Matthew

Matthew was born on November 4, 2003. Arriving very premature at only 24 weeks and weighing just over one pound, his hopes for survival were very grim. He was born a twin to a little brother named Brandon. They were born at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak. They were placed in incubators, where they began their fight. His brother Brandon sadly passed away due to complications from a surgery at only 2 months old. Matthew remained in an incubator and fought hard. He overcame many of the odds that were stacked against him, including heart surgery shortly after birth. After many months on life support in the NICU incubator, he was finally ready to come home at the end of March in 2004. The night before his release he contracted RSV from a sick child in the bed next to him. He became very ill, eventually going into a comatose state. He became non-responsive, being bagged to keep oxygen in his system, and we were called in to make a life decision. We requested he be sent to Ann Arbor. The University of Michigan Survival Flight helicopter was flown in and Matthew was transported via helicopter in a lung machine to The University of Michigan Hospital. He remained on a lung oscillation machine for over 30 days in a comatose state. Then after about five stressful weeks our prayers were answered when he woke up. Finally, in May, we received the news that our little boy was ready to come home.

Bringing Matthew home was very challenging. He was on an oxygen machine and apnea monitor for nearly a year. He required weekly doctor visits, constantly monitoring his recovery. We noticed him not doing things that babies normally due and certain stages so we had him evaluated. He was diagnosed with mild spasticity Cerebral Palsy. He began physical therapy almost immediately, starting out at Beaumont. He then transferred over to Crittenton, where he received great therapy from a great therapist named Kevin. Matthew really did well there and they worked very hard with him. We also enrolled him simultaneously in the Euro-Peds program at North Oakland Medical Center. But we still wanted more. More time, more intensity. One day my mom met a person who informed her of the Conductive Ed program. That person was Dawn Sunderlik. She welcomed us into the program and we graciously accepted.

Matthew has now been in the program for about a year and we absolutely love it. He receives great care and is exposed to a lot of hard work. We are anxiously waiting for the payoff when he is able to stand and take his first steps independently. We owe much thanks to the CECMD program for welcoming little Matthew into their program.

Jerry, Kimberly, and Matthew