CELEBRATE THE WINS***

Author- Alisha Prien

This week Spencer had his swallow and hearing test to check in on how he is progressing. When I received the results that he was doing well and nothing had worsened, I was honestly overjoyed. Although Spencer has a mild loss in his right ear, it has not gotten worse which is all I could ask for.

Spencer was born with level 5 Cerebral Palsy, caused by a viral infection during pregnancy called CMV (cytomegalovirus). This virus has caused most of my son’s health issues. When I get positive news like this I always react with massive gratitude. For Spencer its sort of an unknown as to what will happen or develop for him in the future as he grows. CMV is unpredictable and it is still not known what other damage has been done.

I will tell you this…

Spencer is lucky to be ALIVE and THRIVING as he is. For those of you that don’t know what CMV is, it’s a virus that almost 95% of us have had or encounter at least once in a lifetime.  For most of us it is like having a cold or flu, harmless but annoying. But for Babies it is deadly, particularly to those babies who have yet to be born and are still developing within their mother’s womb. Though it is rare for pregnant women to contract, it does happen, and the consequences are horrific in some cases. Unfortunately, I became one of these rare cases to be exposed to this horrid virus whilst pregnant with my son.

CMV has been known to leave children born with significant delays and disabilities, attacking their brain and other organs of the body. In worst cases babies have been left stillborn, or of a vegetive state, others blind and more commonly for most they are born deaf. Apologies for the grimness of this blog, but I felt the need to keep it real and give perspective on the situation.

For Spencer with what he had, it really is a miracle he’s alive, healthy and thriving. Given the cards that were thrown his way early on, he really has been a fighter. Even though he has CP and mild hearing loss along with some Dysphasia, he continues to surprise us and push past the challenges. There is still a possibility that in the future he could develop serious and permanent hearing loss, but for now, I’ll take the wins where they come…

We never know what the future hold for us, especially those of us presented with health challenges, What I do know is every small win deserves a celebration…