Abhijaat is a very special boy. Despite the hardships he has suffered, he continues to smile and looks forward to better days. Read his story, and you’ll see.

We have made the wish to make this happen. We hope you can help us!

THE STORK'S EARLY SURPRISE

Abhijaat is now 28 months old. ‘Abhijaat’ means – Noble, Of High Thoughts and Unconquerable. Values we will strive to build in him and which we hope he will live by in his lifetime on earth.

He arrived in our lives on July 3rd, 2008. Suddenly, unexpectedly and a good four weeks ahead of schedule, due to low amniotic fluid. So much for 36 weeks and all that jazz. He did not cry right after the birth, he was having breathing difficulty due to very bad stridor. Doctors did not think he would be able to breathe, but with help of C-PAP and weaning off to oxygen, he survived. He is a good healthy baby, no major issues.

A FEW ROAD BUMPS ON THE RIDE

Somewhere when he was four months old he needed a surgery for Inguinal Hernia. We were told that he could not breathe after waking up from the anesthesia, hence, he was incubated. Doctors then suggested us that his stridor was so bad that he should be operated right away. And Abhijaat underwent two more surgeries on his larynx for helping him to breathe better. During this period, Abhijaat spent one month in the ICU at Chicago and we got a hospital bill of $197,614.00. We have handled this one and are past it now. His right knee was dislocated when he was born. We got that rectified with physiotherapy and splinting over the next few months.

Meanwhile, time passed, baby grew and all that happens with a baby started to happen. Diapers, feedings, doctor visits, shots, and lots of physiotherapy. Realized over the next few months that things were not as they should ideally be. We were first time parents, no perspective to make relative judgments. What we saw was what we thought it ought to be, or was for all the babies out there. So for us, Abhijaat did not hit milestones like smiling, grasping things, sitting up and so on. No one told us there was something wrong with him, just that 'milestones were delayed'. "So what?" we used to think, he will get there whenever he should.

DIAGNOSIS OF CELEBRAL PALSY:

Then we visited our family in India and our universe turned upside down, overnight! First few doctors were straight and to the point "he has issues". Finally, we saw a pediatric neurologist from a world class hospital in India who informed us that Abhijaat has Cerebral Palsy. And our world kind of turned inside out a few times on itself. He was fine, right? 11 months of believing that all was well and now being told that all was unwell, is kind of, not a good feeling.

For Abhijaat, it is his motor abilities, speech have been affected. His hands and legs are spastic. Abhi cannot reach out and grasp things, or sit up by himself, stand, walk and talk. Maybe Abhi does not say consonants yet to say the proverbial “Mama” but makes enough sounds for us to hear “Mama” in there somewhere. He holds objects given to his hands for a little while, listens to the sound of our voices and responds to rudimentary instructions and in short shows us all possibilities of a good healthy life being within his reach. He is the sweetest little boy you can imagine. “Row, Row, Row your boat..” is his favorite poem!

READY FOR A FIGHT

So that is where we are today. We had always known that things were not right, this was a great closure to the suspense. At least now, we know what we are up against and can fight it. Which we will, we do not know any other way to live our lives.

WHAT DOES ABHIJAAT NEED MONEY FOR?

WHO WE WRE

E-mail
info@forabhijaat.org

Phone
+91 89717 90600
+1 312 450 7178