Cade was born 14 weeks premature, after a very difficult and complicated pregnancy. His first three weeks of life were spent on a ventilator in the Level III NICU.  He faced a world of complications, including very fragile lungs, hearts defects and intraventricular hemorrhage.  But he was strong and he fought hard. Cade had surgery when he was less than 2 weeks old to repair one of his heart defects. After 15 long weeks he was finally able to come home.

 

He continued to face many challenges, including dealing with a pulmonary hypertension diagnosis, monitoring of his heart defects, and reflux related feeding challenges which eventually resulted in the need for additional surgery and the placement of a feeding tube, which he would have until he was 4.  He has spastic diplegia, a form of Cerebral Palsy, affecting primarily his legs.

 

People who know him now would probably not be surprised to hear that although other milestones were delayed, speech developed right on schedule! He loves to talk and share his thoughts and ideas. Cade is a bright and loving. He is always there to provide praise, comfort and compassion to others.

 

Cade loves to read, draw, play video games, write and illustrate his own stories. He played soccer for a few years, until knee problems began to interfere. After undergoing 2 knee surgeries between November 2017 and June 2018, he is now in the process of rebuilding his strength with lots of PT and plans to get back to running again in the near future!  Cade’s strength and spirit will certainly carry him wherever he wants to go.