Brooke Beecham

After my first surgery at nine hours old they told my parents if I could make it for 72 hours they MIGHT start talking about my survival. My mother and father were devistated! My mom was still in Oxford a couple hundred miles away in the hospital she didn't get out of the hospital for 5 days after I was born because of the C-section. My father and grandfather are both ministers and they began calling everyone they knew, which was alot of people for prayer. Before I was 24 hours old most of america and several surrounding countries knew of the "Wilson" baby who was hanging on by a thread! They had put me on 100% respiration and 100% oxygen shortly after I was born. I am not for sure how long I was on that to be honest, (I don't remember) my mother would though! When I was three weeks old I had to have my second surgery, they had to go in a do a bowel resection because my intestines had kinked when they brought everything back down to where it was suppose to be. I was a couple of weeks old when I was able to digest ONE cc of milk! and 5 cc's make a teaspoon! They allowed me to come home at 5 weeks old! My mother and father watched me like a hawk along with the rest of my family! I was in and out of the doctors with ear infections and upper respiratory infections and all kind of things that made me ill, and my mother not unlike the rest of moms in the world she was VERY protective so I sneezed and she took me to the doctor office! I was on iron and reglan and all kinds of other medicines for a very very long time! When I was 6 months old I weighed only 9 lbs, they diagnosed me with faliure to thrive and put a feeding tube down my nose I wore that until I was about a year old! Before they put that down my nose I projectile vomitted everything I ate. When I was eleven months old I had my third major surgery adhesions had completely closed off my intestines so they went in and did a 2nd bowel resection. That was my last major surgery for awhile. During my first year is when I was diagnosed with scoliosis as well. I was about 3 I guess when they had to put ear tubes in both ears, take my tonsils out, put windows in my sinuses and remove my adnoids! They did all of these in two seperate surgeries! I was 7 years old when my orthopedic doctor , Dr. Hamilton, told me I was going to have to wear a back brace for the rest of my life because my scoliosis was progressing at an alarming rate! Talking about being devistated I remeber crying that entire day! He told me that I may not have to have surgery if I wore this brace 23 hours a day forever. I asked him then why he couldn't just do the surgery...cause I was never afraid of surgery! I also remember the day I got fitted for my brace, the man who did the cast for my brace only had one arm his other arm and hand was prosthetic. So, I finally got over the fact off the back brace, I told myself it was better for me and I could just deal with it and I was the cool one on the play ground because of it! I remeber that brace to this day it was made of REALLY hard plastic and two metal pieces with padding came over the shoulders and the back had two screws. I had to learn to put this on and take it off myself!<-----this was my first one! When a few months went by and there was no change in the progression of my curve they decided to put me in a milwaukee brace.....now this one was not half as comfortable as my first, and the first wasn't comfrotable at all! This one was also made of a hard plastic but the plastic was only over my hips and lower stomach, then a metal bar thing, was attached and went right up the center of my chest there was a piece of plastic that was about the size of a coaster, it curved inward toward my stomach, and the bar went on top of it and went up into a circle that went around my neck. They piece of plastic the size of a coaster put alot of pressure on my hiatal hernia, which caused me to vomit everything I ate. I already had HORRIBLE heart burn all the time inspite of medicines but this literally kept me from keeping anything I ate down, I was about 8 years old and didn't weigh but like 30-38 lbs. On the back of the neck circle was a screw that had to be tightened and two bars came down that which hooked into the piece of plastic that was around my pelvis. I wore this brace for 3 years day and night. Because of all the medicines and things I went through as a baby my eyesight began to get worse when I was 5 so I have worn glasses for 15 almost 16 years. And I have always had a weaker bladder than most people, so when I have to go I HAVE TO GO NOW! I believe this has to do with all of the surgeries I've had.