ST. LOUIS – Meghan King Edmonds revealed her son has irreversible brain damage in a new blog post.
Meghan welcomed Hart and his twin brother Hayes in June 2018. She’s married to former Cardinals’ player Jim Edmonds and they have three children together.
In the blog post, ‘My Hart,’ she said she knew something was different with Hart. Meghan said she took him to several different doctors and they couldn’t find anything wrong. She said she begged for a neurologist who specialized in Cerebral Palsy and said she jumped through so many hoops to get the appointment. The neurologist told Meghan her son “might be fine” and then Meghan begged for an MRI.
“Three days later Hart’s neurologist called me. Hart has minor Periventricular Leukomalacia on both sides of his brain (namely the white matter), but more so on his right,” Meghan wrote. “She said that this explains all of my concerns: the rigidity in his muscles, the (somewhat) delayed physical milestones, the lack of fluidity with arm and leg movements, the stiffness in joints, the weakness in his lower back, the somewhat favored use of his right side. She told me this mainly occurs in premies and since he was not a premie (he was born at 37 weeks gestation) she believes this damage somehow occurred “a couple months before he was born.” She explained that he is at risk for being diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy and will be monitored.”
Hart’s irreversible brain damage is called ‘PVL.’
Meghan said when she called her husband to tell him, he was surprised, which surprised her. She then contacted Missouri First Steps to get Hart enrolled in therapy. He was previously denied for therapy due to only having very minor – if any – developmental delays, but since he was diagnosed he qualified.
“That night Jimmy and I went out to dinner for the first time in weeks. I explained to Jimmy how we are not somehow compromised or punished for having a child with special needs (whatever that may or may not mean!), we are BLESSED. I will go on about this another time but just know that I do not see his diagnosis as anything but a gift: we were chosen to take on this special person. I truly feel as if we’ve doubled down and won the underdog hand. Truly.” Meghan wrote. “This doesn’t mean his diagnosis isn’t a challenge… or a little bit sad, or that I don’t feel a little bit guilty. Because yes – just yes – to all of those things.”
On the Fourth of July, Meghan shared a photo with Hayes and Hart – she said they walked in a neighborhood parade, tried their first popsicles and went swimming.
