110 degrees magazine - Index

110 degrees magazine - wlinks_may08 - Index

BLOOM I BY DON HUNTINGTON I PHOTOS BY RUSSELL BYRNE
LIFTING UP CAM
Brentwood resident Michele Gouveia-Smith
contracted an infection in the first trimester of her
pregnancy with her middle child, Cameron. The
infection is called Slap Cheek because of the rash
that it produces. It is also referred to as Fifth Disease
because it occupies a fifth place in rash-producing
childhood infections after measles, German
measles, scarlet fever, and roseola. The infection is
mild and the symptoms vanish in a few days.
Slap Cheek is nothing to worry about unless it
occurs in the first trimester of a woman’s pregnancy.
But when it does, Slap Cheek can give a woman
something to worry about for the rest of her life.
Michele’s baby was born with severe disorders.
That he survived at all was miraculous since the
condition is usually fatal.
A LIMITED LIFE; BUT UNLIMITED
BLESSINGS
Cameron wasn’t supposed to be able ever to lift
his head off his blanket but even though he can’t
move in a normal fashion he has considerable
mobility. Professionals said he would never be
able to move around but a couple of years ago he
began walking on his knees.
However, Cameron lives a severely diminished
existence. He is incapable of walking or talking.
84 www.110mag.com May/June 2008
THERE ARE HEROES AND ANGELS IN THIS
WORLD. THE STORY OF MICHELE AND HER
SON, CAMERON, ILLUSTRATE BOTH OF
THOSE REMARKABLE TYPES.
“Mama” is his only word. His constricted world is
due to severe developmental problems and lifethreatening
seizures that demand the presence
of either Michele or her husband, Brian, by
Cameron’s bedside at night.
When the monitor alarms go off every night
it means Cameron’s quit breathing so one of
them has to be available to resuscitate him.
Michele says that Cameron suffers from a condition
called central apnea, in which his brain fails
to send the right signals to his lungs. He would
die without intervention.
Cameron also suffers from optic nerve hypoplasia,
which means that the optic nerve remains
chronically undeveloped. “Cameron has never
been able to describe how much he can see,”
Michele said. “And we know he can at least see
images and colors.”
Cameron is unable to eat or drink and is
nourished through a feeding tube inserted
directly into his digestive tract. He has had to
endure 31 operations including tail-bone reduction,
feeding tube implanting, eye operations,
biopsies, etcetera.
But for all of his disabilities, Cameron is really
alive. Michele says that she came to that realization
as the result of an intense period of soul
searching that ended in a shining epiphany. The
matter came to a wonderful resolution three
years following Cameron’s birth when he was in
intensive care because of a life-threatening
bleeding ulcer.
“I was standing by his bedside,” Michele recalls.
“I had been questioning my faith and wondering
how a loving God could have permitted such a
horrible thing to happen to my son.” But then
something happened that changed Michele’s attitude
forever.
“I was alone with Cam,” Michele said, “And
right there amid all the monitors and machines he
began to giggle. And he didn’t stop right away,
but continued giggling.” Michele said that the
thought suddenly came into her heart that
Cameron’s angels were tickling him. The unexpected
thought healed something in her soul.
“At that moment I reached for my faith,”
Michele said, “and there it was. Because, after all,
if angels really were tickling him, then angels
obviously exist, and God must be real.”
The thought led Michele to the further conviction
that God doesn’t discriminate, but loves
everybody no matter their ability level.
“And this loving God has blessed my son with
chronic innocence,” Michele said.