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By MICHELLE PARK
Staff Writer
MEDINA TWP. — Megan Komar has faced
challenges most 3-year-olds have not.
One might not know it looking at her, but
Megan has undergone four
surgeries in the course of her short life and faces developmental
delays as a result of a congenital birth defect.
Sometimes, disabilities are obvious, said
Megan's mother, Marcie Komar, 29. Other times, as with Megan, they are
not.
"Kids with disabilities come in all
different packages," Marcie said. "You can't just tell by looking at
them."
That is one truth Marcie and her husband,
Craig Komar, 30, shared
this month at their Medina Township home, where they live with Megan
and her 8-month-old brother, Thomas.
As National Mental Retardation and
Developmental Disabilities
Awareness Month, March is a time when such messages are shared. On
Saturday, the Medina County Board of MRDD, which serves Megan and other
individuals with disabilities, will do so, too, by providing
information and hands-on demonstrations on Medina's Public Square.
Megan's beginning
On Dec. 2, 2002, Megan Elizabeth Komar was
born. Doctors needed
to perform a C-section because Marcie never dilated more than 2
centimeters. Mom and Dad didn't know then the complication was a result
of Megan's head being very large.
"We didn't know anything was wrong," Marcie
said. "We didn't even know if it was a boy or a girl.
"They said, ‘It's a girl.' As soon as I saw
her, I knew something was wrong."
Megan was born with hydrocephalus, or water
on the brain. Two days
later, she underwent her first surgery, where a device called a
ventriculoperitoneal shunt was implanted in the back of her head to
drain excess fluid from her brain and relieve pressure.
"You know, you're expecting your first child
to go well: visitors,
balloons, flowers," Marcie said, explaining she was separated from
Megan almost immediately.
"It was hard because you'd hear all the
other babies crying," Marcie
said of her stay in the maternity ward. "That was hard not being able
to be with her."
Treatments
As a result of the hydrocephalus, Megan's
brain was deformed. That deformation has caused delays in the toddler's
development.
"They said 99 percent of the time when
something is wrong with the
brain, they can try to treat it, but they can't cure it because they
don't know why it occurs," Craig said. "That's a hard thing to hear.
"We'd say, ‘Well, what can we expect of
Megan?' and none of them knew."
Since birth, Megan has had seizures that
were not treated
successfully with medications. The severity of her seizures decreased
only after Feb. 9, when doctors implanted a vagal nerve stimulator into
her chest.
That stimulator has a cord wrapped around
the vagus nerve, the
body's longest cranial nerve that controls several organs, and sends
electric stimuli to Megan's brain to keep it active, Marcie said. The
"pacemaker" goes off every five minutes to prevent electrical bursts in
the brain that cause seizures.
Megan has had four small seizures since the
stimulator was implanted.
In addition to the nerve stimulator, Megan
has had two eye surgeries
to correct problems caused by pressure placed on her optic nerve, and
she wears an eye patch in the morning to correct lazy eye.
Windfall School
Megan goes to preschool at Windfall School,
which is operated by
the Medina County Board of MRDD. There she receives early intervention
services, physical therapy, speech therapy and occupational therapy.
Currently, she is learning to use the potty and eat with a fork, her
parents said.
"She loves it there," said her mother. "She
knows her teachers' names."
"Miss Cathy" is Megan's name for her
preschool teacher, Cathy
Schwall. In Schwall's integrated class, she teaches students with and
without disabilities. At first, students without disabilities tend to
ask questions.
Then "they get to know them (children with
disabilities) as a kid
and play (together)," Schwall said. "They see that they're much more
alike than different."
It's a lesson all community members should
learn, she added.
At school, Megan has an individualized
education plan, Craig said.
Both her parents teach at Claggett Middle School and hope to see her
attend school in the future.
Schwall is confident they will.
"For children with disabilities, in general,
they can learn if they're given a chance," she said.
Progress
Marcie said the fact Megan looks similar to
children her age but
acts differently is something other parents find hard to understand,
Marcie said. Other children often don't understand either, she added,
explaining Megan likes to hug.
"The kids just kind of push her away and run
back to Mom," she said.
Sometimes, Craig and Marcie find it
difficult not to compare their daughter to kids her own age, they said.
"We have friends who have kids her age who
are involved in dance classes," Craig said.
Their daughter may not dance, and her motor
skills may be shaky, but
Megan's parents agreed she has made progress. In addition to putting
sentences together, "Little Miss Manners" knows to say her pleases and
thank-yous, Marcie said, smiling.
A neurologist who works with the family had
positive news, too.
"(She said) if she had never met Megan but
only knew her through the
MRI, she would have guessed she couldn't walk or talk," Marcie said.
Walk and talk, Megan does. In fact, her
constant activity, coupled with a low attention span, can wear out Mom
and Dad.
"She's nonstop," Marcie said. "She's curious
about everything."
Dad agreed.
"She loves taking things apart and not
putting them back," Craig said, chuckling.
Craig and Marcie are determined to keep a
positive outlook. They
said they receive the support they need from their family, coworkers
and each other. Good doctors have made their lives easier, too.
"You don't second-guess them, and a lot of
the things they've tried have worked," Craig said.
The future
Marcie had a normal pregnancy with Thomas,
who started crawling
at 6 months and may be walking in a couple months. Craig and Marcie see
him catching up to Megan.
"I think what will be hard is the day he
passes her," Marcie said, citing other concerns for her daughter's
future.
"It's hard," she said. "They (older kids)
already know there's something different about her."
Some people are more than understanding when
they find out about Megan's challenges, Craig said. Others can be quick
to judge.
No matter what, her parents have high hopes
for Megan's future.
"I hope she's happy and successful in
whatever she wants to set out to do," Marcie said.
"The hopes are still the same. I'm thinking
the timeline might be a little different."
Park may be reached at
330-721-4046.
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