When you woke up this morning chances are you got out of bed, went to the bathroom, took a shower, got yourself dressed, fed yourself breakfast, and walked out the door without giving these actions much thought. Sounds pretty effortless, right? However, if you are afflicted with cerebral palsy your life is anything but effortless......Meet Kyle............
Kyle is a fifteen year old boy, with blond hair and a constant sparkle in his bright blue eyes. He has an older and younger brother, who have the same blond hair and blue eyes that he does. Together they are being raised by their single mother who works tirelessly for all of her children’s needs. Kyle has a ton of energy and a smile that lights up any room and lifts anyone's spirit. He loves to watch his brothers compete against each other on the xbox, he loves music, he loves to sing, and does his best to strum his guitar and beat his drums that are secured on his tray in front of him. He has a mischievous streak and with that, breaks out laughing at all of the absurdities of life for instance dropping things, tripping and stubbing ones toe he says "ouch" on cue which then gets the whole room laughing as well! In some ways he is a typical 15 year old boy. However, Kyle cannot talk, walk, crawl, feed himself, or sit up independently. Kyle was born prematurely at 31 weeks,and weighed 4 lbs -2 oz. He was tiny at birth and spent his first five weeks in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Monmouth Medical Center. As the months went on his mom noticed he did not sit up or crawl like his older brother had done. He couldn't track an object and always needed a physical touch to know someone was there with him. His pediatrician at the time, blamed the symtoms on being born prematurely. His family suspected more. As parents, it's the last thing you want to believe about your child. His pediatrician was changed and a neurologist confirmed that Kyle had Leukomalacia (white matter in his frontal part of the brain) causing the global delays also know as Cerebral Palsy. Kyle has a Spastic Quadriplegia type of Cerebral Palsy. It affects a person’s movement and/or speech and it affects each person differently. At 9 months of age Kyles journey began. For Kyle all of his muscles are affected, he cannot control how they move which means he is confined to a chair or other apparatus which straps his legs and/or feet, and torso in the proper position allowing him to be able to sit/stand uprite, still and safe. For mobilility he uses a power chair and mostly relies on his family to help move him to where he needs to go. In his short life he has had Botox treatments, hippotherapy (horseback riding), hyperbaric oxygen therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy. In addition Kyle also has been prone to seizures recently and has needed to be hospitalized and monitored to figure out what's causing them. He has recently been diagnosed with Epilepsy and has begun taking anti-seizure medication for it. Kyle is a determined boy, who despite his challenges works very hard in therapy and doing every day tasks such as playing with toys or feeding himself fruit loops that are placed on his tray. His family has worked very hard to give Kyle everything he needs so that one day he might walk independently. Some of Kyles therapy is covered by insurance however it will not cover alternative therapies that in the past Kyle has made great strides in. These therapies are expensive and place a heavy financial burden on Kyle’s family. Smiles for Kyle is run by his family and is set up to keep all those who love him updated on his progress and to share upcoming fundraisers that will go directly to Kyle and his therapies. Kyle has come so far in his young life; every movement Kyle makes is difficult but he does it with a smile that has engaged many and a determination to keep up with his brothers, family and friends he loves so much. So please like our page, post comments, send your prayers , and become a supporter of our superstar Kyle!
