Patrick M.
Patrick and Me, Daddy!
My wife and I planned on having 2 children when we talked about having kids.
We had our first beautiful, healthy child, a girl named Christen Elizabeth, in 1993.
We had our next child in 1996. A beautiful, healthy boy named Patrick Dylan.
Our family was complete, or so we thought. Patrick at 11 months old contracted Bacterial Meningitis and nearly lost his life. Instead, he lost his hearing and will never be the same. My first and only son ends up deaf and hemi-paretic on his right side because he lost 30% of his brain. Scarred for life and deaf is my son. I always said that he got sick because he was too beautiful for today’s world. Yes, I am a proud parent.
Patrick came home from the hospital on his first birthday on morphine, vegetative, and on hospice care. He moaned and cried every time you had to move him. I couldn’t deal with his crying for 10 minutes much less all day like my wife did. Only a maternal mother could have dealt with a child under those circumstances.
Slowly but surely, Patrick started showing signs of intentional movements. Over time, he slowly got better, never to be the same. How were we going to communicate with him if he continued to get better? We started to learn and practice what we thought was our only option, which was sign language. Through taking Patrick to the children’s clinic, we heard about a cochlear implant. After trying all the hearing aids with no response, there was another option. If this cochlear implant actually worked, everyone that wanted to communicate with Patrick could. We decide that it is worth the risk to go ahead with the implant.
Today, Patrick hears everything and communicates in sentences with his Med-El cochlear implant. He hears music, animals, and all his family and friends. He will attend kindergarten in the local public school next year.
He also hears his little brother who is here because God had a different plan than my wife and I. Austin Taylor came about in 1998 and motivates Patrick to do everything he is doing. The natural competition in Patrick challenges his disabilities instead of his disabilities challenging him.
It brings a warmth in my heart every time I see Patrick responding to his name, dancing, playing with other kids, telling me, “I want to watch Spiderman” or I want to play the game”, “Austin did it”, “I wanna sit by Daddy”, “Where’s the bus”, “Can I ride my bike?” and much more to come….
Now he is even more beautiful than I could have ever imagined.
Mark M.
(Proudest of Fathers)
My wife and I planned on having 2 children when we talked about having kids.
We had our first beautiful, healthy child, a girl named Christen Elizabeth, in 1993.
We had our next child in 1996. A beautiful, healthy boy named Patrick Dylan.
Our family was complete, or so we thought. Patrick at 11 months old contracted Bacterial Meningitis and nearly lost his life. Instead, he lost his hearing and will never be the same. My first and only son ends up deaf and hemi-paretic on his right side because he lost 30% of his brain. Scarred for life and deaf is my son. I always said that he got sick because he was too beautiful for today’s world. Yes, I am a proud parent.
Patrick came home from the hospital on his first birthday on morphine, vegetative, and on hospice care. He moaned and cried every time you had to move him. I couldn’t deal with his crying for 10 minutes much less all day like my wife did. Only a maternal mother could have dealt with a child under those circumstances.
Slowly but surely, Patrick started showing signs of intentional movements. Over time, he slowly got better, never to be the same. How were we going to communicate with him if he continued to get better? We started to learn and practice what we thought was our only option, which was sign language. Through taking Patrick to the children’s clinic, we heard about a cochlear implant. After trying all the hearing aids with no response, there was another option. If this cochlear implant actually worked, everyone that wanted to communicate with Patrick could. We decide that it is worth the risk to go ahead with the implant.
Today, Patrick hears everything and communicates in sentences with his Med-El cochlear implant. He hears music, animals, and all his family and friends. He will attend kindergarten in the local public school next year.
He also hears his little brother who is here because God had a different plan than my wife and I. Austin Taylor came about in 1998 and motivates Patrick to do everything he is doing. The natural competition in Patrick challenges his disabilities instead of his disabilities challenging him.
It brings a warmth in my heart every time I see Patrick responding to his name, dancing, playing with other kids, telling me, “I want to watch Spiderman” or I want to play the game”, “Austin did it”, “I wanna sit by Daddy”, “Where’s the bus”, “Can I ride my bike?” and much more to come….
Now he is even more beautiful than I could have ever imagined.
Mark M.
(Proudest of Fathers)
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