Diagnoses:
ICP (infantile cerebral paralysis, spastic tetraparesis, persistent motor disorders, delayed stato-kinetic psycho-speech development according to GMPCS classification level IV, subgroup A, g. 80. 3. Equinovarus feet M. 21. 9.
Date of birth: 27.02.2019
Shostka
Sumy region
Mark is Lyudmila’s third child. There are two older brothers in the family, Denis, 17, and Vladislav, 12.
Mark was born prematurely at 35 weeks of pregnancy by emergency Cesarean section. The mother-to-be was sent there by the doctor in the maternity clinic during the seventh month of pregnancy when Lyudmila got Gestosis, with severe edema, and the fetus suffered from uterine hypoxia.
The baby was immediately taken from the operating room to the intensive care unit. Mark was hardly breathing on his own, for three days the doctors gave no guarantee that the baby would survive. It was horrible… After a plasma transfusion Mark got a little better. On the fifth day mother and child were transferred to the perinatal center, but again to the intensive care unit. Mark spent four weeks in the intensive care unit, two of which were on a ventilator.
The newborn baby and his mother were discharged home, where their father and siblings were waiting impatiently for them. It would seem that all the worst is over, but no… When Mark was 7 months old, his mom noticed that the baby wouldn’t sit down on his own (he already had the experience with the older kids). “We started to search for the cause: we started to see a neurologist, we came to the neurologist every two months and he said that everything was going fine, we needed a massage and the child would sit down soon. But not again… “, – Ludmila says. At the age of 1.5 Mark was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, spastic tetraparesis, subgroup A. At that time Mark could only lie down. Parents were worried and kept looking for a way out. When Ludmila heard about Step by Step CFR, she did not hesitate to apply to the center for help and when the child was not yet 2 years old, they went to Kiev for the first time for rehabilitation.
Of course parents understand that rehabilitation is not enough for their child. Cerebral palsy is a hard disease to struggle with in the course of one’s life. To date Mark has already undergone seven rehabilitation courses at the Step by Step Center. The little fighter has a good result – Mark is sitting (he is still staggering, but that is already a great progress), crawling on all fours (correctly, not crawling), getting up from his knees on his feet, holding the sofa, walking, moving the wheeled cart. Unfortunately, Mark does not talk at all, eats only mashed-up food, chews badly, of course, only in diapers (if he could talk, it is possible that he would be accustomed to the potty). Now Mark weighs 12 kg, height 98 cm – the child does not look at his 3 years age. However, parents confidently say: “We will overcome everything!
Fortunately, Mark does not need to take anticonvulsants and other medications. To maintain his physical condition and improve his health, he needs constant physical rehabilitation and massage. Every 2-3 months Mark undergoes a rehabilitation course at the CPR “Step by Step”. Before the war, the family was able to provide treatment for the child on their own, but now they have to ask for help.
Mark is a participant of Kids to Kids Foundation. With your help, we will be able to provide Mark with regular rehabilitation courses to maintain his health.
The family can’t do this without your support!
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