Did You Know About 1 in 4,000 Newborns Suffer Strokes?

Were you aware that pediatric strokes even occur? Branford’s own Katy Blanchette, who is the Assistant for the town, learned about it quickly when her newborn son Patrick was diagnosed as having three strokes before he was even born.

Patrick, who is just eight and half months old, was born one week late to Katy and her husband Chris and immediately the doctors knew something was wrong, recalls Katy.

“His first night," she said, “he was having trouble breathing.” Katy added that Patrick had low blood sugar and was experiencing apnea, which is a condition where her son would just stop breathing.

After some testing and a two-week stay in the hospital, Katy and Chris learned that Patrick had sustained strokes while in utero and three areas of his brain were affected.

Now with a second baby on the way and Patrick quickly approaching his first birthday, Katy is working to spread awareness about pediatric strokes. May kicks off the awareness month for the cause and Katy will be participating in Streak for Stroke, a month-long fundraiser to support the Children’s Hemiplegia and Stroke Association.

She will swim 1,000 yards a day, everyday in May at the and will fundraise with every lap she swims. To donate, visit her site here. “It’s a way to honor Patrick,” said Katy, “since he’s strong everyday, we’ll be strong for 31 days.”

For the most part, Katy said Patrick is developing like most children but the road has been challenging for the family. According to CHASA, though mortality rate of pediatric stroke victims is high–85 percent of kids who have strokes go on to live full adult lives–“between 50 and 80 percent of infants and children will have serious, long‐term challenges including: hemiplegia or hemiparesis (one‐sided paralysis); seizures; and speech, visual, behavioral and learning difficulties.”

Learning about Patrick’s condition and what his future would hold, said Katy, was hard. “The doctors wouldn’t give us a prognosis. I asked them straight-off: ‘Is he gong to be in a wheel chair? Is he going to walk? Is he going to be able to go to school?’ They couldn’t tell me,” she said.

Not knowing what life for Patrick would be like proved to be a good thing for Katy, she said, adding that if the doctors had told her Patrick would never walk, she might not have expected much out of him.

Today Patrick is a full of smiles and seems to be very smart, said Katy. He’s progressing quite well and the family has gotten along with love and support from friends and family. Patrick has some difficulties with motor skills due to the strokes but has been in physical therapy and is showing positive signs of growth.

What is different about him, said Katy, is the support he receives. “I don’t think there are many children that get a standing ovation when they bring a puff to their mouth. His smile will make anyone smile.”

Katy wants the community to know that there is plenty of support for families who are affected by pediatric stroke. “If there are other parents in the area,” said Katy, “I want them to know that, hey, you are not alone.”

Katy is also a proponent of spreading the word about diagnosing stoke victims early. You can learn more on the CHASA website and download the quick facts guide attached to this story. Parents, said Katy, should look out for signs of late development through infancy. “A lot of kids don’t get diagnosed until much later down the road. I want parents to be aware that it could happen.”