Topic “support”

For the first half of his son’s life, Matt Latourette concentrated mostly on the little guy’s survival. Son Aiden was born Dec. 1, 2003, with a chromosome abnormality and heart defects that required seven surgeries just to keep him alive. It was only after the medical crisis was behind him — after Aiden turned 3 — that Latourette began the inevitable grieving when a father realizes his firstborn child would never have a normal life. Nor would he and his wife Jennifer. And there were other fears that followed. Would they be able to afford college for their twins, born three years after Aiden? Would they be able to get their son the care he would need in adulthood? And who would take care of this child if something happened to them? There were also what he referred to as the more selfish concerns: like the fact Latourette, who played semi-pro baseball, would never see his firstborn on a prep athletic field. But Latourette is one of those dads who took both an active and proactive role in his child’s life. And the more the Aurora man, a medical company representative, read...

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By CINDY KRISCHER GOODMAN - McClatchy Newspapers ESPN commentator and former tennis star Mary Joe Fernandez remembers the day she learned her son had asthma. "It was like a wake-up call that threw me into action," Fernandez said. She realized she would need to become ultra-organized to keep up travel for her broadcasting job, find the best asthma treatments and manage her son's medical needs. "I came up with an action plan that I leave behind with his school, or baby-sitter, or my parents so when I travel they know what to do." Fernandez just recently started to talk openly about her son's illness, even during a recent tennis clinic for children at the U.S. Open in New York to raise awareness and empower other parents. Despite their fears about job security, more parents of children with chronic illnesses and disabilities are opening up - even at work. What they have going for them is strength in numbers: One in seven children under age 18, or approximately 10.2 million children in the United States, have special health care needs, according to Department of Health a...

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