SOMETIMES YOU JUST SEEM TO HAVE A STREAK of bad luck. And sometimes a friend does and all you can do is feel deep empathy and gratitude you didn’t even know could come sneaking up with such strength. What can we do to prepare for emergencies where the ground gives out under our very own feet? Don’t rest all your weight on Insurance Companies, that’s one lesson.
SOMETIMES YOU JUST SEEM TO HAVE A STREAK OF BAD LUCK. And then sometimes a friend does and all you can do is feel deep empathy and a sense of gratitude you didn’t even know could come sneaking up on you with such strength.
A reader here at UMX—I have a few names for him it seems, but one is Pablo—writes me from time to time about this and that. Recently, it was about the news that his child was born with Craniosynostosis.
From his own mail:
Craniosynostosis is a disorder that hits about 1 in every 1000 or 2000 births, which makes it fairly common, and my now 7 month old son is one of them. Basically, the bones of a normal baby’s skull are pretty much free floating, and the biggest of the gaps is what we know as a normal baby’s soft spot. Craniosynostosis is when one or more of those gaps seal shut prematurely. One “suture” being prematurely closed is the most common form. Julian Antonio was born with 4 out of 6 sutures sealed, and no soft spot whatsoever. It would have kept his brain from growing and killed him by age 6 months if we lived in a third world country or 40 years ago anywhere or whatever. The insurance company tried to claim it was a cosmetic procedure.
That was bad enough, that the insurance company was claiming that the surgery that would save a child’s life was in fact only “cosmetic.” Sadly, these types of decisions are common fare in this here loving nation of ours.
Luckily—tho what the hell is “luck”, dunno—Julian Antonio was able to get his first surgery on time, and just in time. It seems his brain was about to suffer damage from crowding. (Before and after surgery pics to the right).
Though that climb is not over yet.
At the bottom of this and subsequent pages you can read about how we found out about it when he was 5 days old, all the way through his first surgery. He’ll be going in for his second surgery, literally termed a “craniectomy” in September. My wife posted some info on the latest news here, under my user name at DKos.
The whole CranioKids community went into a tizzy when it got mentioned once, and badly described, on Regis & Kelly, because Kelly went to a function for the Jorge Posada foundation, a foundation started because the Yankees catcher’s son had Cranio. Still, nobody knows what the hell it is or how very common it is, and it is pretty harrowing to hear five days after he’s born that your kid’s brain is gonna see daylight when he’s a month old.
The foto above, of the broken floor, was taken from a Dkos diary, and I have to tell you the truth, when I finished reading the entire diary—from flesh-eating bacteria to motorcycle accidents to the broken porch—felt actually physically ill and had to lie down for un momento. (Don’t worry, the post isn’t that bad, it’s me. I almost passed out getting my nipples pierced and one of my tattoos, as well. I have a nervous system that is sometimes very sensitive.)
The broken porch shot is because Pablo’s brother—the one hit by a car on his bike—happened to be holding his niece (Pablo’s daughter; to the right) and the porch suddenly and unexpectedly gave out under their weight and the man fell two stories through the air holding her, managed to roll so that he took the brunt and when he landed, broke his back in six places. They fear he will never walk again.
Anyway, the post grabbed me because I have too much imagination and the writer was emotional while writing it. Don’t be afraid to visit and give support.
The girl is okay. Pablo weathers on. You can read his story and find out how to donate a few bucks to his situation or just comment with your Great Satanic Orange user account here. His wife’s account can be found here.
Hola! If you're new here, you may want to snatch up a juicy salsamatic subscription to the worldfamous Unapologetic Mexican RSS feed.
This message will show only a few times so read it while it's hot! Gracias!
By commenting at UMX, you grant, in perpetuity, the rights for your words to be used in any fashion Nezua chooses, whether that be quoting them, reprinting them, converting them to representational fractals, or painting them on a t-shirt made for an anarchist's Chihuahua.
You can follow los comentarios por esta entrada with the RSS 2.0 feed.
Thanks, Nez. It’s good to feel the community, the emotional support from friends and strangers.
glad to raise my voice for ya, amigo. hang in there.
Media attention: Local News Channell
hey, great to see pablo!
and i can’t believe that such an important area as that porch/step area wasn’t more reinforced. what is it, one damn layer of 2×4?? that shot on the news of the nails and the board just hanging loose…wow. were they nailed into about 1/2 inch of wood? looks weak. looks like an accident just waiting to happen.
There was a 2×6 underneath that rotted away over time, I guess. It fell to the ground, so you couldn’t see it, but there 2×6 was there as a support for the end of the planks that swung downward.
It WAS an accident waiting to happen, but a month ago, the upstairs neighbors carried a piano down those stairs, so we had no reason to suspect it could possibly be so weak.
wow. hope that piano didn’t weaken it.
just terrible terrible fate whatever it was.
or maybe not. maybe the child would have fallen by herself had this not happened…there’s no way to guess What Ifs or the road fate unfurls.
all my good energy to your family.
[...] arguing with people who think free market health care will solve everything? This is a caustic counterpoint (The Unapologetic [...]
Jump to comments
[...] Pablo’s Very Terrible, Horrible, No Good Week at The Unapologetic Mexican. [...]