Gerald Anthony Guidry
July 28, 2009
Florett "Flo" Johnson
July 30, 2009
Don’t tell 5-year-old Annie Mae Cortez she can’t do something. The daughter of Raceland natives Kerwin and Marsha Cortez has been proving doctors wrong since she was diagnosed with cerebral palsy – an incurable neurological condition caused by a lack of oxygen to the brain usually during childbirth – at six months old.
Originally, Annie Mae was thought to have the most severe form, quadriplegia, where all four limbs are affected and sufferers can become completely blind. However, Annie Mae’s condition was caught early enough that she has made tremendous progress.
With the help of occupational, physical and speech therapy and the constant encouragement of her family, Annie Mae’s movement is more fluid, her sight has improved, although it is still limited, and her speech is getting better.
“She’s our miracle baby,” mother Marsha said.
Annie Mae’s success has made her this year’s poster child for the Terrebonne Area Telethon for Cerebral Palsy of Louisiana.
The telethon will broadcast from the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center on Saturday, Aug. 1, from 4 to 10 p.m. and Sunday, Aug. 2, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Comcast channel 21 and Charter Communications channel 18.
Residents who don’t have either cable system can watch live streaming video of the telethon at www.cpofla.com. There they can also find links to more information on cerebral palsy, learn of upcoming CPLA activities or make a donation by credit card or PayPal.
Proceeds go toward providing Louisianans having cerebral palsy with durable medical equipment, braces, wheelchairs and physical therapy.
“Last year we raised over $70,000,” said Kathy Arceneaux, Cerebral Palsy of Louisiana assistant director. “It wasn’t a record, but we don’t really set a goal. We want to raise more every year.”
The Houma-Terrebonne Community Band and Innovation Dance Company are performing Saturday. Sunday’s entertainment includes rock bands Southern Boys and First in Space, the Terrebonne Association for Retarded Citizens Bell Choir and soloist Faye Jones.
South Louisiana Bank President Chuck Weaver is this year’s event chairperson.
Longtime masters of ceremony Joseph Malbrough, who owns Mid-South Wrestling Entertainment, and Ray Avet, Gulf Island Fabrication Louisiana regional marketing manager, are hosting the telethon for their 14th and 18th year, respectively.
“Joe and I have similar personalities. We both like dealing with people,” Avet said. “We just cut up a little bit across the stage. It just comes naturally now.”
The Cerebral Palsy of Louisiana telethon started more than 30 years ago. In the beginning, it served as a combination satellite telethon between Houma and Golden Meadow broadcasting from the Village East Fire Station. This is the seventh year the event is being held at Houma’s civic center.
Despite the 30-plus year effort to educate the public about the condition, inaccuracies still prevail. The biggest misconception about cerebral palsy patients, according to Arceneaux, is that they are not able to understand.
“A lot of them are very intelligent, but they’re just not able to communicate,” she said. “Also, people wrongly think that the disability keeps them from participating in their community and home activities.”
The Cortez family, including older sister Angel, 8, has made it a priority to ensure that Annie Mae’s life is as normal as possible.
Although her mental development is about 18 months behind normal, Annie Mae enjoys attending Raceland Lower Elementary. She did well in pre-kindergarten last year, according to her mother, and is attending kindergarten there this month.
Annie Mae also likes being outdoors doing any type of physical activity – riding her bike, swimming and especially playing with her 4-year-old cousin, Kyle Cortez.
“The hardest thing for me is that I always want to protect her,” Martha said. “I’m starting to learn to let her go and let her live.”
Annie Mae was born with a knot in her umbilical cord resulting in infantile hemiplegia, according to her mother.
Instructors for Early Steps, a program for infants and toddlers with developmental delays, first noticed Annie Mae wasn’t lifting her legs or kicking and her arms were very stiff.
Her parents took her to Children’s Hospital in New Orleans where she wasdiagnosed Sept. 3, 2004 with cerebral palsy.
“Annie’s head used to be very lag. She would never hold her head up,” her mother Martha recalled. “She was 3 years old before she really started walking.
“She was diagnosed early and able to get into therapy,” she added. “(Doctors) said if we hadn’t caught it early, she wouldn’t be walking at this time.”
Sadly, it’s a fairly common problem. More than 1,200 individuals are registered with Cerebral Palsy of Louisiana. “There’s probably more out there that we don’t know about,” Arceneaux said.
In the Bayou Region (Terrebonne, Lafourche, St. James and Assumption parishes), there are approximately 70 people living daily with cerebral palsy. They range from infants to adults in their 30s and 40s, Arceneaux said.
“If they are not going to live a long lifespan, it will be due to other complications like pneumonia or problems eating. People don’t die from cerebral palsy,” she explained. “It’s another common misconception. We do have some individuals who live until they are 50, 60 or 70 years old. It all depends on the severity of their condition.”
Physicians were less optimistic about Annie Mae’s early prognosis, but the 5-year-old has surpassed their predictions. The complications caused by cerebral palsy – seizures, urgenic bladder, his displacement and vision impairment – are evident, but a few modifications keep the child active.
“At first (doctors) thought she was blind, but because we caught it early, they said it gave the brain an opportunity to reroute,” Cortez said. “She can see, but they don’t know much. She has to sit to the left of everything, and she tilts.”
Caring for Annie Mae requires the entire family to pitch in. That includes Kerwin’s parents, Arthur and Vera Cortez, who live next door, and Marsha’s parents, Pamela and Marshall Duplantis.
Looking at Annie Mae today, she does not fit the typical image of a child with cerebral palsy, which occasionally makes it hard on the family when she throws a tantrum in public.
“People stare at you and they make slight comments, but they don’t understand what Annie is going through,” Kerwin Cortez said. “We’re not going to hide her. We’re going to continue to take her to church functions and the movies and regular family outings.”
When Cerebral Palsy of Louisiana asked the Cortezes to consider letting Annie Mae be this year’s poster child, they were hesitant at first and thought a child with a more severe form of the condition would be a better choice.
But now they embrace her role and the opportunity to help families going through similar predicaments.
“It’s exciting and an honor,” Marsha Cortez said. “If we can just give one family hope that things can get better, then it’s worth it.”
Cerebral Palsy of Louisiana is looking for volunteers to help with the upcoming telethon. To assist, call Arceneaux at 1-800-375-8275.
Raceland residents Marsha and Kerwin Cortez are pictured with their daughters, Angel, 8, and Annie Mae, 5. The youngest Cortez is the poster child for the upcoming Terrebonne Area Telethon for Cerebral Palsy of Louisiana.
