'It was a great day'
|
Jake
Dering is all smiles after lifting his face from his birthday cake Sunday
afternoon. His mother, Chellie, and family members
gather to celebrate Jake\'s first birthday (Jaime Valdez photo). |
Family and friends help Jake Dering celebrate his
first birthday — in spite of his medical problems
Dipping his hands into the icing, baby Jake got his first true taste of sugar.
And like most babies, he couldn’t help himself.
Family and friends poured out in laughter as Jake leaned over and stuck his
head down into the frosting-covered birthday cake.
“It was a great day,” said his mother, Chellie
Dering. “We just wanted to stop and celebrate.”
Jake celebrated his first birthday, experienced his first sugar rush and
received his first pair of pants all in one day.
In the same day, parents Steve and Chellie celebrated
Jake. And they took a short break from their worries over Jake’s rare disease, Oto-Palatal Digital Syndrome.
Sunday, Steve and Chellie Dering gathered with family
and friends in
Doctors had first told the Derings that Jake would
not live past five to six months. Now one year later, the Derings
are thankful for every day with Jake and his lively spirit.
Born Oct. 18, 2004, Jake suffers from an underdeveloped trachea, and the
disorder has affected his limbs, including his legs and feet that have
undergone several surgeries in an attempt to correct.
When people asked what Jake needed for his birthday, Chellie
said she’d reply, “Pants!”
Jake’s braces on his legs had prevented him from wearing pants at all. On
Monday he started wearing them a little at a time.
Chellie prepares all of Jake’s baby food at home. He
had never had sweets prior to his big day.
“It was an instant sugar rush,” Chellie said as she
described her son’s face rising up from the creamy topped cake.
The Derings’ appreciation of the day was more
realistic after Jake was admitted into the hospital two days prior and released
just one day before the party.
“They didn’t want to let us go,” Chellie said of the
hospital staff, “but we pleaded.”
Friday, Chellie submitted Jake to the ER after she
noticed he was having trouble breathing.
Jake’s disorder has led to numerous episodes of respiratory failure.
Saturday, after receiving several treatments and steroids, the Derings convinced the staff to let them go home.
At the party, Steve and Chellie shared a short,
127-picture DVD of the first year of Jake Dering’s
life.
“Not a dry eye in the house,’ Chellie said. “You just
don’t get it unless you live it. And the people at the party, they were the
ones besides us who get it . . . You see the whole first year and how difficult
it was. But now he looks like a totally different kid.
“And in the 127 pictures, even in the ones where he wasn’t in a place where he
could smile, he was” she added. “Jake was smiling.”
Chellie said she was snapped back Monday from the
happy birthday reality to the real world of physical therapy and doctors’
appointments.
Chellie received a call from Jake’s surgeon. The
doctor is slightly concerned with the rate at which his legs are progressing.
“Things like that shake you out of birthday mode,” Chellie
said, “and back to getting Jake to walk.”
Anyone interested in helping Jake can visit www.jakesake.com. Steve and Chellie have four JAKE-SAKE bracelets available to raise
awareness of OPD and other rare disorders and to help with Jake’s medical
expenses. Suggested donations for bracelets are $3.