cameron paul croteau

Cameron Paul Croteau April 27, 2004-July 26, 2007

thank you for reading & wanting to know more about our sweet little angel cameron!!!!!!

Cameron suffered a severe lack of oxygen during labor & also after he was born. this was all due to medical neglegance. cameron's diagnosis is severe hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (hie), severe cerebral palsy, severe GERD, floppy airway, chronic lung disease, developmentally delayed, poor swollow/gag relfex, hearing impaired & legally blind(cordical vision impairment).

Cameron had frequent aspiration pneumonia's. we almost lost him numerous times to lung infections. he got a feeding tube placed into his belly at 6 weeks of age. at 7 mos he had a surgery to reduce his gerd called a LAPAROSCOPIC NISSEN FUNDOPLICATION. this resolved the reflux! at 16 mos he had another surgery to place a Tracheotomy. this was done in hopes to reduce the frequent pneumonia's by protecting his airway more. around 18 or 20 mos of age we discovered his left leg had come out of his hip socket. by age 2 they talked about doing a surgery to fix his hip disolocation. at 2.5 they gave him botox injections in each thigh to hopefully reduce his tone. with the hope with the reduced tone his leg would go back into the socket. because the disolcation went on for so long this was unsuccessful. we had surgery planned for fall/07. cameron was oxygen dependent from 9 mos to 35 mos old. at birth cameron had seizures. he was medicated for them his whole life. as he gained weight they increased his dosage. he had numerous eeg to check for seizures but never had an eeg that show he was having seizures. only showed abnormal brain activity. this is normal for any brain injured kiddo. they were reducing his med 2 weeks before his passing. he also took another med to decrease his saliva, drool, & boogies called robinul. it worked wonders for him once we got the right dose. with out it he was a mess. he also took several inhaled breathing treatments via nebulizer to help his breathing difficulties. we stopped his neb treatments 3 mos before he passed along with taking him off oxyegn 4 mos before he passed. he was a completly diffrent child. more alert, starting making milestones, slept better, & even recovered from 2 aspirtation pneumonias with out any oxygen.

We were told when cameron was 6 weeks old that he wouldnt survive. basically to take him home, love him, enjoy all the time we have, but know he just wouldnt be able to survive with the ammount of brain damage he had. this was about the hardest thing we had heard. we couldnt accept this. we saw beyond the tubes & machines. we saw our son. he looked like an angel...we knew he would conquer some of the greatest obstacles. some thought we were just in denial & that we needed to accept this bad news....but we disagreed. if we accepted this then we would have never been able to give cameron the life we did give. we tried everything within our power to make his life as normal as possible. we had all kinds of crazy seats, pillows, & odd items to make cameron have the best quality of life. he disliked all the adaptive equipment we either borrowed or had medicaid pay for. he was very incomftorable in them. so we did lots of yard sale shopping & hand me down shops. with "odd" items we were able to help him learn how to sit with out support, open his hands by himself, & even relax his own tone in all extremities!!!! these were some of the most difficult obstacles.

Cameron required alot of care & love. he couldnt be around negative people other wise he didnt do well. he loved animals! there is so many things he loved especially light up/music toys. he loved chris & i more then anything in the world. he always knew when we were around even  if we didnt speak a single word. he was soothed by being rocked or sang to! he loved going for car rides with the wind in his hair. he loved going to the beach...especially hampton beach(nh). he loved his bathes..long ones only. he loved his early intervention therapists so much. when he started school in the home...he was very angry. i think he missed his ot very much.

Cameron went thru so much in his 3 yrs of life. some of us never even expirence a quarter of what he had to deal with daily. i felt so sad at times that our beautiful son had to go thru so much. i strongly believe he was here to teach us all a little something about ourselves & about life. he is so amazing to me. he is my greatest inspiration for life. if a child can go thru so much & yet be so happy...i can do anything. he never smiled or laughed...but i know on the inside he was laughing his ass off. he was a little boy stuck in a body he couldnt control. i could really see this within him when we went places with other children his age....he wanted to play with them but he was unable to move his body. he would get so fraustrated....the look in his eye would tell you just how he felt.

Cameron lived his last 11 mos of life in our new home!!!! he was a completly diffrent child while living here. it was like having a new & improved cameron!!! we had the time of our lives!!!! cameron went to sleep one night & never woke up again. he looked just like an angel sleeping(as he did everynight). we opted to do an autopsy...there was no real anwsers we would find. we knew he had brain damage...so what probably happened was his organs just had enough & just failed. thats a good enough anwser for us. we know he didnt suffer in anyway.

I want to thank all the dedicated nurses, doctors, therapists, friends, & family whom helped us along the way, for treating our son like a normal child(thank you a billion times over), for everyone who could see beyond the tubes & see our son for whom he was. we wouldnt have been able to stay strong & be the parents we needed to be if it wasnt for all of you for keeping our chins up even in the hardest times. we are better parents because of all of you & most importantly cameron. he truely showed us the way. he was our greatest teacher & hero.

if there is anything anyone would like to know that i havent mentioned here or didnt explain enough. please feel free to email me:chrisandcandy2000@yahoo.com. we dont mind talking about cameron or anwsering any questions you might have. below you will find definitions for some of the above diagnosis & things cameron had. thanks for reading. love candy & chris

***cameron is a big brother in heaven times 2!!!!! nicholas cameron was born on 8.26.07 just 30 days after cameron went to heaven. then came molly ann 8.18.08-3 mos premature. her due date wasnt until 11.19.08. molly is doing amazing here at home now! she doesnt have any major medical issues at all. nicholas loves molly very much. nicholas also loves cameron, he carries his pictures around often. i believe cameron needed to leave for one reason or another. but for right now i believe it was so chris & i could be the best parents possible to nicholas & molly. we would have never been able to give each of our kids what they needed with all camerons special needs. we are so blessed to have 3 beautiful children, each whom have taught us so much!

Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy: Damage to cells in the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord) from inadequate oxygen. Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy allegedly may cause in death in the newborn period or result in what is later recognized as developmental delay, mental retardation, or cerebral palsy. This is an area of considerable medical and medicolegal debate.

Cerebral palsy (CP) is an abnormality of motor function (as opposed to mental function) and postural tone that is acquired at an early age, even before birth. Signs and symptoms of cerebral palsy usually show in the first year of life.

This abnormality in the motor system is the result of brain lesions that are non-progressive. The motor system of the body provides the ability to move and control movements. A brain lesion is any abnormality of brain structure or function. "Non-progressive" means that the lesion does not produce ongoing degeneration of the brain. It is also implies that the brain lesion is the result of a one-time brain injury, that will not occur again. Whatever the brain damage that occurred at the time of the injury is the extent of damage for the rest of the child's life.

Cerebral palsy affects approximately one to three out of every thousand children born. However, it is much higher in infants born with very low weight and in premature infants.

Interestingly, new treatment methods that resulted in an increased survival rate of low-birth weight and premature infants actually resulted in an overall increase number of children with cerebral palsy. The new technologies, however, did not change the rate of cerebral palsy in children born full term and with normal weight.

Gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD, occurs when the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) does not close properly and stomach contents leak back, or reflux, into the esophagus. The LES is a ring of muscle at the bottom of the esophagus that acts like a valve between the esophagus and stomach. The esophagus carries food from the mouth to the stomach.

When refluxed stomach acid touches the lining of the esophagus, it causes a burning sensation in the chest or throat called heartburn. The fluid may even be tasted in the back of the mouth, and this is called acid indigestion. Occasional heartburn is common but does not necessarily mean one has GERD. Heartburn that occurs more than twice a week may be considered GERD, and it can eventually lead to more serious health problems.

Anyone, including infants, children, and pregnant women, can have GERD.