tony paid attention to his mother's stories as they were very much
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Answer:
Explanation:
A Mother’s Story
There I was, a 30 year old, questioning, debating, doubting the wisdom of our children’s pediatrician, a man who had been practicing medicine for as many years as I had been alive. Dr. Will had been my husband Tony’s pediatrician and was a very well respected doctor. He was also the doctor for our three other children, John 6, Michael 5, and Ame, 2 as well as for our newborn son, Matthew. My concern in previous “new baby visits” was focused on Matthew’s slow weight gains, compared to his brothers and sister at the same age. Dr. Will focused instead on his alertness, his movements, his smiles and overall well being. During these previous visits, Dr. Will in his very kindly manner tried to reassure me that babies differ in growth patterns, even those in the same family. In response to my concern, he had suggested trying different formulas as well as possibly adding a supplement to his feedings. Tony readily saw this as a possible solution and in his quiet way tried to reassure me that we just had to give Matthew time to catch up.
The basis of my anxiety at this time was the fact that four years prior to Matthew’s birth, our third son, Mark was born. Within a day after his birth, Mark was taken to the NICU, where he remained for two months. After three surgeries to correct an intestinal blockage, our baby son died. It was not until a follow-up post partum appointment did we learn that Mark had Cystic Fibrosis (CF). Prior to this, we had no awareness that Tony and I were carriers of the gene for this inherited disease. Needless to say, we were shocked. Our families were shocked. Our doctors were shocked.
Despite our desire to trust in Dr. Will’s experience and suggestions, the weeks of watchful waiting and weighing, became months with slow progress in Matthew’s ability to gain weight, and my concern grew. The fear in my heart was another baby who would be diagnosed with CF. This fear, admittedly based primarily on a mother’s instinct, had been growing, and on this particular day, with my continuing questions, Dr. Will agreed to set up an appointment for us to have Matthew seen at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP).
Within the next week or two, we met with Dr. Sam at CHOP and after a preliminary examination of Matthew, he also questioned my fears about Matthew having Cystic Fibrosis and stated without hesitation that he thought I was just “a nervous mother”. Oh how I wished he was correct! However, after a “sweat test”, the standard test for CF at the time, my fears became a reality. Matthew tested positive for CF, and we began a new life journey.
So what is it like living with a child with CF? My immediate answer is that in many ways, it is just like living with any newborn, toddler, pre-schooler and grade school child. You love them, you watch their first steps, first teeth, first funny and endearing words, first not so nice words, first attempts at toilet training, first fights with their siblings, first days at school and first disappointments, and first group of best friends, …(who have remained best friends 40 plus years later).
You also live with fear, fear of the unknown, fear of your child catching a cold or being near someone with a cold, fear of how your child will adjust to the routines of chest percussions, fears related to taking the necessary enzymes and gaining or not gaining weight…fear of being able to make life as normal as possible for your CF child and not imposing harsh restrictions on him or your other children in order to protect him…fear based on the fact that at the time of Matthew’s diagnosis, the life expectancy for someone diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis was six years!
Answer:
you can complete the sentence by writing interesting, horrible, frictional and lots more.