The Beacon 2019 | Issue 2 the beacon 2.2019 | Page 4

The Student Spotlight
THIS STUDENT SPOTLIGHT IS ABOUT LITTLE LIGHT HOUSE STUDENT MATTHEW MEYERS IN
GREEN CLASS. MATTHEW WILL BE GRADUATING THIS SPRING. READ ABOUT HIS JOURNEY TO LLH.
GIFT FROM GOD
BY: ANGELA MEYERS
On March 13, 2013, after a routine pregnancy and a short
yet painful delivery, our sweet boy was born. All the routine
newborn tests and exams came back normal. The only
problem was that we didn’t have a name for him! We “tried
out” several options and finally decided on Matthew,
meaning “Gift from God”. It seemed to fit him perfectly, and
after a couple days in the hospital, the doctors sent us home
to live “happily ever after”.
The next couple of months were wonderfully hectic. We
started to find our new routine with an active 2-year-old
and a newborn. Matthew was a dream infant. He was quiet,
slept reasonably well, and aside from a minor latching
issue, nursed well. We had visions of our two sweet children
growing up together and doing all the things siblings do. Life
was good!
About 3 months after Matthew was born, something just
didn’t seem right. The quietness that we had enjoyed the
last couple of months became troubling. I started noticing
that he lacked interest in the toys that his sister played with
at the same age. He seemed to have trouble making eye
contact and tracking things across the room. My “mother’s
instinct” was screaming that something was REALLY wrong.
I made an appointment with his pediatrician, and she
examined him. Not finding anything obviously wrong, told
me I should see the pediatric ophthalmologist.
After several agonizing weeks, the day finally came for
our appointment, and sure enough there was a problem.
Matthew’s optic nerves were smaller than normal
and he was very farsighted. Glasses could correct the
farsightedness, but since the optic nerve is responsible for
transferring the images from the eye to the brain, an MRI
was needed to get a clear picture of its condition. We were
heartbroken. Our sweet boy was legally blind.
We met with the pediatrician for Matthew’s 4 month
checkup and to schedule the MRI. During that exam, it was
clear that there were more than just eye issues. Matthew’s
muscles were weak and uncoordinated. He was falling
further and further behind on his milestones. He wasn’t
trying to roll, play with toys, or babble. His latching problem
was getting worse and he was constantly choking on the
milk. Even with all these issues, our fears were calmed by
the professionals. Weak muscles could be strengthened with
physical therapy. Vision problems could be worked around,
and he was still gaining weight so his eating problems
weren’t an emergency. The MRI was scheduled a week or
two later and we felt confident that we had a solution for all
the current annoyances.
It was at this point that we made our first contact with the
Little Light House. We still didn’t know exactly what was
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