My name is Athena Casper. I am 24 with spina bifida and I have been a right below knee amputee for almost three years. I am going to be writing about what it’s like being a young mom with spina bifida and an amputation. I am going to write about the positive days and even the bad days. I am going to also introduce my children to you because they will be a major part in my daily blogs. I am going to start with Izabella, or Izzy for short. Izzy is my miracle baby in her special way. I was raised being told that I would never have biological children of my own. At the age of 20 I welcomed Izzy into the world too early. Izzy was born at ten weeks early. She was only two pounds and 8oz. She spent 7 1/2 weeks in a level 3 nicu and was only 9 months old when I had my amputation. I had the amputation the day after Easter. Izzy is the reason I decided to do it then. The doctor said that I could have waited up till five years later. I knew that I couldn’t wait with her at home and about to start moving. Recovery was really rough. I couldn’t take care of Izzy. I had to depend upon others. Then on mother’s day I received the worst call of my life. My grandmother had died. Recovery took a very long time. In October I decided with the encouragement from my sister to take Izzy to Maryland for three weeks without my husband and Izzy’s father. Things seemed to be looking up for me until a fellow amputee friend came to see us and told me how bad my leg was. I just found an amazing prosthetic doctor, but more on that later.
Izzy is now 3, she still has a lot of delays from being premature. She receives speech and OT (occupational therapy) twice a week. Izzy also has asthma and is allergic to latex. In February of 2012 I did a routine MRI of my back. I had been having increased pain and we thought that it meant that I was going to need spinal surgery. Two days later on a sunny Wednesday afternoon I got a phone call from the doctor. He asked me if I had realized that I was pregnant. Needless to say I had no idea! Well I found out that I was 14 1/2 weeks pregnant with another baby. This is my youngest. Shyanne was born by an emergency c-section at 30 weeks due to me having a ruptured uterus and internal bleeding. I was rushed into surgery and Shy was born weighing 3 pounds 5 ounces. She only stayed in the nicu for 5 1/2 weeks at a level 2 nicu. She has OT, speech, and a home nurse once a week. She also has asthma. She is now 18 months old and doing good. She is the one I worry about. She has had a rough time with her asthma.
Back to me. I have been married to my high school sweetheart for almost 3 years. I have just switched to an amazing new prosthetic doctor. After having a doctor who wouldn’t listen to me and really didn’t even care. I swear that he stole the beginning of izzy’s life from me. So I now see a new prosthetic doctor and I love how he cares about my goal of being able to keep up with the kids as seriously as I do makes it easier on me. Well here is my introduction please feel free to ask any questions!!!!!
—–
Athena’s Blog Posts:
Return to top of page