NOAH GOOD
Noah’s Story
By: David Good, his father
Noah came into this world very early in the morning of June 5th, 2004. He was a breach presentation, and was brought into the cold, harsh world via caesarian section. His first reaction was what we have come to expect from Noah first thing in the morning, he cried and then went back to sleep. The fact he was here at all some cause for relief, as my wife have had a threatened miscarriage early on in what was to be a relatively normal pregnancy. Noah spent much of his first day under a warming lamp, as he gradually acclimated to his new world. He reminded me of a chicken under the lamps at a grocery store, absorbing the warmth.
While he met some developmental milestones early on, it was gradually becoming clearer that he was falling behind. His frequent ear infections and finally his hospitalization at 8 months for an infection began to give us cause for alarm. We realized then that he had not yet sat up, and that he was very “floppy”. He had not really mastered solid foods, and while he enjoyed soft and mushy things, eating was not something he did well. He had an umbilical hernia that complicated things, and his soft tone only exasperated the situation. We came to the realization that this was not right, and my wife, who works as a Speech Assistant, said we ought to get him looked at.
And so our ordeal began, from that day to this Noah has not had more than a few days respite from doctors and therapists. He was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, and we have been fighting for him ever since. He receives speech, physical and occupational therapy several days a week. We have him enrolled in the Anne Storck Center of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and he has had excellent teachers helping implement the various recommendations of therapists.
When you look at my son, you see a genuinely happy soul. He is always ready to give a hug, and is very perceptive about the emotions of those around him. He is a parts-whole type person, always investigating how things go together. Noah loves cars, Disney channel, and action movies. While he is not big on sweets, he loves pizza and the occasional chocolate chip cookie. I could go on and on about how wonderful my youngest son is. He is more than just the labels that have been applied to him, like all our children he is a real and complete person, not just a diagnosis. Our best hope for him is life just like anyone else. Our goal is to find ways to help him achieve it.
As we have tried to find solutions to our son’s dilemma, we have found one of our own. We have reached a point where the costs of his therapy have exceeded our ability to pay for it, and we need help. We are seeking to enroll Noah in the intensive therapy program, but we need your assistance to make that a reality.