Journeys of Hope Podcast - Episode Five

In this episode of Journeys of Hope, Rebecca Solomon speaks with Maureen and Dan Pasquale about their son John's extraordinary journey following a stroke caused by a ruptured AVM. The conversation delves into the initial crisis, the challenges faced during rehabilitation, and the milestones achieved along the way. The Pasquales share their experiences at Blythedale Children's Hospital, highlighting the importance of support systems, determination, and the power of hope in navigating the complexities of their journey. They reflect on the lessons learned as parents and the significance of maintaining a positive outlook for their son’s recovery.

You can also listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.

Key Takeaways:

1. Living in the moment is crucial during a medical crisis
2. Celebrating small victories is essential for morale
3. Children's resilience can inspire hope in families
4. Therapy can be integrated into fun activities to promote healing
5. Emotional support from care teams in invaluable

TRANSCRIPT

Rebecca Solomon (00:05)
Hello and welcome to Journeys of Hope, a podcast from Blythedale Children's Hospital inspired by the strength, resilience, and unshakable spirit of medically fragile children. My name is Rebecca Solomon and this is Journeys of Hope. Let's begin. Today I'm joined by Maureen and Dan Pasquale, an incredible mom and dad who have walked an extraordinary journey alongside their son, John. John was just eight years old when he suffered a stroke caused by a ruptured arteriovenous malformation or AVM. After extensive care and rehabilitation at Blythedale Children's Hospital, he continues to make remarkable progress. Maureen and Dan are here to share their story, the challenges, the hope, and the moments that matter most. Maureen and Dan, thank you so much for being with us.

Maureen Pasquale (00:53)
Thank you for having us.

Rebecca Solomon (00:55)
Take us back to that day, two days into third grade. What do you remember most vividly about the moment John screamed, I can't see?

Maureen Pasquale (01:04)
I guess I remember the whole, the entire thing. I can see it crystal clear, you know, as I look inside. It's, he basically was crawling across the kitchen floor and the puppy started barking like crazy. So I just kind of, I was making dinner, so I just kind of thought she jumped on his head or something.

He started screaming, I can't see, I can't see. And he kind of pulled himself up onto the counter and I start washing my hands. I'm like, John, if you can't see, I have to call 911. Like I didn't know if it was, you know, at that point I had no idea what, you know, what I was facing. And as I'm saying that, he just kind of said, well, maybe and then fell to the floor. So I ran over, I picked him up.

and he then just started uncontrollably vomiting. That lasted, it seemed like forever, but it probably was only several seconds. As soon as it kind of slowed down, I put him on the floor, I picked up the phone and called 911. And at that point, I kind of thought maybe he had food poisoning or something. I was thinking about what he could have eaten.

Rebecca Solomon (02:24)
Right. Right.

And, you know, as a parent, what was going through your mind during those early hours when everything was happening so fast and answers were still unclear? Like you said, you thought it may have been food poisoning. You didn't know what was going on.

Maureen Pasquale (02:39)
Yeah. I was working at the time and Danny had called me and said he called 911 and I was like, this sounds crazy. And my husband's not an alarmist. So for him to call 911. So I grabbed my stuff and I ran home and I was just thinking like he thought I was just thinking, maybe it's just food poisoning. And I met them both at the hospital. And I just kept asking John, you know, can you see? Can you see? Because Danny had mentioned he couldn't see.

And at that point he was able to see, he had regained his vision, but he was still kind of out of it. He was like closing his eyes and then he started saying, my head, my head, my head hurts. And so they rushed him into CAT scan to get a CAT scan. And when we came back down, it seemed like not much time had passed between the CAT scan and when we got back to the ER.

and the doctor had told us what happened and he may as well have been speaking another language. I had never heard what an AVM was, but he said that he had bleeding on his brain. And I just remember being in ER, I literally started jumping up and down because I didn't know. I knew this wasn't a good thing. Like I knew this was bad and catastrophic. And so they just had to rush him to the North site hospital to put a drain in his head and relieve the pressure. And I just remember

feeling like they need to move as fast as possible.

Rebecca Solomon (04:06)
as you said, it was like a different language when doctors are explaining that John had multiple AVMs. I mean, this is something you never even knew about and suffering the stroke. And how did you even begin to process what that meant for his future?

Maureen Pasquale (04:21)
I mean, I don't even think we were really thinking about his future at the time. We were just thinking about getting through the moment and him surviving. needed to, there were multiple steps to get before he could even have surgery to remove the AVM. And so we were just living in the moment at that time and just, is he going to survive the next hour day? You know, so we couldn't even really think much of the future at that point.

Rebecca Solomon (04:29)
Right.

Maureen Pasquale (04:51)
moment so fast moving and so unbelievably complex. What was what he was going through and what we had to absorb from from hour to hour, it was changing and it was day after day after day of procedures, surgeries, tests.

observation, recovery from surgery, back to surgery. there really was that future outlook was minutes. couldn't. Yeah. I mean, you couldn't even have it because you were so intensely focused on that moment and just getting to the next step of his recovery. Forget about, you know, at some point.

You you transition into that, in the beginning, while we were in at least the first month of PICU, it was minute to minute, you know, basically.

Rebecca Solomon (05:55)
Right.

And you were talking about that transition and day by day, it was 54 days that John spent in acute care before coming to Blythedale Right, so do you remember anything about the day when he was transferred to Blythedale? Talk us through that.

Maureen Pasquale (06:07)
Yes, yeah.

Yeah, I remember everything about that day, I think. We were excited to finally leave the PICU and move on to the next step of recovery, but we were also very nervous. In the PICU, we had the comfort of having one-to-one or two-to-one care, ⁓ where we had a nurse assigned to us and maybe another child. And they had told us that

you know, we'd have to be taking on a lot more of John's care because the caseload at the rehab would be much more on the nurses. ⁓ But, you know, and so that was nerve wracking because he was still so very fragile. But once we got to Blythedale, the experience was completely different than what we feared. And even with heavier caseloads, the nurses were incredibly attentive.

There were nurse trainers and we met with everyone like therapists, nurses, nurse trainers, all probably within the first two days. know, it was just everybody meeting us and they definitely made us feel more comfortable. there was there was, you know, we spent 54 days with all these nurses and doctors. And as crazy as it sounds, it kind of you kind of get attached to them. And so it was bittersweet, but we were happy to move on.

Rebecca Solomon (07:42)
Absolutely, and of course your experience at Blythedale just beginning at that point. I can't wait to hear more about this time that you spent there because there were so many milestones and so much happening in his journey to therapy and recovery and rehab and everything that you went through at Blythedale. But when he first...

Maureen Pasquale (07:50)
Thank you.

Rebecca Solomon (08:09)
He was in a disorder of consciousness, correct? So kind of talk to us about that and how did you cope with the uncertainty of that particular stage?

Maureen Pasquale (08:13)
Yes.

a long time, we probably didn't understand the state that he was in because we would sit there and put movies on TV and say, do you want to watch this or that? To us, it seemed like he was making a choice, but-

We didn't know he really wasn't at that point. Well, in the beginning he wasn't. was a point where he was more alert, even though he wasn't making meaningful, you know, doing anything meaningful in the sense of communication. There were moments, though, where we were like, he's in there. Yeah, we knew he was there. John, John, you know, picks his nails. He doesn't bite them, but he like he picks them and.

There was one day like way down the line, he was starting to like do that again. little habits. So we were like, he's in there. It's just a matter of time before he comes out.

Rebecca Solomon (09:23)
and through all that rehabilitation. mean, tell us about John's milestones while in rehab at Blythedale. And we know you felt it was important to capture all of those moments, right?

Maureen Pasquale (09:34)
Yeah, I mean, it's funny. We were talking about this last night and I said to him, for me, the biggest, I think, recovery milestone was him. mean, John couldn't move the right side of his body. And while he could move the left, it wasn't in a productive manner. Like he couldn't productively use his left side. It moved. And ⁓ when he was finally able to give us a thumbs up, that was like...

huge because he wasn't speaking yet, but it was some kind of communication. Like, are you comfortable? He could give us a thumbs up. Do you want to do this or some kind of response to something? Because he was, John wasn't verbal for about seven months. And so when he was finally able to give a thumbs up, was two things. was productive movement. He was able, you were able to ask him a question and him actually move his thumb.

in a productive manner, but then it was also communication in so many ways. Like we were able to tap into his brain a little.

Rebecca Solomon (10:43)
Yeah, you were learning how to communicate with a new John and knowing that the road was going to look a little different from here on out. But day by day, you were supported by that team to help you get to that point where you could communicate. You would take what you could get, right?

Maureen Pasquale (11:02)
Yeah.

Mm hmm. Yeah. And I think we coped by just focusing on what we could control, you know, and us doing therapy with John and just trying to maintain as much normalcy as possible. Nothing was normal. But, you know, I was I was playing music in the room. I was dancing in front of him, just doing all the silly things I always did with him.

Rebecca Solomon (11:09)
Hmm.

Maureen Pasquale (11:29)
and just trying to maintain that piece of normalcy so that he wouldn't feel so different. Basically just focus on him.

Rebecca Solomon (11:37)
I love that.

Maureen Pasquale (11:41)
Yeah.

Rebecca Solomon (11:42)
That's all you can do.

And then what did it feel like to watch John slowly emerge and begin responding again after such a long period of minimal consciousness?

Maureen Pasquale (11:54)
It was kind of like the newborn phase again, right? Like everything was like really exciting and look, he's doing this again. Pretty much. It was like just watching all the little things, you know, when when you have a newborn, you you look at all their little milestones, all the little things they're doing, and it gets like really exciting. But it was probably almost more exciting because it was taken away from us and we didn't know if we'd ever get it back. So it's kind of like just.

reliving all those.

he just kept steadily, slowly and steadily improving.

we would push him also. Luckily he pushes himself, especially if you tell him he can't do it, he's going to prove you wrong if he wants to. If he doesn't want to, won't, but he got pretty good at, you know, at

They always want to have a hand on him for safety and he would constantly be swatting them away like, let me do it on my own. So, I mean, it made it easier because his spirit was so strong.

It's funny, emergence isn't like what it is in the movies. In the movies, somebody's in a coma and they wake up and they ask for a cheeseburger, but...

Rebecca Solomon (13:10)
Right?

Maureen Pasquale (13:10)
You

know, and when we started taking him off the sedative medications and the PICU, we were ready to go. We thought they were going to take him off this medication and he was going to wake up and everything was going to be back to normal. But what we didn't realize was what a long, what a long process it is and how long it takes someone to emerge from a coma state. Yeah, it's...

Rebecca Solomon (13:34)
Yeah.

Maureen Pasquale (13:36)
right before his major first brain surgery, we were arranging for a dog center to watch his new puppy that he just, know, she was, guess, about a year old at the time, Chloe. And ⁓ I remember the couple that was watching her saying, we're going on a three week cruise in December.

So this is September, probably about September 12th, 13th, somewhere in that area, I guess. And I'm like, yeah, sure, we'll be home by then. I mean, little did I know, it was gonna be total of about 17 months before we came back home.

Rebecca Solomon (14:19)
Wow. Yeah, that's a really

interesting way of painting that picture for us. you, the time, your time is just, it's not like anything else, right? It's not, you can't compare it. It's unbelievable.

Maureen Pasquale (14:32)
No, and it didn't seem like it went slowly. It went quickly. And almost now, about a year later, it almost seems like it never happened because there's still so much to focus on.

Rebecca Solomon (14:51)
Sure. Yeah.

And was there ever a point when you were at Blythedale where John was able to understand what happened to him? Like, did anyone explain that or was that even necessary?

Maureen Pasquale (15:10)
I mean, we talked to him about it. I mean, even from when we were in the PICU, I would talk to him and I would tell him, you know, in the most simplest forms, you got an injury on your brain and we're recovering and all of this is just temporary. I kept telling him, this is not permanent. This is temporary. We just have to get through this phase. But I don't think he ever really, he never said what happened to me. Why did this happen?

We just, I think we talked about it enough that he didn't really have questions about it.

You don't know how much of the conversations happening around him that he was absorbing before he could communicate it back to us. So by the time he could speak and articulate things, he may have

been processing that for months internally. you know, he never, he never complained about it. He would just say it's because of my brain injury. He wouldn't ⁓ look at I never saw him with like the what was me attitude about anything. So that, you know.

helps make the time go by also because it's not like you're watching him, you know, be miserable. He was so upbeat about it and, you know, and he became such a part of the community there that it just was home for him.

Rebecca Solomon (16:51)
Yeah.

Hmm. And look at what he's doing while he's there. I mean, he's literally relearning so many basic functions. We talked on this a little bit already, but it is. like he's relearning how to walk and talk and eat. I mean, this is something parents can't comprehend. I mean, after they go through that newborn phase with a child, when they're learning how to eat and then eventually talk and walk,

Maureen Pasquale (17:03)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Rebecca Solomon (17:21)
You're doing it again now, years later. Was there a particular therapy moment that really stood out to you as a turning point?

Maureen Pasquale (17:30)
For me, can I go first? For me, it was getting him on that, that ⁓ is it the Hoyer lift? What's that lift called? It's a lift where he walks and his physical therapist, Jill, was like, we're going to put him on this thing. And at that time he wasn't walking at all. She literally moved each leg. You know, I pulled the lift and she moved each leg to get him walking.

And that just felt like the start of, you know, so much because it was going to get him moving. it's so funny because I just recently, you know, was looking through my videos and documenting his progress of walking. And that was January 19th, 2024. And then as I scrolled through my phone, February 29th, he was walking on a walker still with assistance, but his

both his legs were doing it on his own. And I was like, gosh, when we were in it, it didn't seem like that was only a month. You know, that was a little over a month while we were in it. felt like it was months. And I'm like, I had to go back to my phone and look and be like, was this, is this the real timeline? So to me, that was huge. And just him speaking, using the Passamere valve, being able to promote from

Rebecca Solomon (18:37)
Right.

Yeah.

Maureen Pasquale (18:56)
you know, the trach to putting a passamere valve on him so that he can speak. And it was several months before he spoke after that. But I think those two were like, took a long time big, big, big milestones in my mind. What about you? Yeah, I would say, you know, one the things we used to, you know, we would take him and walk him around the hallways

we were always trying to make him do more.

and do therapeutic things. The walks were kind of pretty straightforward, but we had tons of games and toys and we got yoga mats to put on the floor so we could make like a play area for him just so he was always moving and doing all those complex motions that we just take for granted. He had to regain control of all of that.

with all of that, you know, walking around the hallways. I used to try and make him walk all the way across and he was so afraid to do it. And I remember the first time he made it all the way, you know, that, that was because it was him a hundred percent

Rebecca Solomon (20:06)
He knew he could do it then. He just had to do it.

Maureen Pasquale (20:09)
Yeah.

Rebecca Solomon (20:10)
How did the multidisciplinary team at Blythedale from the therapists to the doctors, support not just John, but you as parents?

Maureen Pasquale (20:17)
I mean, I think the therapists were all amazing. They worked to his needs and his ability. ⁓ he likes to call the shots sometimes. so they worked to his... Some days they had a plan in mind and he derailed it and they just flowed with it. But they also taught us...

Like we went to all his therapy sessions, especially in the beginning. As he progressed, we tried to like, you know, back off a little and, but they taught us what to do when they weren't around, you know? And so his occupational therapist and his speech therapist and his physical therapist all gave us ⁓ things to do with him. They would show us what they were doing with him so that we can do it on our own time. But also like the nurse trainer was

amazing. nurse trainer Angela. Yeah, I mean like Angela came in and she taught us how to change his tracheostomy and his g-tube and I was so scared and I remember crying and she was there and she totally put me at ease. She gave me hugs when I needed them and you know she changed. We did a bunch of trach changes with her but she made us feel confident that we could do this on our own.

and gave us the comfort and the knowledge to do that. And then even the nurses, when we had trach changes and G-tube changes, they would sometimes, if he wasn't around and I was doing it, they would stay with me and again, put me at ease. And it got to the point where we were doing them with like, I'm like, this is amazing. Just doing them without worrying and stressing.

Rebecca Solomon (22:11)
And I love how, yeah, go ahead.

Maureen Pasquale (22:11)
Yeah.

I was going to say, even though it was a milestone that happened after we left Blythedale taking his trach out for the last time was pretty nice too.

Rebecca Solomon (22:25)
I'm sure, I'm sure. But I love how not only were the therapists and doctors and nurses and the entire team at Blythedale showing you how to help your medically fragile child from changing the trach to doing everything, helping him walk, helping him, all the things, but also being there for you emotionally. And I think that's something that when you're in it, you don't really...

⁓ give yourself grace, don't really ⁓ give yourself that time to understand and really comprehend what's going on because you're in it, you're in the therapies, you're in the rehab, you're at the hospital, you're bedside. So the fact that you were able to get that hug when you needed it and that emotional support's important too as a parent.

Maureen Pasquale (23:16)
Yeah, yeah. It is definitely and they they're all such special people, even the doctors, when something would happen and they'd have to come in and they would put me these. I'm more the nervous Nellie panic one. He stays calm under pressure, whereas I get a little nervous. But they were always there that they weren't only managing.

You know, some of these doctors and they're not just managing the child. They have to manage the parents. We're all in such a state of shock and nervousness that and they put us at ease too.

Rebecca Solomon (23:55)
Wonderful.

Maureen Pasquale (23:56)
And even like

life

has helped us, you know, talk him through when he had procedures or something, they would come in with a doll or something and

Rebecca Solomon (23:59)
Show me.

Maureen Pasquale (24:04)
talk to him about it. And they were amazing.

Rebecca Solomon (24:09)
So glad to hear.

we know, I mean, when we talk about determination, John has determination and it really shined through in his

Tell us a little more about his personality and how that helped him through his recovery.

Maureen Pasquale (24:23)
John is such an adaptable child. don't know if it's being, you know, starting school during COVID and, you know, all that, but he's such a easygoing, kind of like, all right, whatever it is, what it is, and we're going to get through it. And I think that positive temperament and his energy. I mean, there was a lot of times where

he started to have it like block parties. So we ⁓ were in pod B and that was, like, he would bring all his toys out and set them up and kids would come from all over and hang out and everything. And there were so many days you wanted to do things like that. You're up all night doing this for him and that for him. And you're like, I just want to relax. But his determination, he just had that boundless energy.

you know, right up until bedtime and he would want to keep playing it and going out and seeing who's outside and going to rec and,

Rebecca Solomon (25:18)
Yeah.

Maureen Pasquale (25:26)
every little support piece that they put in place there kind of compliments itself to make it, you know, an environment for the kids to flourish.

And that makes it easier on us because we're seeing them succeed. So that is a constant ⁓ uplifting thing and a constant support that you get without even knowing it. And everybody makes such a big deal over it. Like when he would walk through the halls, when he started walking, it was like there was

a cheering section. And it's not just for John, it's for all the kids. The nurses would be like, my God, go. You know, they would cheer them on and gosh, how

fun as that to have people constantly cheering you on.

Rebecca Solomon (26:09)
It is fun. It really is fun.

And it says a lot about them too, right? It's their hard work is also paying off. And you you talk about John throwing these block parties and using the word fun and you normally don't associate those two words with a hospital, but that's what Blythedale is. And I think the fact that...

Maureen Pasquale (26:14)
Yeah.

Hospital. Yeah.

Rebecca Solomon (26:29)
He's able to joke around with his therapist and he was able to use some more, you his motivations. We know he liked, was it cotton candy and Legos and like all the things. And I think it's so important to bring the fun and the joy into the healing of a child because we can't lose that importance and the power of play. ⁓

Maureen Pasquale (26:38)
Yeah.

Rebecca Solomon (26:54)
For every child, children like to play, and it's important that they continue to do that in that space. And you saw that firsthand.

Maureen Pasquale (26:56)
Yeah.

I mean, even just last night he said, I miss Blythedale. he had such fun there and it wasn't like a hospital, you know, he had friends and nurses that always made a fuss over him and doctors that made a fuss over him and therapists. And so he loved it there.

Rebecca Solomon (27:06)
Yeah.

And he was thriving, so why not? You know? It's amazing. All right, so you're back home. And what would you say life at home looked like since John's injury? What does it look like now? What it looked like when you first got home, when you left Blythedale And how has your definition of a good day changed, or has it changed?

Maureen Pasquale (27:23)
Yeah. Exactly.

Yeah, it's been very busy, I would say. He still has a demanding therapy schedule. That doesn't always fit neatly into our schedule. doesn't fit neatly at all into our schedule. know, fortunately, I'm able to ⁓ I work in a family business, so I'm able to manipulate my schedule around his. ⁓ So that's that's

much every day we're doing something with him and you still can't leave, we try not to leave him alone. And when we say leave him alone, it doesn't mean like leave the house. We don't like to leave a room. Yeah, you'll be maybe a room over, but we wouldn't go in the basement if he's up in his bedroom.

He still has coordination issues. ⁓ He's, I guess, probably about

18 or 20 months without a seizure, but there's always that concern that he might have a seizure. So you have to be on top of him ⁓ with that. He requires to be two fed still. He's eating again, but not enough that we can stop the two feeding yet. But I mean, a lot of it is, you know, so much is still very much the same. You know, we.

put the music on and dance and have like a little dance party. We play video games with him or he'll play. ⁓ We still play board games. of the things that, you know, in Blythedale we bought tons of board games, Connect 4, things that would get him moving both hands. Uno was a big thing. And so we kind of brought that home with us and we play, even last night during dinner, we kind of like played the game Sorry and

and ate at the same time. so doing that has all kind of come home with us. And it's just, it's now about, you know, connection and joy and not perfection.

otherwise he's the same kid. He wants to do the same type of things he always wanted to do.

But I guess he knows his limitations, so he doesn't look to do things that he knows he can't do yet. But he's still pushing it, pushing the envelope a little bit here and a little bit there to see what his next breakthrough will be.

Rebecca Solomon (30:18)
love that. And Chloe, is it? Is Chloe still in the picture? Okay, so I'm sure Chloe was happy to have John back home.

Maureen Pasquale (30:22)
Yes, that's our puppy. She is. She's still in the picture. He spends a lot. Yes,

John was very happy. Yeah. And John was very happy to be back home with her. We contemplated my mother started watching her and we contemplated. I was like, maybe we don't bring her home for like a week. Let's settle in. But no, no way. Five minutes. No way. don't hear as soon as you get home. Where's Chloe?

Rebecca Solomon (30:46)
No. No, I love it.

Maureen Pasquale (30:51)
That's, I mean, that's, yeah. And, you

Rebecca Solomon (30:51)
Nothing like puppy life, right? It's great.

Maureen Pasquale (30:57)
know, she's great for him too because when she's playing, when he's playing with her, it's all those movements that are just natural complex movements that you almost can't replicate in therapy, you know? So it's almost like a whole other form of therapy for him in that sense.

Rebecca Solomon (31:12)
true.

And clearly this journey has shaped you both as a mother and father. What have you learned about yourselves that you didn't know before?

Maureen Pasquale (31:29)
I learned that I can do hard things. Like, you know, change a trach and I can do medical things and things I've never imagined. ⁓ Like I said, like changing his trach or G-tube. ⁓ And I think, and he might disagree, I think I can be braver than I ever thought I would. ⁓ know, Danny's usually the calm under pressure, but I've discovered I can pull it together too.

I don't even want to know if you disagree. I just I think you got there. You definitely got there. You know, and I loved the getting was a little rough, but you got this. But I also like I enjoyed the doing things like O.T. I was constantly trying to create ways to get John to move his right side and his left side in a more functional manner without him realizing that we were doing therapy. And, you know, it was

Even his OT and his speech therapist on a number of occasions said, mom, know, if you're ever looking for a career change, you might be a really good OT. so it was was fun. And it was just us playing and moving those things that he could move in the fine motor skills stuff. And we're still doing that today. I had him scooping his own ice cream yesterday just to because you got to use both hands and.

make it fun and he doesn't even realize what's happening.

Rebecca Solomon (33:02)
And at the start of the medical journey, you wouldn't have known how to do any of that or you wouldn't have thought about doing any of that. And now you, you're pros. You learned, you learned all of that.

Maureen Pasquale (33:09)
No

Yeah, it's got a little bit of an education. Just a little bit.

Rebecca Solomon (33:20)
Just

a little bit, just a little one that you will never, ever, ever forget. Well, finally, I do have one more question that I'd like to ask you. I'd to ask all of our guests on Journeys of Hope this final question. How would each of you describe the meaning of hope?

Maureen Pasquale (33:24)
No. No.

I know. I would just say believing that is the next step. Never giving up, just always knowing. I'm going to have a great answer as soon as we as soon as we end, but. Yeah.

Rebecca Solomon (33:52)
There's no wrong answer. All of your

answers on this series, on this podcast have been phenomenal. So really no wrong answer. But yeah, how would you describe the meaning of hope? when, if a parent is starting this similar journey to yours and they want to know maybe what's going to get them through it, you know, is there hope? ⁓ What do you, what would you tell them?

Maureen Pasquale (34:00)
Yeah.

Yes.

Just never give up. Never give up. Never underestimate what your child can do. Always believe, you know, like just always believe that it's going to get better. And even on the days where you're, you know, there were days I'd cry my way home and wonder what his future was going to look like. I never I never lost hope that he would get there and and stay positive in front of him.

You know, there was no room for negativity in our room. You know, I like when doctors were kind of skeptical about what is what he's doing purposeful or just reflex. I'm like, no, it's purpose. There's there's to just always keep the hope and never. Never be negative and especially in front of them, let them always. We I constantly told John this is all just temporary and we'll get there.

And if you have hope and you believe, then they will. Because they don't have the fears we have.

Rebecca Solomon (35:21)
Thank you so much, Maureen. Thank you so much, Dan. I appreciate your time. I appreciate you opening up, sharing a little bit more about your journey here on Journeys of Hope. Thank you again so much.

Maureen Pasquale (35:22)
Thanks.

Welcome.

Thank you.

Rebecca Solomon (35:35)
And if you're listening and you have an idea for any future topics, we'd love to hear from you. You can email us at podcast at Blythedale.org And of course, don't forget to subscribe to our podcast and like and follow us on social media. Thank you so much for listening and we hope to see you next time.