This is my nephew and he is a special person. I can remember the day that my sister called to tell me that she was pregnant. It was an exciting day for everyone. My sister went the extra mile in taking care of herself. She ate the foods that would assist in developing this babies body and she exercised to give her body the strength that she needed. Her and her husband began to create the room for this special baby. We just didn't realize at the time, how special Graham would be.
The family was waiting for Graham's arrival into this world. That sweet, 6 pounds and 8 ounces was the sweetest picture. He had his ten toes and his ten fingers. After about two days in the hospital, my sister and brother-in-law went home with their baby boy.
The first day went okay, but after that things just didn't seem to be going the way they should. Graham cried a lot and he couldn't gain weight. Terri and Gary tried everything.
Four months later, Graham was scheduled for hernia surgery. We all thought this was the answer. He went into the hospital weighing 8 pounds and 2 ounces(this is 4 months later).
The surgery went well. But when they were trying to wake him up from the surgery, he went into a code blue. For some reason, he wasn't able to swallow. This is when all doctors and nurses got on board and began to do various blood work and run other tests to figure out exactly what the situation was.
After a few days, Graham was diagnosed. He has a chromosomal condition that can be classified as a monosomy 21(a deletion of the 21st chromosoma). In addition, he has some extra of the 19th chromosoma. When he was diagnosed at four months, he was a failure to thrive baby. It was determined that he did not have the ability to swallow and manage food. He had surgery to place a G-button for tube feeding, as well as a wrap on the esophagus to prevent reflux.
At this time, Terri and Gary were told told that there were not really any other cases like him. In the few that were similar, the babies died. We were told that Graham would never walk or talk and that he would be severely retarded.
Graham has defied the odds. He does walk and run. He is delayed in speech and social skills. He does understand everything you say to him. He is still tube fed and he eats very small bites of certain foods. He gets his main calories from being tube fed.
At the time my sister got pregnant, she had left the corporate world. She had been a Trainer for Elizabeth Arden Cosmetics for thirteen years. To this day, she says her greatest success has been Graham. I do believe that God had prepared Terri for working with Graham with her background in training.
Graham will be turning "21" this month. Though small in size, he has a big heart. Graham loves people, sports, having fun and of course playing on his laptop. He enjoys dressing up as Captain Marvel or any of the other Superheros. And every once in a while he pops up in the room dressed as a Ninja Turtle. All of this has been achieved through therapy, great teachers in school, Terri and Gary, and of course, all the prayers that have been lifted up for Graham throughout the last 21 years.
A big dance party is being planned to celebrate Graham's life. All of his family, friends and friends from school will be attending. I can hardly wait to watch him open up his cards. He loves opening up cards with a dollar bill inside of them. That one dollar means the world to him.
When you are having a bad day or wondering why life is the way that it is, I want you to stop and to think of Graham and say a prayer for him. Know that God is there and He is with you each step of the way. Do a heart with your hands and know that you are loved! Remember God has a plan for each of our lives.
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