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Baby beating the odds
  
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By YVETTE OROZCO
Fifteen-month-old Hayden Wayne Vorse is a quiet, small baby, but he has already battled a few giants.Giants with names like necrotizing intercalates, hydrocephalus, bacterial meningitis, ROP and blindness.
In his first year and three months, Hayden has come out of 10 major surgeries: for severe brain bleeds and cysts, and seizures and for additional health issues, including three permanent ventriculoperitoneal shunts and he was recently diagnosed with cerebral palsy.
The medical names describe debilitating conditions, but the outcome of every surgery means one thing for the family: survival and hope.
Born nearly 15 weeks prematurely, Hayden has defied the odds and given his family a reason to celebrate.
“I guess doctors have to be realistic and pessimistic, and they told his mother he would never talk, walk, hold his head up or laugh,” said his aunt, Kristal Logan. “We believe he can do those things.”
But hospitals and wheelchair distributors do not accept hope as a payment plan, and the family is facing mounting medical costs and preparing for the prospect of a future caring for a special needs child and adult.
To help offset those costs, family and friends are scheduling a benefit for Hayden to be held July 19 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Jimmy Burke Activity Center on 500 W. 13th Street in Deer Park.
With the sell of barbecue plates, the proceeds from a live auction, a kid’s corner, door prizes and raffle – all going into a special trust for Hayden — the family wants to get a head start on Hayden’s potential.
“We’re just trying to raise money for his future,” said Logan.
The family is hopeful, but also mindful of the doctors’ predictions and the failure of Medicaid and the state to alleviate any financial burden.
“We really want to raise money for a good wheelchair and for other things he will need,” said Logan.
Hayden is cared for by his single mother, Lisa Gladden, Logan’s twin.
“He’s been an inspiration to everyone he has come into contact with,” said Lisa. “We used to call him our angel baby, but now we call him our miracle baby.”
Hayden was one of six children born among a group of friends, the oldest.
“He is the oldest, but he is smallest,” said Logan.
While none of Hayden’s conditions dictate that he will not live a long life, they, along with the accompanying surgeries, make him fragile.
“Every time they do operate, they say it’s 50/50, but every time he has pulled through,” said Logan.
Six of his surgeries have been on his brain, but it is his spirit that also comes through every time, said Logan.
“He came to this world for a reason,” said his mother. “He’s everything to me, everything in the world.”
With so many odds already beaten, Hayden, who is set for the medical book records, is ready for his next steps, with his mother by his side every step of the way.
“I hope that he will learn to talk and walk and I’m hoping other mothers will see that there is hope,” said Gladden. “He’s made me a better, stronger person. He is my rock.”
For more information to help Hayden or to donate, call 281-941-4344 and to learn more about him, visit www.mybabyhayden.blogspot.com.
In his first year and three months, Hayden has come out of 10 major surgeries: for severe brain bleeds and cysts, and seizures and for additional health issues, including three permanent ventriculoperitoneal shunts and he was recently diagnosed with cerebral palsy.
The medical names describe debilitating conditions, but the outcome of every surgery means one thing for the family: survival and hope.
Born nearly 15 weeks prematurely, Hayden has defied the odds and given his family a reason to celebrate.
“I guess doctors have to be realistic and pessimistic, and they told his mother he would never talk, walk, hold his head up or laugh,” said his aunt, Kristal Logan. “We believe he can do those things.”
But hospitals and wheelchair distributors do not accept hope as a payment plan, and the family is facing mounting medical costs and preparing for the prospect of a future caring for a special needs child and adult.
To help offset those costs, family and friends are scheduling a benefit for Hayden to be held July 19 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Jimmy Burke Activity Center on 500 W. 13th Street in Deer Park.
With the sell of barbecue plates, the proceeds from a live auction, a kid’s corner, door prizes and raffle – all going into a special trust for Hayden — the family wants to get a head start on Hayden’s potential.
“We’re just trying to raise money for his future,” said Logan.
The family is hopeful, but also mindful of the doctors’ predictions and the failure of Medicaid and the state to alleviate any financial burden.
“We really want to raise money for a good wheelchair and for other things he will need,” said Logan.
Hayden is cared for by his single mother, Lisa Gladden, Logan’s twin.
“He’s been an inspiration to everyone he has come into contact with,” said Lisa. “We used to call him our angel baby, but now we call him our miracle baby.”
Hayden was one of six children born among a group of friends, the oldest.
“He is the oldest, but he is smallest,” said Logan.
While none of Hayden’s conditions dictate that he will not live a long life, they, along with the accompanying surgeries, make him fragile.
“Every time they do operate, they say it’s 50/50, but every time he has pulled through,” said Logan.
Six of his surgeries have been on his brain, but it is his spirit that also comes through every time, said Logan.
“He came to this world for a reason,” said his mother. “He’s everything to me, everything in the world.”
With so many odds already beaten, Hayden, who is set for the medical book records, is ready for his next steps, with his mother by his side every step of the way.
“I hope that he will learn to talk and walk and I’m hoping other mothers will see that there is hope,” said Gladden. “He’s made me a better, stronger person. He is my rock.”
For more information to help Hayden or to donate, call 281-941-4344 and to learn more about him, visit www.mybabyhayden.blogspot.com.
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