Abram’s Journey

Our family was introduced to cerebral palsy 21 months ago. This is our son Abram’s story. Our boy and girl twins arrived at 32 weeks, two months premature. Abram was born first. A minute after he was born, Abram’s lungs collapsed and he did not breathe for a few minutes. The lack of oxygen to his brain, caused the damage that now translates into his extensive motor delays. Abram spent five weeks in the NICU,  where he learned how to breathe, suck and swallow at the same time.  After the NICU he came home  and we began to notice that he did not reach his developmental benchmarks like his twin sister did. It did not take long for us to realize that something was wrong.  His beautiful and bubbly personality, which is irresistible, was developing just fine.  He seemed aware and alert but his body was not following suit.  When at 10 months he was still not able to sit, we knew there was a problem. After a series of medical events, he was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. As parents,  it was and still is hard to know how his diagnosis is going to affect his and our lives.  We have seen so many miracles in the last year and a half.  The greatest gift is that this boy has come with such an optimistic, happy and sweet personality which is fitting for living with such a challenge.  We look in his eyes and we can literally see the most sincere desire to physically do all the things his siblings are able to do., but he simply can’t. At 8 months he started physical therapy and shortly thereafter, he also started occupational therapy, child development classes and vision therapy, since we well know that early intervention is the key to success. He has made good progress and gained some new motor skills during the last year of working in multiple weekly therapies with his loving and dedicated therapists. This is encouraging and shows us that Abram is capable of progressing. NAPA center We plan to take Abram to one of the most advanced physical therapy clinics in the world, NAPA center, which is located in Los Angeles. NAPA Center offers 3 weeks of intensive therapy sessions for children with cerebral palsy and other motor delays. They use avant-gard and successful therapy methods from all over the world (NeuroSuit and the Multifunctional Therapy Unit/Spider Cage, both from Poland and Cuevas Medek Excercise (CME) from Chile, among many others. Children with cerebral palsy are known to progress more in the three weeks of intensive therapy at NAPA than they do in 12 months of traditional physical therapy. Children with motor delays are recommended to do 3 to 4 intensive therapy sessions a year. Each intensive session is about $10,000 and unfurtunately they are not covered by insurance. The main goal is to re-train the central nervous system and create NEW pathways to and from the brain, allowing new or improved motor skills in children with motor delays. Because the brain is most mailable and able to learn new pathways in the first five years of life, this is the most crucial time to take Abram for these intensive therapies. This is the time when he can make the most progress, that will positively impact his whole life. This go fund me campaign  is solely for the purpose of raising money to take Abram to 3-4 sessions of intensive therapies a year until he is 5 years old. Thank you, dear friends with all our hearts! We are so grateful for your prayers, kindness, love and support!