This Utah family claims its roots in Chicago.  At least husband and father of the family, Rick Olivares, does.  Both he and his wife Kendra moved to Utah at 9 years old, ironically.  They met as co-workers 11 years later and have been together ever since.

Rick and Kendra started their family as young parents—Rick, 20, and Kendra, 18.   It wasn’t until two months after giving birth to their firstborn Cameron, that they received some speculative news at the doctor’s office.

At Cameron’s routine check-up, the doctor wanted to run an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) since Cameron’s head seemed abnormally large.  Two days later, the Olivares’ were told that their son was suffering from hydrocephalus – an accumulation of serous fluid within the cranium due to obstruction of the movement of cerebrospinal fluid—the cause of Cameron’s enlarged head.

In basic terms, every person has two “drains” in his or her spine which allow any cranial fluid to flow through.  When the drains are clogged, as Cameron’s were, the head swells with fluid.

“The water was squishing his brain down like a sponge,” Rick said.

When the shunt was placed through surgical procedure, some of the pressure was relieved and the brain was able to expand again.  A year later, the second shunt was placed.  The initial brain damage that was caused, however, resulted in lifelong diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy.

After staying home with Cameron for his first six months, Kendra went back to work.  She and Rick worked alternate shifts for 12 years.  Their hard work, which realistically also meant sacrificed time in their marriage, has been an essential component to provide Cameron the best care.

Over the years, the family has worked extremely hard to keep Cameron healthy.  He is now 18 years old, and has received multiple surgeries.  These have included three surgeries on his hips and tendon extensions in his arms, legs, and feet.  He’s had a GJ-tube installed, a shunt revision, and just recently had a Baclofen pump put in.

Cameron is able to see, but the Olivares don’t know how well, nor do they know exactly how he interprets what he sees.

“We try to stay on top of what is going on with him medically.  If its not one thing, it’s something else.  We can get one thing taken care of and then he’ll receive another diagnosis of some sort.  Medically there are ongoing struggles that we expect to have for as long as he is around,” Kendra said.

The Olivares’ shared the challenges about how Cameron’s requirements alter the state of the family.

“The challenge is keeping things normal for the other kids too and not depriving them of other experiences and activities.  At the same time we have no other choice but to do just that since Cameron will not tolerate all situations,” Kendra said.  “It’s a challenge when the other two kids have to be ok that we, the parents, aren’t at all of their functions.  We always say, ‘it’d be great to do this, it’d be great to do that’ when thinking about normal family vacations, but we are limited.”

Just two years ago, the Olivares’ were able to take their first real family vacation.  They traveled to Hawaii, but they had to make the tough decision of leaving Cameron behind with his uncle.  It was conflicting for them, as Cameron is a huge part of the family.  In some ways, it didn’t seem right.

“He is central to our family, the nucleus, the glue that bonds us all.  It was a big decision for us to leave him.  We’d call every morning and night, and send text messages all day to know what was going on,” Rick said.  “On this trip though, we were able have experiences that we had never had before.  It was our first time really hiking together.  We know the other two kids will always look back on that trip and remember it with fondness,” Rick said.

“It’s ok.  I had a locket with Cameron’s picture in it that I wore every day.  He was still with us,” said Kendra, with an endearing smile.

Cameron is the main concern in the Olivares’ household.  “He’s so big, we can’t rely on anyone else to take care of him, to pick him up or move him around.  As he is getting older, it’s getting tougher.  Hardly anyone else can watch him, including his grandma, because he has gotten too heavy—100 pounds,” Kendra explained.

The ramp will enable Cameron to get in and out of the house much more easily, which will in turn help everyone.

Cameron’s family is focused on him, but his main focus is his passion: music.

“If he is in a bad mood, a really bad mood, we will put on Garth Brooks to cheer him up, especially the ‘No Fences’ album.  It’s his favorite.  As soon as ‘The Thunder Rolls’ comes on he lights up like a Christmas tree,” Rick said.

“He could be screaming or crying, so mad, and you turn that song on, and within two seconds he is laughing and happy,” Kendra said.

Overall, working around Cameron’s needs has been an effort for the whole family.

“When the siblings were younger they would be in and out of school with Cameron’s frequent hospital visits,” Kendra said.

Another type of visit, one that they hope to take someday, is a trip to meet Garth Brooks.  Until then, their “thunder rolls” in Utah.

Jill Lewis