Hi my name is Emma Johnson & my partners name is Richie Davies we have a daughter called Paige who is 4 & a son called Harri who will be 3 in November. It all started at my 20 week scan, I knew what to expect so I thought it was a little bit strange when the scan had gone on longer than expected. They then took us in to a separate room to tell us that his left kidney wasn't working that there was cists on it, & that I would have to come to the hospital on a regular basis to be scanned & monitored. After a couple of months of back & for to the hospital they advised us to have him 3 weeks early by c-section, so Harri was born on Monday the 1st of November 1999 weighing in at 5 lbs 3 oz. Harri was taken straight down for a kidney scan which told us what we already knew so the right medication was prescribed & we would have to bring him back to the hospital every 6 months for a scan to see if the kidney was shrinking like they told us it would. We thought our troubles had ended but we were so wrong the Doctor came round on the Thursday to give Harri a check over to see if we could go home & found that Harri had a heart murmur so he was taken straight down for a heart scan which told us that the valve going from his lung to his heart was slightly narrow which is called a pulmary stenosis. Harri was then taken down to the special care baby ward to be monitored, after nearly 2 weeks they said Harri could go home & that we need to bring him back for his check ups. We knew it was going to be hard back & for to the hospital but no-one could prepare us for what they were going to tell us next I mean I heard about genetics on the television but what they were telling me was just going over my head, 49 xxxxy what was it they were trying to tell me because I just did not have a clue. My whole world was just turned upside down, I just wanted to scream to the world why me when was the bad news going to stop, but I knew I had to be strong not just for Harri but for my daughter who was still only a baby herself. We kept going back & for to the hospital for his check ups & the doctor put forward the right specialists for Harri, the ball was rolling. Harri now sees a physio therapist, a speech therapist & an occupational therapist. Harri is a very loving little boy with a lot of special qualities, he has only just started walking which is such a pleasure to watch it was only last year he started crawling & bottom shuffling. Harri is learning sign language at the moment called makaton which is brilliant because Harri only says a handful of words so he gets quite frustrated but seems to be getting on well with it. We still go up to the hospital for his kidney which we are waiting for some results to get back to us to see if the kidney needs to come out but his heart problem is fine, he had the all clear a couple of months ago which was very good news.
Story Submitted by: diggersthename@tiscali.co.uk
