2024-01-16 18:44:01
Emotions, stress, back and forth between Baie-Comeau and Quebec, medical complications, new diagnosis, the least we can say is that the Morency-Caron-Plante family has seen all the colors over the past two years.
Antoine, 20 months old, already has a lot of life baggage, even at his young age. Born with a heart condition, he has shown courage since his birth. His parents Marika and Michael accompany him in this thorny reality. Living on the North Shore, concerns are even more frequent.
On January 24, 2022, Marika learns that her boy Antoine, still in her womb, has congenital heart disease.
Its severity can vary, from a very minor illness, which never causes a problem, to a more serious one.
Unfortunately, chance fell on the second option for Antoine. Already six days old, he had to go under the knife to undergo open heart surgery.
As if that wasn’t enough, unfortunately complications arose and his heart had to be reopened a second time.
It crossed our minds to get closer to the big centers
– Marika Plante
Another bad news
In the summer of 2023, a second diagnosis occurs, severe pulmonary artery stenosis which will prompt a third open heart operation.
This operation will finally take place on December 7 following a Baie-Comeau–Québec return trip for nothing last November due to an emergency in the operating room and gastro which entered the equation.
Marika Plante and Michael Morency-Caron stayed at their little boy’s bedside for a month.
This long period is justified by his recovery, but also by RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) that Antoine caught, which caused arrhythmias. For these reasons, Antoine and his parents spent the entire holiday season between the hospital and the Ronald McDonald House in Quebec.
The reality of living in the region
The health specialists for Antoine’s case are all in Quebec. This is where they are taken care of. “It crossed our minds to get closer to the big centers,” confided Marika Plante. Antoine’s case is not known at the Baie-Comeau hospital and his mother cannot help but be worried if an emergency situation arises.
Traveling back and forth, daily expenses and unforeseen events outside are expensive and the couple already has to make do with just one salary.
In addition to three-month follow-ups, a catheterization procedure for his aorta will take place in 2024.
A financial headache
Since Antoine’s birth, on May 6, 2022, Marika has not returned to work for obvious reasons. The fragility of his boy’s immune system is to blame and doctors prefer that he joins a daycare service only following he turns two.
She received her QPIP (Quebec Parental Insurance Plan) benefits as well as employment insurance benefits for caregivers.
Today, she is no longer entitled to any funding apart from family allowances. “Travel is expensive and the bills continue to come in,” explains Ms. Plante.
1705456497
#BaieComeau #family #tells #story #Antoine #courageous #warrior
