Stirling
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Stirling ble født 10. desember 1996 i Honolulu Hawaii. Sommeren 1996 var jeg gravid med mitt første barn. Jeg var veldig spent. Vi hadde ultralyden ferdig 5 måneder sammen, og jeg fant ut at jeg hadde en gutt. For et lykkelig øyeblikk for oss! Men teknikeren oppførte seg underlig og ba om at en doktor skulle se på selve bildene. De sa at de vil at jeg skal komme tilbake for en ny titt om noen uker. Jeg ble bekymret og kunne ikke forestille meg hva de så. Da jeg kom tilbake sa de at væskesekken i babyens hode så stor ut og at de gjerne skulle planlegge en fostervannsprøve. Vi gjorde testen 7 måneder sammen og ventet på det som virket som evig for testresultatene. Det viser seg at prøven min måtte sendes til USA, fordi ingen resultater kunne bestemmes her på Hawaii. Til slutt ble jeg fortalt at sønnen min hadde Pallister Killian-syndrom. Jeg ble fortalt at det var veldig sjeldent, og at de fleste babyer fremdeles ble født eller døde i løpet av deres første leveår, og jeg fikk muligheten til abort på sikt. Vi ble knust over nyhetene og diskuterte det noe. Vi bestemte oss for at hvis denne lille fyren ville leve, ville vi gi ham alle muligheter til å gjøre det, og at vi ville elske ham uansett hva.
Så når tiden kom, hadde vi rundt 10 leger og en kapellan på fødestuen min og ventet på å se denne veldig uvanlige babyen bli født og til å gi siste ritualer om nødvendig. Det var veldig deprimerende må jeg si. Jeg var ikke lykkelig i det hele tatt. Etter 26 timers arbeid, kom den lyse gutten min til verden, men jeg fikk ikke se ham. De tok ham med en gang. Jeg fikk høre timer senere at han hadde levd. Gud er god! Noen dager senere fikk jeg endelig se ham i PICU. Han var under panseret fordi han var gulsott og fikk tubemat. Han levde! Han så veldig ut som et PKS-barn, øynene var store fra hverandre og huden hans var gjennomsiktig. Bena og armene var veldig korte, og han hadde et hull der halebenet var, men han var min, og jeg gråt første gang jeg holdt ham. Han var så lys at jeg kalte ham Stirling. Så setter vår reise.
Stirling har hatt en lykkelig sunn barndom for det meste. Han ble diagnostisert som kortikale blind i en alder av 1 år. Det ser ut til å komme og gå, så han bruker også briller. Det ble bestemt at han var døv ved fødselen, men siden det er bestemt, kan han høre høye lyder og høye tonehøyder og har brukt et cochlear høreapparat. Han tygget aldri maten, så all maten ble alltid purert. Han er inkontinent den dag i dag. Han begynte å få anfall i en alder av 3 år. Han forskyver hoftene. Han gjør den "froggy" tingen. Jeg tror han liker det! Så han har hatt to operasjoner å reparere, men de varte ikke, så vi har gitt opp dem. De er ikke verdt smertene hvis han ikke er plaget av dem. Han gjør også ballerina-tingen med føttene, så han har også hatt to operasjoner for å forlenge akillessenene for å hjelpe til med å stå. Han har hatt mange øreinfeksjoner fordi øregangene hans er veldig små og det er satt inn rør hvert par år. Han har hatt fantastiske lærere og lærerehjelpemidler gjennom årene. Han har alltid vært en lykkelig gutt. I tenårene har han hatt en rekke lungebetennelser, en trakeotomi, satt inn et G-rør og måtte være på oksygen.
Han har blitt medisinsk skjør, men han smiler alltid og ved godt mot. Han er elsket, og han vet det! Han har to brødre i alderen 13 og 11, og en lillesøster på 2 år som han forteller hvem som er sjef på vanlige baser. Han er tross alt storebror.