The struggles of an autistic son+ multiple complications

Just by looking at the title you my probably think I am worn out. Well, let  me tell you I have never been stronger. I have to say that I wasn't ready to embark on this journey but it happened so quick that I didn't have a clue when I jumped on it. I just said to myself that God would never leave me with a situation that I would not be able to handle so therefore I must keep the faith and fight.

My son Isaiah was born on February 2010 in the beautiful city of Melrose MA. Beautiful baby boy with no complications whatsoever which is what every mom dreams of, for me it didn't last long. Two months after I took my little darling home, I began to see a change on his skin which concerned me very much. I took the first step which was to call his doctor and brought him in. The doctor was unable to find out what was wrong with him so I asked around and I was told that Boston Children's Hospital is the best at what they do so I took him there they were very quick to find out that he had severe eczema. What is eczema? It's a medical condition in which patches of skin becomes rough and inflamed with blisters that cause itching and bleeding sometimes resulting from a reaction to irritation but more typically having no obvious external cause. I've got to tell you my baby never slept at night that means no sleep for mommy and daddy. In order for him to sleep I had to have a cold wet towel near my head at all times as the scratching period came I would have to tap it all over his body with force in order for him to fall asleep. In the morning his skin would be purple and watery with all this bloody spots which crushed my heart and often had me say to myself why him? But I kept calm and said to myself how dare I question my God? So I kept doing my job following his doctor’s orders and tried to keep him as calm as possible. As if this wasn't enough in his little lifetime at the age of 2 I noticed that he wasn't progressing as every other kid his age so I contacted his doctor and I scheduled a meeting/evaluation to find out if he was delayed. After hours of deliberation they came to the conclusion that he had autism. I was crying because he still had his severe eczema to deal with and now that he had one more issue to face I didn't know how to deal with it I was down for while not knowing what could come up next.

 For those of you who don't know what autism is, it's a mental disability that causes problems with social and communication skills. It can be mild or severe; it can make it difficult to express your wants and needs. It is mostly common among boys.

Now with autism and his eczema he got more irritated. The itchiness, the frustration made him so miserable he would focus so much on scratching that his early intervention sessions had to end early. He couldn't attend daycare, couldn't go to certain places I felt like he was living in a box. His tantrums were so bad that I didn't enjoy taking him where I knew he would be judged based on what people see not knowing that he couldn't control them. He was bleeding all the time these issues had kept him with a limit of thing to do. It had taking a toll on me too because I never knew what the next day would be like, I was stressed, weak at times overwhelmed with sadness but I still took on my number one task which was taking care of my son. At the same time people form church were praying the in-laws were helping a ton and my sweet husband was there every step of the way. I was lost that I couldn't even pray at times but thanks to family members and church prayers I still had a little strength left. It was during the winter of 2010 when he started coughing then he started breathing heavily and had a fever so I took him to his doctors only to discover that he had asthma. What now? Do I give up or do I continue doing my job? Eczema, autism, asthma, is there anymore that he could take ?That's when I became strongly discouraged and disoriented and didn't know how to take it, I felt like it would have been better If God would take him then he wouldn't have to suffer non stop, he would watch over us and see that we did all we could. His itchiness took a toll on him; his asthma would show up like every other week. He was struggling in a way that no 2 year old should have been. As the time went by it was time for him to go to school and be able o interact with other kids. After all the services he had received from home it was that time, I didn't know what to expect the fact that i didn't know what was going to happen to my baby when he started scratching gave me mixed feelings; days went by he was doing ok but after some weeks i was getting calls to come pick him up cause he was not feeling well, he was itchy and irritated. That's how his school year kept going till now he can never go to school for a full month without having an asthma attack. He takes it one day at a time, always trying to stay as bubbly as possible. His courage is definitely something I don't have; he has taught me how to be a better person. His caring for his little sister is beyond measures , his little soul is like no other. He has inspired me to be courageous no matter what life throws at me I take the good with the bad like he does and make something great out of it.

"This too shall pass". As of now my son is eczema free, he has become more verbal sometimes he still has difficulties expressing himself but he does his best at trying, he has a little sister who completes him, cares about him, and helps him out magnificently. He's doing great in school, although his asthma is still trying to take him down,  I couldn't be more thankful to God knowing how long of a way my son has come. He has even inspired me to come up with a jewelry line that's going to be named AUTICOUR. I am excited for what's to come with him as he sings great, he's a great beat boxer, a creative artist and so much more. I am dying to see his future as I know that my God will be with him every step of the way.