My Special Needs Mom Worries Never End

Of course not, you may have thought to yourself after reading the title of this post. My special needs mom worries never end either.
But there’s a difference between your special needs mom worries and mine. You are most likely either raising a child with special needs under the age of 18 or caring for an adult child with special needs. In either case, you deal with a host of legitimate concerns every day.
I, on the other hand, do not. My son was born with a rare condition known as esophageal atresia with tracheoesophageal fistula (EA/TEF). I had plenty to worry about during his first 4 years until a series of surgeries and procedures fixed what ailed him. Many children born with EA/TEF have other physical disabilities or developmental delays. Our son does not. He’s a college graduate with a job, wife, a family, and a farm. Did I mention he was born in 1982, which makes him 36 at the time this post was written? Even so, my special needs mom worries never end. Here’s a frank look at what I worry about.
- Esophageal cancer. People with EA/TEF often have recurring issues with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), a condition that can lead to esophageal cancer. I combat this reality by thanking God for the years our son has lived, when in another day and age he would have died at birth.
To read the rest of this post, go to Key Ministry’s blog for special needs parents.
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By Jolene
Jolene Philo is a published author, speaker, wife, and mother of a son with special needs.
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