Who is Liam

Hold on, it's a bumpy one but you'll see in the end what a courageous and smart boy he is. Liam was diagnosed in utero with Spina Bifida myelomeningocele and Hydrocephalus. Less than 24 hours after birth he had his back closure surgery and was very fortunate to only spend a few weeks in the NICU. A few weeks later he had his very first brain surgery to insert a shunt that would drain excess fluid from around his brain. He is up to around 9 brain surgeries now with his last at 6 years old.  At 3 years old Liam was struggling to eat anything. He was living on Pedia Sure drinks and losing weight so he had surgery for a feeding tube which keeps him alive now as 100% of his nutrition intake is through his tube. Liam also has a neurogenic bladder and bowel so had surgery to insert a cecostomy tube which helps him go to the bathroom. Most recently Liam's scoliosis has progressed very quickly putting him on a wait list for spinal rods in the coming months. 

He has had multiple ambulance rides and a couple life flights for emergency brain surgery. He has fought for his life through life threatening bone and blood infections, had PICC lines, and countless other surgeries. A regular cold often puts him in the hospital for multiple weeks.

The other thing about Liam is he was diagnosed with Autism at 3 years old. He took part in ABA therapy for 3 years, 20 hours a week but school is where he really blossomed. He was healthy enough to learn, healthy enough to grow and blossom and that is exactly what he did. Now at 7 years old he is developmentally 10-12 months old. He has started to communicate via sign language and PECS and is an amazingly resilient little boy and oh so stubborn!