The old saying warns us that we can’t take our eyes off of our children for a second, and Katie Yohe’s heartwrenching post for The Mighty has really brought this home to us this weekend.
Recalling the moment that changed her and her family’s entire lives, Katie shared the story of the health battle her son Nathaniel has fought since falling backwards down the stairs at his father’s house in 2013.
Despite the fact that the hospital said, after a 24-hour observation, that little Nathaniel would be fine, difficulties walking and staring spells spiked his parents’ concern. Shortly after, he was diagnosed with post-concussive syndrome, but unfortunately, there was a lot more to come for the little boy.
A year-and-a-half later, and Katie describes her family’s lives as having been “turned upside-down”. Nathaniel had gone on to be diagnosed with epilepsy, developmental delays, hypotonia, and autism-like symptoms. He also started getting seizures, which grew worse and more frequent as time passed on.
In the most recent development, little Nathaniel was diagnosed with Lennox-Gastut syndrome in August of this year.
Katie went on to document the fallout of Nathaniel’s health battle: he has to use a wheelchair part-time, he can’t go out in extreme cold because it triggers seizures, and he has been enrolled in special needs classes.
In spite of all that has been thrown at her in the past two years however, Katie has admitted that she is finally focusing on the positive and her son’s incredible bravery – while sharing the importance of the adage that ‘a second can change your life’, for worse but also for the better.
“Never let a second go by in life without truly living, no matter [what] fear or sadness or trials you are going through. Just look at the love and joy in your life, and remember how much those seconds matter. Hold them close to your heart when those seconds get long and hard to get through,” wrote Katie.
