by Amy Jo Yowell; 179 pages. Subtitle: A Miracle of Life - The Story of Jamie Yowell
There are all kinds of special-needs parenting memoirs. Some aspire to literary excellence, others give advice along with experience, many tout a miracle cure or a particular outlook on disability. The Silent Cry is simply a sincere re-telling of the events in the life of a medically challenged child, told by the mother who helped him through it. It speaks to our incredible ability for survival, both from complicated medical procedures and from the stress of watching our children go through them.
- It's a quick inspirational read.
- Gives a good look at the challenges of raising a child with medical issues.
- If you're dealing with similar issues, you'll feel in good company here.
- If not, it may put some of your problems in perspective.
- Includes photos so you can see Jamie's fantastic smile for yourself.
- If you're looking for more than a memoir, you won't find it.
- Will probably be more meaningful to parents of children with medical issues than without.
- Sad to see that, as with so many stories like this, Dad bails out early.
- Chapter 1: A Miracle of Life
Chapter 2: The First Three Months - Chapter 3: Life at the Hospital
Chapter 4: The Silent Cry - Chapter 5: Welcome Home
Chapter 6: Back to the Hospital - Chapter 7: The Vent Was Here to Stay
Chapter 8: Bringing Home the Vent - Chapter 9: The Next Few Years
Chapter 10: Jamie's Miracle - Chapter 11: The Results Are In
- Chapter 12: Let's Go to School
- Chapter 13: March 2009 - Jamie Today
- Chapter 14: Pictures of Our Family
- Chapter 15: To Jamie, With Love
I hope that by telling our story, I will help another mother and father of a child with special needs to not feel alone. To not feel like they are the only person in the world that has had to go through a rough time of life. That they aren't the only parents in the world that have to watch their own child go through surgery after surgery, go through multiple doctor visits and hospital stays and see them suffer with the little relief that you can give them. I want these parents to know that they aren't alone, there are others of us that struggle and that there is a great life just waiting. All you have to do is reach out and grab it.
That's the spirit in which Amy Jo Yowell shares her story in The Silent Cry, and also on her Web site, My Mommy Needs a Life. Her book is a straightforward, blow-by-blow account of the early years of her son Jamie's life, from birth through diagnosis with neurofibromatosis and way more than his fair share of medical crises. Yowell describes the daily routine of suctioning and feeding tubes and trachs, the terror of having your child stop breathing and having no one but yourself to depend on to get it started again ... again and again. It's the kind of thing that only parents who have been through it can fully understand, and benefit so much from finding others who've been through it, too.
The Silent Cry refers to the way Jamie cried at birth, without a sound, but it could also refer to the way parents like Yowell soldier on without complaint or concern for their own physical and emotional pain. This small book represents one mom's cry, of anguish and triumph, and should give comfort and validation to others for whom home health care is just another part of motherhood.
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