheres and the vermis. So, we don't know whether he has a degenerative condition that will leave him wheelchair bound or even cut his life short, or hopefully a static condition where his cerebellum will remain the same and not atrophy. We don't have any known family history of this, no exposure to teratogens, and no issues at birth, so it's a mystery at this point, described as cerebellar loss of volume/atrophy with ataxia / ataxic gait. We are also hoping this isn't a genetic condition. My wife is 8 months pregnant with our second child (another boy), and so if it happens to be a recessive genetic disorder for which we are both carriers, there would be a 25% chance of our 2nd child being afflicted.
These have been the toughest 2 weeks of our lives. It really puts things in perspective. I tend to be a workaholic and am even more regretful of not spending more time with Jonah as I toiled to complete my PhD doctoral dissertation in Jonah's first year of life and then became heavily involved in politics as a congressional candidate and political party chair. I don't want to repeat the mistake of not putting Jonah and Kristy first.
I do want to get back in the habit of daily writing for this newsletter. I will have more for you tomorrow.
Family health issue
Hi Richard and Kristy, keep up hope, keep Jonah in all of the therapies. You never know what the future holds. Like you said it is a mystery to the doctors and his outcome could be an even greater mystery. I am wishing for the best outcome for all of you and I am sorry you are having to deal with this situation, but you guys are good parents to Jonah and you will get through this. One day at a time and please reach out if you need to talk.
Care of a child does not only include spending time but also feeding him nutritious food by preparing food from scratch, not handing him adult junk food, particularly sweets, starch, bread, dairy products, processed food. Nutrition is crucial to a child's health, just like a car needs proper care. After you've done it all, then you don't have to blame yourself or regret later. And most importantly, turn to God and repent to seek protection. Love.