“I don’t remember the drive there. The social worker walked us back past a room with 15 doctors spilling out into the hallway. ‘Jonathin was fine an hour ago. There’s no way he’s dying!’ This is the kind of story you see on the news and then you go on with your life. To say I was in shock is an understatement.”
‘I don’t want to be here! People get bad news in these rooms!’ My son’s leg was rapidly turning black. ‘Your son is the sickest kid in this hospital right now.’ Mom shocked by horrific diagnosis after being told it was a ‘regular bug’
‘After I delivered, my doctor handed me my girl. I did not see it. In all of my medical training, I could not tell. She was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen. She was PERFECT.’
“I am a Southern girl and a doctor and I’m used to having it all together. I turned everyone away from the hospital that day, including my sister. I thought I had ruined our lives. I thought I had done something so terrible my husband and child were being punished.”
‘I yelled, ‘My baby can’t see me! What’s wrong?!’ They looked at me. ‘You know EXACTLY what happened to your baby. You shook her, threw her against the wall and bashed her head on the floor.’
“She appeared sleepy, so I laid her down in her crib. I figured since she was sleeping, I could wash my hair, but something told me to check on her again. ‘Momma someone tried to kill my baby, momma my baby, who hurt my baby?!’ I fell to the floor in tears, but her father appeared calm.”
‘I had a stroke at 28 years old. Everyone assumed I was dehydrated or passed out. Soon enough, I was signing for my husband to take me off life support. Then reality hit.’
“We had a beautifully healed daughter. Our marriage was stronger than ever. That’s when everything changed, again. Words cannot describe how scared we were. We were again trying to hide our struggles behind fake smiles. That’s when they heard it.”
‘Since my divorce, I’ve seen a plastic surgeon every month. Not for Botox. I had to face what I’d done with every shower, every decision to wear short sleeves or a bathing suit.’
“I had surprised my family with it. My husband told me he loved what I’d done to myself, but what he didn’t tell me was that he was having an affair. I often wonder what he must’ve felt when he saw his name on my wrist and knew he was lying.”
‘One random afternoon, I got a text from my husband. It’s bad. I thought, ‘Will I be a widow?’ I should’ve been at home breastfeeding. Instead, I was meeting with geneticists.’
“I couldn’t leave the kids alone with him. He couldn’t drive. No pick-ups, no drop-offs. Resentment built between us. We were told our children had a 50% chance of getting it too. All we could do was wait, and watch, and worry. It was too much to comprehend.”
‘I drove to Starbucks and wondered if this bike was my 43-year-old son’s. He was arrested, lost his job and wife, and is homeless. Everywhere I go, every corner I turn, I wonder where he is.’
“It rips my heart out that I had to finally walk away. Within 48 hours, he was out of my house with his bicycle and backpack. I couldn’t bear the chaos any longer. I fear I will get that phone call or knock on the door telling me my son is dead.”
‘It was assumed he fell asleep behind the wheel. They didn’t know they were parents the day of the accident that killed my biological father.’
“I was their miracle baby. New beginnings eventually transpired from the fear that everyone I loved would unexpectedly die. The scariest realization was that my worries were justified.”
‘Is he gone?!,’ I yelled. It wasn’t my husband. He was so excited to be a dad. He was born to be one. I held his hand, telling him how much his unborn son and I loved him.’
“Scott just started a new job. We bought a house and were moving. He started not feeling well, but we attributed it to the stress of everything changing in our life. He went to work after getting me settled in the hospital. When he came back, he looked pale. I told him to get some rest, I would be just fine.”
‘You don’t understand, they will never help your family.’ I was blown away. He was getting worse by the day. ‘I’ve never had an experience like this before,’ the crisis worker apologized.’
“On my way home I received the phone call. It was totally incoherent from all the screaming. I desperately tried to find out what was happening. It was my daughter. ‘It’s Josh,’ I finally heard through the screams.”
