Posted on 05/11/2008 2:52:28 PM PDT by Mark
Carol Rudes has not read her son's love letter couched in a short autobiography he has written. He's been waiting for the perfect time to give it to his mom.
Today.
"My name is Mathew Rudes, and this is my story. When I was brought into this world 21 years ago, doctors predicted that I had less than 24 hours to live.
"They had only to look at my warped body, hands bent at odd angles, to know that something was not right. I was quickly whisked away to another room. The doctors refused to let my mother look at me until they knew what to say."
Carol Rudes didn't need to wait for the doctors to say anything. The Northridge mom knew exactly what to say. Give me my baby back. Now!
"Only seconds after giving birth, she began a 21-year crusade to keep me alive. She did not give up on me.
"She sacrificed her career, everything, to devote herself to my health and well-being. She bestowed on me the gift of life, and I pledged, from the moment that I could comprehend my condition, that I would repay her bravery and determination by whatever means necessary."
Mathew's condition was diagnosed as severe spontaneous infantile Marfan syndrome, an extremely rare genetic disorder that causes chronic, excruciating pain attacking every system in the body - muscles, bones and organs.
But not the brain.
The brain would be how Mathew repaid his mother's bravery and determination.
Next month, Carol Rudes will be at her son's side when he graduates as an English major from UCLA with summa cum laude and honors status.
Then she will move on with him to law school at UCLA, driving him to school every day and sitting by his side in class - as she has done every school day these past four years at UCLA.
Becoming Mathew's surrogate body so he can be free to let his incredible brain rack up more straight A's and honors.
They're a team, Mathew says. And you don't break up a championship team.
"There is no way Matt could have achieved what he has without his mother," says Dr. Rena Falk, medical geneticist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and professor of pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
"I'm not even sure he would be with us today if it hadn't been for her."
"She took me to every doctor's appointment, and stayed with me night and day through 13 surgeries, including two life-saving heart surgeries.
"I can't remember a time without her since I was 4. It was my birthday, and I woke up after another surgery. There was my mom standing at my bed holding a big birthday cake with four candles on it.
"My father took on the role of family provider, and my mother took the role of my bodyguard and caretaker. She has never, ever let my disabilities - or other people's assumptions - prevent me from living life to the fullest."
Other people's assumptions. That was one of the toughest parts, Carol said Friday, sitting in the living room of her Northridge home with Mathew.
It's amazing how supposedly educated people and institutions can be so wrong in their assumptions, she said.
How they couldn't see past the wheelchair and Coke-bottle glasses her son must wear because he is almost blind - to see the immense talent in this kid.
How his elongated hands and feet from Marfan syndrome - similar to what some historians think Abraham Lincoln had - threw them off. Made them think how sad it was. This poor kid was going nowhere in life.
Carol told them the same thing she told the doctors 21 years ago. Assumptions can be wrong.
She fought to get her son in regular schools as a young child when the so-called educational experts thought it would be better for Mathew to be home-schooled.
She fought to make sure he had every advantage every other kid had, and she made sure the school district provided him with an aide in the classroom from elementary through high school, as the law provides.
She would have been that aide herself, but when you're trying to raise two other children, well, you need to give them their time, too.
And, she did - before and after taking Mathew to his many weekly medical appointments, and sitting up with him through the many nights when excruciating pain racked his young body, and he couldn't stop the screams.
When Mathew graduated from Monroe High School in 2004, with straight A's and honors, of course, the aides were gone. The school district had fulfilled its obligation.
Carol would now be her son's 24-hour-a-day aide, just like when he was a baby.
"My college education is only possible because of my mother's dedication. I have survived my disabilities, I have survived my pain, and I have survived the burning gaze of people who assume that I must be mentally retarded because I am in a wheelchair.
"My education is my oxygen. With words and the power of imagination, I can leap out of my bed and walk, run, fight, fly.
"My future goal is to receive a law degree and someday become district attorney of Los Angeles County. That and become a published author.
"And it's all possible because of my mother. I stand in awe of her strength, and how much she loves me."
Happy Mother's Day, Carol. You are one heck of a mom.
wow. a must read everybody.
Still, I couldn't help pause over this line:
"I can't remember a time without her since I was 4. It was my birthday, and I woke up after another surgery. There was my mom standing at my bed holding a big birthday cake with four candles on it."
I hope Matthew can make it, when she's no longer there ... and for his sake, I hope it's a good, long time from now.
Remarkable. And then there is the largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, who sent out a special fundraising letter for Mother’s Day - http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2014533/posts
.......and Sir... you are a heck of a son.
Sniff.. She is a great Mom and has raised a fine son.
Dr. Rena Falk, medical geneticist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and professor of pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and surely soon to be awarded as Super-Smartest Medical Geneticist/Prefessor of Pediatrics Ever:
“There is no way Matt could have achieved what he has without his mother. I’m not even sure he would be with us today if it hadn’t been for her.”
but most especially, not the soul.
What a pity it is that this remarkable story has to be filed under "beating the system."
Damn that "system."
btt
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