Denise made sure the woman ate well, went to the doctor and stayed away from drugs. But it was far too early. When he finally did slip into the world, he was cold and blue, silent as death. Her arms, waiting to hold him, felt emptiness she would never fully forget. She called him Timothy.
Cerebral palsy is a cruel collection of varied conditions caused by injury before or during birth.
In Timmy's case, the damage was critical. The result was hydrocephalus, an enlargement of the head that affects vital mental functions if not treated. She took the prognosis as a personal challenge. They also put in a feeding tube that emerged just outside his body in the middle of his stomach. But there was a deeper nourishment she tried to give Timmy.