Women are not even aware that they caught it. The drama comes after the baby is born. I did not know, it would occur to me to take a test – mourn mothers. Why didn’t the doctor tell us anything?
On June 30, 2005, in the ultrasound room of a respected city gynecologist Ilona Idczak, with her belly under her nose, hears soothing words:
– The baby is big and healthy. Soon he will be born …
Ilona smiles. My son, my Mareczek… He thinks like waves of heat flowing through his swollen body. Another week or two and the family will be together. She, her husband and two sons… Or maybe one day a girl will join them? Who knows? Various thoughts run through the head of the happy mother.
– We have always enjoyed great health with my husband. I had no doubt that our children would also be like that. Healthy and successful! I’ve never had any fears or bad feelings. I am task-oriented. When I planned something, I realized it consistently. It was the same with pregnancies. I took great care of myself – says Ilona.
And it worked, but … only the first time. Filip’s firstborn was born in January 1998. Ilona was then 26 years old. The pregnancy was uneventful. Childbirth – correct. Newborn baby – healthy as a fish.
When the second son was to be born, she felt exactly the same. When she was pregnant, she worked professionally, went to the swimming pool and for walks. She was radiant. Only at the turn of the second and third semester did a minor, short infection occur. A few days of feeling worse, and that’s it.
– Only after some time did I realize that just these few days had an impact on Marek’s health and our whole life. Once and for all, they thwarted all my plans and dreams I had in connection with a normal family life. Since then, everything has gone a completely new course. I gave birth to a disabled child. It couldn’t have happened, and yet …
Marek was born on July 6, 2005 at 13.45:3,46 pm. Childbirth – correct, on time. Mother’s condition – flawless, newborn – proved. 57 kg, 10 cm. XNUMX points on the Apgar scale. But already in the first XNUMX hours of life, the child’s strange behavior becomes apparent. The little one cannot suckle his breasts, and instead of crying, he makes soft moans. He doesn’t open his eyes.
– I was stunned. On the one hand, I hold a magnificent child in my arms, on the other, his behavior is so different, strange … I fell in love with my son with all my heart and even then subconsciously I felt that I would do everything for him … I was getting ready, although I did not know what for.
The preliminary diagnosis of Marek’s disease was made by pediatricians from the maternity ward. Suspicion of congenital toxoplasmosis. The protozoan, so harmless to the mother, is deadly to the unborn child. It degrades the fetal central system long before birth. Children with congenital toxoplasmosis, especially those acquired in the earlier months of pregnancy, have no chance of normal functioning. The disease affects many organs: eyes, motor organs, speech, internal systems. It impairs vital functions, causes deep psychomotor retardation. Such children are usually recumbent, flaccid, and require XNUMX/XNUMX care and attention. They suffer from epilepsy, paralysis, hydrocephalus, and blindness
“Tell me how you want your mother to feel when she realizes all this.” Not only that, when a professor of medicine bends over the baby and says, regardless of my presence, that it is a hopeless case. Hopeless? I thought I was gonna scratch his eyes! Hope dies last, and he wanted to take it from me at the very beginning – says Ilona.
Ilona analyzed for a long time when and under what circumstances she could become infected with toxoplasmosis. They never had a pet at home. Maybe she stroked some wild kitten by the block and then didn’t wash her hands? However, the most plausible hypothesis was that she had eaten raw meat. She liked rural, fresh sausage, the so-called poland. She remembers eating one somewhere in the second trimester of pregnancy. Maybe this invisible monster is hiding there?
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– It is unbelievable that testing for toxoplasmosis and cytomegaly is so rarely recommended by gynecologists. That pregnant women have to apply for them themselves. Meanwhile, few pregnant women know whether they have ever been infected or developed antibodies. Maternal toxoplasmosis is almost asymptomatic. It can easily be confused with the common cold. For a woman, it does not pose a threat. For the child in her womb – fatal. Often, infected fetuses spontaneously miscarry, but when the mother’s body is healthy and strong – like mine – the baby lives to the date of birth. He lives, but with damaged organs. And now the drama is just beginning – explains Ilona.
Bad luck? Fate? Or maybe an oversight? After the birth of their son, the Idczak family tried for a long time to name what had happened. Ilona already knows that the doctor’s vigilance during the ultrasound examination could lead her to the right track. Enlarged cerebral ventricles in the fetus – such as Marek’s – may indicate that he was infected with the protozoan toxoplasmosis in the mother’s womb. That the mother should be given an antibiotic as soon as possible that can completely cure the baby.
– But my doctor was not disturbed by anything! It’s hard to accuse her of anything, but it’s also hard not to feel resentment that maybe another doctor would be more vigilant – says Ilona.
Mark’s birth day began a new chapter in the family’s life, entitled «Disabled child».
– Someone who has not lived through it or does not have a personal experience will never fully understand how a child’s illness turns everything upside down. As everything begins to revolve around this one, defenseless and sick creature, and the reality of hospitals – rough and merciless – becomes a second home for both the child and his relatives.
Ilona knows what she’s talking about. In Marek’s only seven-year life, there were four operations for inserting a valve into the head, replacing the tube – one, lengthening the Achilles tendon in the right leg – one, but certainly not the end, removing the cataracts and the calcification membrane from the eyes – two. Ten fully anesthetized surgeries and ten wake-ups with the hope that Mark’s life will change for the better at least a little. That the toddler will retain his vision, learn to walk, will say more than 10 words. That troublesome epilepsy will go away.
– My son is amazing. Despite his disability, he is very happy, very family-oriented. However, we spend the property for rehabilitation. Had it not been for the help of the “Help on time” foundation, help from people of good will and various companies, Marek would have been vegetating like, unfortunately, many children with congenital toxoplasmosis.
That is why Ilona calls: – Every pregnant woman should be entitled to a free tocsplasmosis test. What’s more expensive? Such a study or treatment of a child with congenital toxoplasmosis for years? A year before Marek was born in Poland, a program aimed at detecting toxoplasmosis and cytomegaly in women expecting a child was implemented. I once met a girl who found out she was infected thanks to this program. She was given antibiotics. Three months later, she gave birth to a healthy baby girl. Then I thought with envy, why did not such a miracle happen to me?
Now, when Marek is over seven years old, the Idchaks have accepted the child’s disease. They learned to live with her.
– From the very beginning, Filip had a very natural and brotherly approach to Mark. He helped me with its care and feeding. She likes to play with Marek, to tease him and hug him. I never rejected my child, but I rebelled for a long time. Now I know that life without him would be empty, and maybe even worse? Thanks to him, we matured and became better people. More tolerant, open to other people. I cannot imagine our family without Marek.
A donation for Marek’s treatment and rehabilitation can be made at the Foundation for Children “Help on Time”
account number 15 1060 0076 0000 3310 0018 2615
TITLE: 3981 IDCZAK MAREK