Jared's Path Too

By Barbara M. Schuck

My husband and I have journeyed down Jared’s path, too, and saw more miracles happening to us and Jared.

This path follows Jared from eighteen years old to twenty-one years old—a milestone made beyond doctors’ expectations and a life lived against all odds. Jared and I taught a lot of people along his path. People are not all the same and situations are not all the same. Everyone is an individual and have their own unique path. Medical treatments need to be made for the best quality of life for each person. Having special needs shouldn’t determine the kind of care you receive. We are not a one-size-fit-all person. What works for some people may not work for others, especially if you have complicated medical issues.

Jared’s many medical issues made some doctors not wanting to care for him. I hope this book will help others to not give up hope and keep advocating as long as it takes to get our special needs children the best medical care they can have and deserve. Jared has had a lot of very good doctors in his life; you just have to be willing to look for them and appreciate them when you find them.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Aug 31, 2019
• ISBN: 9781982229733

Barbara M. Schuck

I have been married to my wonderful husband for 32 years. We live out in the country and enjoy our nice neighborhood. I have three cats and they are very enjoyable. I like to paint ceramics and go on walks when I am not working. I participate in a 4-H club called Best Friends 4-H Club. This club works with children with special needs to handle canines and learn about canines and then can participate in the Berrien County Youth Fair. All the canines are therapy dogs or qualify to be a therapy dog. I am also club secretary. Jared and I have participated in this club for many years. I also volunteer for a local senior center for which I transport people to appointments and shopping errands. I also help them with the monthly commodities when my job allows me. I have a part-time job working at a casino but I am always advocating for my son. I am just a mom doing the best I can for my son, to carry our love to eternity.

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JARED’S PATH TOO

Barbara M. Schuck

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Copyright © 2019 Barbara M. Schuck.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Balboa Press

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-9822-2972-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-2974-0 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-2973-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019908007

Balboa Press rev. date: 08/30/2019

CONTENTS

Acknowledgment

Jared’s Magical World

Chapter 1 Jared Turns Eighteen Years Old

Chapter 2 Social Security

Chapter 3 Adult Doctors

Insurance

Back to Adult Doctors

Primary Care Doctor

School

Military Selective Service

Broken Leg

Jared Is Nineteen Years Old

Insurance Again

Special Olympics

Now Jared Is Twenty Years Old!

Jared Is Now Twenty-One Years Old!

Hospice

A Celebration of Life

Four Candles

Remember Jared

To my son, Jared and in memory of my little girl, Kristina

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I would like to thank the following people for their support of Jared’s Path Too.

My biggest supporter goes out to my son Jared. I am blessed to have him in my life and he will always be my inspiration. Thank You Jared.

My other supporters and thank you goes out to my husband Larry, my friends Betty and Lewis Lambert, Patti Dynes, Best Friends 4-H Club, Laura Knapp and Dawn Schwemer. Also to my sisters, Peg Harmon and Pam Phipps, my sister in law Gail Holk and my friends Acarlla Vickie Sanford and Mary Podjan.

I am forever grateful to everyone. God Bless

JARED’S MAGICAL WORLD

I n a quiet room away from all the crowd sits a boy named Jared and his musical dream world. He loves to just sit and enjoy his music all day, and dream of dreams no one but he can see.

Maybe his dreams are of birds that sing sweet lullabies all day. Jared maybe remembers a bright summer day when he sat outside in the sun and felt the warmth of its rays. Could it be a fresh spring day when the gentle breeze blew across his face.

Each day is filled with the miracles of learning to walk and do new things. The magic is the joy he brings our world each day as he laughs and plays in his own special way.

Other children may not understand his quiet ways, but it does not matter to Jared. All that matters is his beautiful music and his wonderful magic world.

Acarlla Vickie Sanford

As we go into the second path of Jared’s life, I would like to carry over some things from the first book, Jared’s Path. If you haven’t read Jared’s Path yet, I suggest you do so you can understand the life Jared has conquered from birth to seventeen years old. It is a true story about a life with special needs and multiple medical diagnoses. The story is from a parent’s perspective so that maybe people can understand the turmoil Jared and I went through. To recap a little, Jared was first diagnosed with cerebral palsy and then autism and mitochondrial disease and finally Jared’s syndrome. Jared was born with failure to thrive, so that meant his life expectancy would be short. Well I told the doctors I wasn’t giving up on him and I would give him my best shot for the best quality of life. That is what Jared and I did! Be sure to read Jared’s Path to get the details of the beginning of our journey.

All a special needs child needs is a little hope, love, and someone who believes in him or her.

Now we are going forward to eighteen years old!

CHAPTER 1

Jared Turns Eighteen Years Old

W e made another milestone. I had been told this wouldn’t happen. I guess doctors underestimated Jared and me.

Now he was an adult, and we had to go by adult rules. Jared was four and a half feet tall and weighed about fifty pounds. He did a little bit of walking with help but mostly scooted on his bottom and used a wheelchair. He was nonverbal for the most part. You had to know Jared to understand his body language and his understanding of words. Jared was unique in his health and ways of his life, and I think this scared a lot of people.

Let’s move on to the fun of being eighteen years old!

When your child turns eighteen, the world changes to a whole new era.

Turning eighteen means being an adult. It doesn’t have anything to do with having special needs or not.

If your child is getting close to eighteen, it is a good idea to start looking into guardianship. Check with your school system because it may be able to help you. You don’t always need a lawyer, depending on the circumstances of your child, but you may be told you do. I was overwhelmed because I didn’t have a clue about where to start. But Jared’s school’s social worker helped me with the paperwork the court needed about Jared’s medical and mental status and the steps we had to take. Our courthouse was also helpful in giving me step-by-step instructions on what I needed to do and when I needed to do it. There is a time schedule you need to follow. I was able to get some paperwork done, but the actual court date was not set up until Jared actually turned eighteen.

Jared had a court-appointed representative who talked with him and explained what would happen. It was funny because Jared couldn’t have cared less and didn’t have a clue about most of