Every parent out there has one wish, and that’s their children to be healthy. Sadly, not every family is granted this desire.
When Crysie and Ryan Grelecki from Marietta, Georgia, learned they were expecting a baby, they were over the moon. During the first ultrasound, everything seemed fine with their baby, but as Crysie entered her 20th week of pregnancy, one of the nurses noticed something odd about the baby. The ultrasound showed that the little one’s head was quite bigger than expected so she called experts to determine if there was something wrong with this family’s unborn baby.
Unfortunately, baby Parker was diagnosed with hydrocephalus, an abnormal buildup of fluid in the ventricles (cavities) deep within the brain, while still in his mommy’s womb.
Cryise and Ryan were uncertain about their son’s future. One thing they were certain about, however, was that they would never give up on him.
“Throughout my pregnancy when I would let my thoughts spiral downward with thoughts of “what if” and just plan fear, God would remind me of a song. The lyrics that would play over and over in my head and fill me with His peace went like this – “God will make a way, when there seems to be no way, He works in ways we cannot see He will make a way for me … He will be my guide, hold me closely by His side, with love and strength for each new day God will make a way,” Crysie shared on Facebook.
Parker was delivered through C-section at 39 weeks. When he turned 2 days old, he had undergone his first ever surgery, and more followed, but he ended up winner after each and any of them.
Doctors helped release the pressure in his brain by draining the fluid. This allowed his brain to develop naturally.
“I was by his side the whole time—talking to him, praying over him, holding his hand, rubbing his head. That unconditional love just rushes over you, and here is this helpless baby that’s been entrusted to me and I can’t do anything for him,” dad Ryan said.
Doctors performed craniofacial surgeries to correct his skull malformation, but they knew they were facing a huge challenge.
“Our goal was to go in and re-expand the skull, open the skull up and separate those bones that had grown together. And, that was basically what we did— getting the space for his brain to grow and grow normally,” Joseph Williams, M.D., Chief of Plastic and Craniofacial Surgery at the hospital said.
When he turned four weeks old, Parker started physical therapy and by the age of 20 months, he had already undergone seven surgeries.
Luckily, he reached many of the milestones and even started walking, skipping the crawling phase, which made his parents extremely happy.
Crysie and Ryan are forever grateful to the hospital and the doctors who helped save their son. This isn’t the first time very successful recovery stories to come out of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta all thanks to the experts working there and the hospital’s world-famous rehabilitation program.
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