Video Transcript
Andy (00:00) - I'm Andy Treece
Sara (00:11) - I’m Sara Treece and we’re Gideon’s parents. We got Gideon when he was eight hours old. We went through a National Adoption Agency, so he came two months early, and we flew out there on a moment's notice to go get him.
(00:29) - He was born with the neonatal abstinence syndrome. He was severely addicted to heroin and cocaine, and it was the cocaine usage that caused the most of the brain damage. He was only three pounds, five ounces, I believe, and he crashed because his lungs weren't developed. We were in this tiny little hospital in a place that we've never been, and I see this little squirmy red thing. And he was wrapped up. Eyes were covered, and he's just shaking his little arms and and silently screaming. He was just in pain, and we couldn't touch him for a week because he was so sensitive to touch and everything. It was a week before we could even hold him. It was scary, but at the same time, like the minute laid eyes on him, I knew he was ours, and we always tell him he didn't grow my tummy grew in our heart, and so there was my heart right there. They put us in an office and said he has paraventual leumalasia, which is just fancy word for saying brain damage, and he would never walk, he would never talk, he'd go blind. And we hadn't even gotten to hold our kid yet.
Sara (01:52) - Today, Gideon is thriving.
Andy (02:11) - All those things that we were told when he was born, you know, he wouldn't walk, he wouldn't talk, he'd be blind. None of those apply. I mean, he's got, you know, he's got issues, but he’s thriving.
Sara (02:25) - He's, he's thriving. He's Gideon.
Sara (02:30) - He's a sophomore. He's got a B in geometry.
Andy (02:35) - Everybody loves him at school. They all know Gideon. Everybody knows Gideon in Monroe.
James J. McCarthy, MD (02:41) - Gideon is a type of person you just almost can't help but like.
Sara (02:46) - When we see Dr. McCarthy, it's for all of those muscles and bones. For his hip conductors, they check his knees. We follow his scoliosis. Every aspect of his muscular structure and his bones.
Dr. McCarthy (03:00) - We're also able to assess how he's walked through a motion analysis lab over different periods of time, and that has helped us also determine his treatment and to discuss it more openly with the family and help them make decisions that are right for Gideon.
Sara (03:15) - He's constantly surprised me with what he's able to do, and if I put limits, on him, that's on me. I don't want to limit him at all. He wants to do it. He can do it. And we find ways. We call it the Gideon way, for a lot of things. So sometimes we can't do things the normal way. So we find the Gideon way.
Dr. McCarthy (03:37) - You know, one of our goals is for children to be children and to have a childhood, and if they're always undergoing treatments and surgeries, it really destroys their childhood. And so if we could help them have that childhood, that's big part of what we're trying to do.
Sara (03:52) - When we came to Cincinnati Children's, we were given hope, and that's what they do. At Cincinnati Children’s, when you give you change a lot of the outcome for the kids. Your donations and your giving, your charitable contributions, they impact not just one aspect. They don’t just help one child. They help a whole family. We wouldn’t be the same family that we are without those donations, without the help they’ve given to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and to our son.
Gideon (04:08) - I love Cincinnati Children's!
