A Šiauliai woman who had given birth to a healthy daughter did not expect such a stroke of fate: now she only asks for one.

Little Elijah saw the world on January 13, 2017. According to his mother Eglė de Šiauliai, the pregnancy was fluid until the last month, but during the last examination, doctors noticed that the volume of water in the uterus had decreased.

Due to all the anger, the doctor who examined Egle sent the expectant mother to the hospital to make sure there really was less water than there should be. Upon arrival at the hospital, the complaints were confirmed and it was decided to favor the delivery.

The delivery went smoothly, the mother felt fine, and the baby was rated very well.

Everything was replaced by an inspection

As the days passed, the mother rejoiced at every little achievement of her daughter. The only problem was that Elijah was diagnosed with right hip dysplasia.

“It just came to our knowledge then. It wasn’t a major condition. Elijah grew up normally and everything was fine,” says Egle.

She smiles because it was probably harder for her to see Elijah’s twisted movements as a mother than as a daughter. According to her, it seems that the girl, barely a few months old, did not even feel that her leg was held by the splints.

Although at first the doctors thought it would only take a couple of months to fix this problem, the baby with the splints took about half a year.

“When the splints were removed, everything was still wrong. Then we began to attend massages, exercises. About a month later, changes in their behavior were noticed, ”Eglė sighs.

The physical therapist exercising the girl noticed that during the movements, Elijah’s eyes began to lag behind. And the mother felt that the daughter had become more sensitive to the touch, she became slower and her arms began to tremble a little.

After visiting neurologists, Eglė heard that “you can’t talk about a healthy child.” Elijah underwent a CT scan that showed nothing. This is followed by an encephalogram for epilepsy. However, these studies also showed nothing. However, doctors have decided that it will likely be a mixed developmental disorder.

Enter the map without hesitation

“It just came to our knowledge then. Then we went to another neurologist and then an MRI was done, the absence of a large brain connection was observed and epilepsy was diagnosed. After that, all the other diagnoses were spread,” says the mother. of the girl, Eglė.

Also this time Elijah was diagnosed with spasmodic cerebral palsy, microcephaly.

“Hormone therapy has been used for infantile spasms. Treatment was effective from the second day of hormone injection, as not all hand tremors were recorded. And only more rehabilitation was applied, because none of his diagnoses had anything to treat …

To date, the extreme spasms have been cured, but after staying in the hospital for a full month before being discharged, other seizures have occurred, but they are milder. They have been given medical treatment to control them, ”he says.

However, the results obtained at the hospital were long overdue. Elijah’s development continued to deteriorate rapidly, with epileptic seizures occurring 40 times a day.

Did not give up

Now Eglė and Elijah live in Birštonas and go to rehabilitation in Kaunas every day.

“We are from Šiauliai, but there are not many specialists who can help us. We found a clinic in Kaunas and we thought we would only try for half a year, but now we have been visiting there for more than half a year. We provide speech therapy, physical therapy and occupational therapy services. In another institution, we also attend neurotreins, such as brain training, ”says Eglė.

All procedures cost around € 600 per month, not including travel expenses. Mothers with their daughters are cared for and cared for by the support fund “Careful Heart”, because a single mother cannot work, she has to dedicate her time to taking care of her daughter all the time.

“Elijah is making very small steps, but we can be glad that at least he is improving. She tolerates all procedures very well, doing them voluntarily. She is also more interested in the environment, increasingly aware of what is desired of her. We are already trying to take their first steps in the walker, they are unstable, but something keeps happening.

Elijah is a calm and good boy. She is very gentle. He loves to communicate. She loves music and hums according to her, ”Eglė smiles as she talks about her daughter.

When asked what his biggest dream is, Eglė hesitantly says that he would like to see his daughter walk, although almost immediately he adds that in Elijah’s case, this dream is real, but it takes a lot of work to make it come true.

“The most important thing for me is that at least it doesn’t get worse and she takes small steps forward, she doesn’t stop,” he says.

The mother is eager to go to a rehabilitation center with her daughter in Poland or Slovakia. It is said that a child under the age of 5 is the most neuroplastic and the most remembered. Elijah’s mind is very receptive, but he still needs constant rehabilitation so that he doesn’t forget what he has learned. That is why a visit to one of the rehab centers is expected to bring the best results this year.

You could help Elijah in the following ways: The family is cared for by the charity and support foundation “Caring Heart”; Swedbank AB Bank code 73000 A / S; LT807300010144236452; Recipient: “Caring Heart”; Purpose: Support Elijah; Or you can find a PAYPAL account here. Sending an SMS to the number 1670, entering the word AUKA (SMS price € 5) The “Careful Heart” Charity and Support Foundation invites families raising seriously ill children not to be afraid and to turn to them for help.