Angel Tanner's Story

March 8, 2000-December 1, 2001

Hello. This is the story about my son Tanner. He is the light of our lives along with his brother Jordan who is 4. We are getting ready for his first birthday. He has taught us so much in the last year. When the doctors gave us the diagnoses we were devastated, but made the decision to help him in what ever way we could. Doctors discouraged this. I felt that God would work everything out. Tanner was a little stubborn in the beginning. He didn’t want to turn, but in the last week decided to help out. He was born in the afternoon after just 15 minutes. It was a happy day when I looked at him and said "welcome to the world sunshine" and he turned and looked at me. He was put on a ventilator for ½ a day. He also had hydrocephalus that had to be corrected. They took him to the children’s hospital nearby and assessed him. After almost 2 weeks in the hospital doctors did not want to place a shunt and sent us home. They said let him be. It was the worst day. My husband and I were furious. They even suggested to us that we take out his choroid plexis which produces CSF. They said he didn’t need it. You could made a lake out of my tears. I decided to get a second opinion and  that was when we knew everything was going to be ok. Tanner had a shunt placed at 1
month and began to thrive. Before the shunt he would vomit what looked like everything he ate and didn’t really pay attention to us. He was still very loving though. He slept a lot and was irritable. We treat him as if he is
normal because at that age he was. As time went on you could tell how things slowed down. We would get many stares and sad looks after the surgery because his head had caved in. At first he looked like an alien. We definitely
weren’t prepared for that. After some time though it became normal  again. He was still our angel. We then got involved in the states early intervention program and things began to change. We had a lot of people coming in and out of the house at first trying to figure out what his needs were. Then we were blessed with the best Physical and Occupational therapists on earth. They
didn’t see our son as a waste of time. They saw him as a baby who needed every bit of help as would any other child. The world as we viewed him had changed. We began to interact with him and see him interact with us. We learned to tell his different moods. Also to see how rotten he was. He became more aware of his surroundings and began to tell the difference between
people. He knows what he likes and doesn’t. For instance food, where he sleeps and how he likes his baths. Our son has touched so many people in so many different ways. He brought people closer and taught people that just because we’re different doesn’t mean we’re strange. Although with these kids they look no different than others. In side their palsy little bodies lies a bright and beautiful spirit. Tanner is continuing to grow and learn. We are working on sitting up for his birthday which is in a couple of weeks. Either way we are so proud of him and all he has accomplished. I wrote this story to teach others about his condition and what our lives are like. But really to give a part of Tanner to everyone who reads it.

Tanner died on December 1, 2001