Supporting disabled daughter comes with challenges

Jill Huckaby with her daughter, Abigail.

“She came three weeks early, so we weren’t really prepared. By the time we showed up at the hospital, I was too far along to get an epidural or anything.

“When the head delivered, the doctor saw that the cord was wrapped around her neck. He cut it, not knowing that she was trapped behind my pelvis bone with her left arm. She was not moving. He couldn’t do a C-section because he might cut into her. So he had to break her left clavicle to maneuver her shoulder down and around the bone to deliver her.

“She was without oxygen for a good 2-3 minutes. The result is that she has developmental delays, speech delays. She’s kind of shaky on her feet sometimes. She has a mild case of cerebral palsy and epilepsy. The damage to her brain is right in the area where speech happens.

“She’s better now. She can convey to us that she’s hungry and thirsty, and what she wants to eat. She lets us know if she hurts, if she’s sleepy, things like that. That’s awesome. But Abby is always going to require care. She’s always going to be disabled.

Abigail Huckaby got to play with her YMCA Miracle League softball team at Minute Maid Park.

“I get mad about twice a year, because for Social Security disability we have to justify them giving her money every month. We have to fill out these booklets that list her disabilities and get statements from her teacher. And I’m thinking, ‘Why do you people keep reminding me about all the stuff that my kid can’t do? It’s not fair. I wish you would stop.’

“I work in insurance, so I understand. You have to avoid fraud. People will try to put one over if they think they can profit from it. So I get it. It’s just hard to go through all of that and have to deal with those emotions every time.”

— Jill Huckaby