We are Team Benjamen

Benjamen was born August 7th 2011 at the gestation age of 23 weeks. Benjamen received his first surgery at 4 days old due to a perforated bowel.at 1 month old Benjamens lungs collapsed and had a brain bleed. Benjamen was given a very slim chance to survive. at 3 months old Benjamens bowel became obstructed due to the first surgery he had. His body went into shut down mode. he attracted staph and pneumonia his lungs collapsed and his body filled with fluid. once again doctor gave him less than a 5% chance to survive. at 6 months old Benjamen received his trach after many attempts to go from cpap to nasal cannula they decided a trach would be the next best thing. if he did not get the trach he would probably still be in the hospital.after trach surgery he attracted pneumonia again which damaged his lungs even further. at 9 months old benjamen received his feeding tube. Benjamen has very bad oral aversion and will not take anything by mouth no food or bottle he has a hard time and fights when people even touch his face and mouth. at 11 months old benjamen was put on his home ventilator and he was able to come home july 11th. since hes been home he started to have more seizures and a few hospitals stays due to infections and pneumonia. Benjamen does not sit up crawl walk or stand. Benjamen is very delayed. hes delayed to that of a 4 month old. Our journey is far from being over.everyday Benjamen beats the odd. Thank you all for following our journey! as of 1/30/2013 Ben got offically diagonsed with hemiplegic cerebral palsy.which effects his left side. as of 7/28/13 Benjamens new diagonses is hypotonic cerebral palsy. this effects his whole body with low muscle tone. Ben still does not crawl or walk or stand but its working so hard on sitting up. his last developmental assesment they placed him of that of a 6 month old. hes making progress and thats whay counts! he also had a week hospital stay where he got pneumonia,strep and hmpv virus. he also had eye surgery. as on now Benjamen is still on the vent with weaning here and there durning the name and is on 1 1/2 liters of oxygen. he has not officially been diagnosed with central sleep apnea it is apparent he has it because he does not like to breath at night. coming up in the fall Benjamen will be attending school at Easter Seals.