Thank you for your column last week, it surely brought back some memories. Twenty-five years ago, my son Kristopher suffered from a bout of meningitis and was hospitalised for ten days. Thereafter, I was convinced that something was wrong with his development but who was I, a mere mother, to determine that.
One specialist stated that I was the one that needed treatment, not my son. Another told me that only if I had the money and wanted to say that I took my son overseas I could do so, but he did not need that, he was fine. Eventually, I was able to have him hearing-tested, only to discover that he was partially deaf in one ear. After speech therapy, a hearing aid and special school, thanks to ESHE's, we were scared to find out that he was also losing hearing in the other ear and was fitted with another hearing aid. The problem was not solved as he continued to lose hearing. What to do? "Nothing in T&T, take him abroad."
Thankfully we had the resources to do so and after pulling teeth to get his records and contact with a foreign institution, he underwent inner ear surgery that corrected the ongoing loss of hearing and enabled him to enjoy 14 more years of normal life. When I read your column, I pained for the parents who today are faced with the same or worse conditions when their child is ill. May he rest in peace.
Lilia M Mootoo
Via e-mail