December 15, 2009
Dear Friends:
Thirteen years ago, Christine Meola delivered her
son, Christopher, almost three months early, so that he and his mother could have
a chance at life. He weighed 1 pound,
12 ounces. Christine had been
diagnosed with severe preeclampsia after several
warning signs went undetected. Now, as a budding teenager, Christopher shared
his story with a spellbound audience at the Preeclampsia
Foundation’s annual gala, Saving Grace –
A Night of Hope, in
13 Years Later, It Still Matters
“I had to be born 13 weeks early. The doctors said that after I was born my Mom
would get better. But she didn’t. She got sicker and sicker. And I got sicker 
and
sicker.
On my fourth day of life, I suffered the worst injury of prematurity – a Grade 4 Intraventricular Hemorrhage deep within my brain. The doctors asked my Dad if he wanted to remove life support. They said I would have no quality of life. My Mom was too sick to be consulted. She spent the next 2 weeks in intensive care. All her organs started to fail, her brain swelled and her optic nerve was damaged.
During this time, she could not visit me or care for me.
I spent the next 91 days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit until I finally went home. I couldn’t coordinate the suck, swallow, breathe pattern necessary for bottle-feeding, so my mom had to exclusively nurse me. Three years and four herniated discs later, Mom was grateful for the experience.
My first 3 years of life were filled with doctors, therapists, medications, oxygen tanks and heart monitors. I didn’t walk until I was two. It was around this time that I was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, Left Hemiparesis. That basically means I have a weakness on the left side of my body that primarily affects my left hand and arm.
When I try to explain to people how it affects me, I tell them to try to get dressed, or cut a steak, or basically just get through a day using one hand. I’m not complaining, just explaining. I also have various learning disabilities, including non-verbal learning disability, which actually means I am very verbal, and read really well, but I’m not so good at math.
My family and I see it all as being “differently abled.” Most importantly, I am grateful to be alive and grateful that my mom lived too.
My disabilities are the result of this terrible disease – preeclampsia – an awareness of which would have prevented my injuries. But there was no information about warning signs, no bed rest for my Mom, who diagnosed herself through a neighborhood pharmacy blood pressure machine, and then went straight to the Intensive Care Unit.
I represent all the little ones impacted by this deadly disease: the babies who lived, and those who remain alive in our hearts.
Thirteen years ago, the Preeclampsia Foundation
didn’t exist and moms like Christine had nowhere to turn to get reliable
information. Today, the Preeclampsia
Foundation’s website helps 3,000 new visitors every day get life-saving
information. We’re also pleased that our efforts to
get this information into every doctor’s office and health clinic have been
increasingly successful.
Dollars raised from this end-of-the-year appeal will help us develop new education materials targeted to all women, and in particular those with low health literacy – a population often at the greatest risk of going undiagnosed until its too late.
Please join Christopher, Christine, and the Preeclampsia Foundation as we fight for every baby and mother who suffers from this common complication of pregnancy. Many of us have lifelong reminders of just how traumatic it can be – lifelong disabilities due to prematurity, ongoing health complications for the mother, or even death of the mom or the baby – but we also carry with us a hope that it will be different for our children.
As you reflect on your many blessings this holiday season, please consider a tax-deductible contribution to support the programs and research of the Preeclampsia Foundation. We intend to reach 150,000 more women next year… and with your help, we can.
If you’d prefer to make your donation by mail, please send a check payable
to “Preeclampsia Foundation” to
Warmest
wishes,
Eleni Z. Tsigas
Executive Director
P.S. For that last minute
gift for the loved one who has everything, consider a donation to the Preeclampsia Foundation in that person’s honor. We’ll send
him or her a personalized tribute card and you can
both feel good about “the gift that gives twice.” As always, your donation is
100% tax deductible.