Approximately 15 years ago our grandson was stricken with a septic infection. At the time we knew very little about septic infection and the damage it could do to the body. Today we know as we have been living with the results of sepsis for the last 15 years, our grandson was left with brain damage due to this infection. At age 2 Chad went through a life altering experience due to this infection. Sepsis can be and is a very dangerous infection and in this article I will explain why.

Sepsis is a serious medical condition where the whole body becomes inflamed which is called Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome or SIRS for short which is caused by infection. This inflammatory response may be developed due to microbes in the blood or in other words blood poisoning. It is not like the blood poisoning you would get from a rusty nail although it is possible if left untreated. This infection takes over the whole body.

Sepsis starts with an infection and can start in any part of the body, Chad’s started on the back of his neck which at what the time looked like a fly bite except much larger. The immune system tries to fight the infection but something goes very wrong and the infection starts spreading and ultimately enters the blood stream. The immune system tries to fight back vigorously and secrets substances which dilate the blood vessels along the way. When the blood vessels expand your blood pressure drops which means the blood flow all through the body is greatly reduced. While this is taking place toxins from the infection is playing havoc in the body which cause bigger problems. During this the tissue in our bodies is starved for oxygen and will start to release lactic acid which makes the body highly acidic.

While the infection is spreading the organs inside your body begin to fail, this is due to the low blood pressure and the high acid levels in your blood stream. The blood flow is reduced to the heart as well as the brain and can lead to a coma and death. In Chad’s case it did damage his brain but he was not comatose. The highest point of infection at the time was thought to be in his hips. He was in intensive care for two days after he was admitted due to his temperature being too high (it peaked at 105F) as soon as the fever subsided they performed the surgery on his hips where the hips were broken and the infection was cleaned out.

To treat septic shock physicians have to support the failing organs to keep them working in some cases this means drastic intervention with machinery such as dialysis or a ventilator. They introduce fluids into the body to try and raise the blood pressure while administering antibiotics and other drugs to try and kill off the infection. Septic shock can be caused by many kinds of infections such as infections with fungi, if the patient doesn’t get the proper medical help it could lead to death.

The symptoms of septic start out very subtle, as with our grandson we saw the bite and took him to his doctor. He said to give him aspirin and he would be fine. The next day Chad was limping he was taken back to the doctor who said he was only faking. No blood test or exam had been done at this point. The next day when Chad couldn’t walk at all he was admitted immediately and sent to a bigger hospital for sick children.

 

This can and is a debilitating disease. People that are susceptible to infection should be very careful. Always check with your doctor and keep checking until both you and your doctor have no doubt about infection. We checked with Chad’s doctor but he just didn’t pick up on it until it was too late for Chad. The chances of Chad getting the kind of infection he had been 1 in 250,000 but in third world countries it is very common. It was only by the grace of God that Chad didn’t die. It left him mentally challenged but he is growing into a fine young man who someday will contribute to the world as he contributes to ours on a daily bases.

We take so much for granted in our safe world that we have built around us but some families are not so fortunate andin some ways very fortunate. For into their world comes the Special child. These are the children that have developmental disabilities such as the mentally challenged who are defined by a number and this number is an IQ of seventy and below. This puts them in the class of mentally challenged.

Developmental disability is defined as a cognitive, emotional or physical impairment especially those that relate to abnormal sensory or motor development, this appears in infancy or childhood and is defined by failure or delay in progressing through the normal developmental stages of childhood. this covers a wide umbrella of diagnoses but it includes the mentally challenged child. These words don’t tell of the struggles that parents go through with a mentally challenged child. They just give an explanation of what they suffer from but there is so much more to their world. In this article i will try to give a detailed description of the mentally challenged child and the world that they live in. I will also give factual information to help people understand these special children.

Termin-Binet gave the first English language IQ test. This was an instrument that  was developed by Binet in France is to measure  a persons potential.  It was used to measure a person’s intellectual capacity. This was based on language, vocabulary, reasoning of numbers, motor skills, memory and analysis skills. They started with a score of 100 with a standard deviation of 15 or 16.  Mental retardation is considered when when an individual scores two standards below 100. It was taken into consideration that other cognitive abilities could be affected such as depression or anxiety which can contribute to low IQ scores. These have to be ruled out before a true diagnoses can be given.

The chart goes as follows: profound retardation is an IQ below 20, a severe retardation is 20 to 34, moderate retardation is 35 to 49, mild retardation is 50 to 69 and borderline is 70 to 79.

There are many reasons for a child to be mentally challenged such as genetic conditions which is the number one factor,these include such conditions as Down Syndrome, Klinefelter’s Syndrome, Fragile X Syndrome, Neurofibromatosis, congenitial hypothyroidism, William’s Syndrome, Phenylketonuria, and Prader-Willi Syndrome.

Other reasons are problems during pregnancy  when the fetus does not develope properly, a woman that consumes alcohol or contracts an infection such as Rubella. Problems at birth due to lack of oxygen can also cause mental retardation due to brain damage.

Exposure to certain kinds of diseases such as whooping cough, measles or menningitis or toxins can produce the same results such as lead or mercury.

One preventable reason for mental retardation is iron deficiency. It is the cause of 2 billion people being affected worldwide and it is the most preventable cause of mental retardation. This is rampant in third world countries such as India, Russia and China. some of these countries have taken steps to prevent this while others have not.

The reasons are many but the results are the same. These children live in a world of their own, If we are lucky they will let us in but in some cases they would rather be there alone. Maybe in the future there will be a time when our children are not afflicted by this disability but for now they are a very special part of many families. For more helpful information go to Hugz4me.com.

Seventeen years ago we were blessed with a grandson, our first. We only had one child and this made this child all the more special. At age two Chad was bitten by some kind of insect (what, we’ll never know) and developed Septic. He was so bad that it almost took his life and in a way it did. The doctors at the time thought this had only affected his hips but as time passed we noticed a remarkable difference in Chad and at age thirteen he was diagnosed as mentally challenged with an IQ of 69. The septic had affected the left side of Chad’s brain and it wasn’t functioning at all. 69 makes Chad borderline as the rating for mentally handicapped is 70 or below.

Chad has been a joy to our life and his problem has been a curse. His mother struggles on a daily basis to try and make his world as normal as it can possibly be but her home is mostly in turmoil due to the tantrums Chad goes through. He is now over six foot and weights 210 lbs. which is getting a little intimadating for his mom but Chad still has the mind of an 8 year old and that is what saves her from having to put Chad in a home where they can handle him. This would break all our hearts.

His mother is the light of his life regardless of the turmoil he puts her through and she has never stopped seeking services so that Chad’s life could improved. Her struggles are unbelieveable and not something that I am sure I could have found the strength to deal with.

Chad has a part time job now and works after school and on weekends. He is very strong and seems to really enjoy hard physical work. When he does work it seems like they are his better days. He has also joined a fitness club which he really enjoys.

What will happen to Chad? Nobody knows but our hopes are Chad will get to a point where he will become self sufficent and make some kind of contribution to the world. he has already made a wonderful contribution to our family! For more helpful information go to Hugz4me.com.