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BLOOMINGDALE - Milestones reached at the Moeller home
(by Deborah Walsh - Staff Writer - February 13, 2008)
BLOOMINGDALE - While every day is full of challenges, some joyous milestones have been reached in the Moeller household as of late.
For those not familiar with the Moeller family, Dawn and Mike Moeller have triplet sons, who will be 4 years old in April. The boys were born two-and-a-half months premature. Zakary, Tyler and Matthew were born with Bilateral Periventricular Leukomalacia, which is often a precursor to cerebral palsy.
Zakary and Tyler have been diagnosed with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy. Matthew has been diagnosed with diplesia cerebral palsy. With the diplesia cerebral palsy, Matthew's lower extremities have been affected.
Cognitively, he is progressing at his age level. His two siblings, Zak and Tyler, have been more extremely impacted by the spastic quadriplegic palsy. Their entire bodies have been affected.
The Moellers' friends, Suzanne and Chris Finelli, spearheaded a letter-writing campaign to get the Moellers' Bloomingdale bi-level home renovated to suit their physical needs by ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
After receiving no word from the show after a considerable amount of time, the Finellis and others in the Moeller support group sprung into action with Plan B. If the show would not complete renovations to the Moeller home, volunteers would build them a new house outfitted with features consistent with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Mike Moeller said his family was able to move into the new home located on Captolene Avenue around Thanksgiving time. The home, which is much easier on his family because it is a single level without stairs, was 80 percent built through the efforts of volunteers and the receipt of donated building supplies, he estimated.
"The community was unbelievable. We did not expect all of that," said Mike, a sergeant with the Butler police force.
The construction of the new home extensively through a volunteer effort is virtually a minor miracle in itself, only surpassed by what is going on inside their home. Matthew is walking about 90 percent of the time and Tyler, with much effort and determination, has begun to crawl.
Though Moeller family members' lives are consumed with visits to physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists and doctors, these recent events have helped ease their pain and worries. The boys recently finished a month-long program at St. Joseph's Medical Center in Paterson, which strengthened the boys chewing and swallowing skills and has resulted in a weight gain, he said.
Matthew attends a preschool program for those with disabilities in Bloomingdale and Tyler and Zak attend the P.G. Chambers School in Cedar Knolls.
"Our emotions are consumed with heartache, worry, pain and anger. I watch my children struggle to hold their heads up, cry when I have to stretch them," said Moeller recently. "But the other day, Tyler at 3-and-a-half, crawled for the first time, not the way a typical 6-month-old crawls; he crawled commando for 3 feet with tremendous effort, but it was beautiful. He was so proud of himself and I was speechless at his accomplishment, which is an accomplishment we didn't know we would ever see."
Moeller called it another beautiful day when he and Dawn and their boys were able to enter their new home. The house was put together with love, generosity, strength and hope and it was inspiration to witness it, he said.
"I truly wish that this house didn't have to be built because that would mean that my kids would be healthy. I also would not have imagined all the support our family has received to help make our lives easier," said Moeller. "We could never repay all the generosity to each and every person who played any part in our home project, but I hope each person understands and accepts our absolute and utmost sincere appreciation for everything you have done for our family."
The list of companies who donated goods or services includes: Wood-N-Pipes, Tilcon of NY and NJ, GSM Architectural Services, DMC Associates, Darmofalski Engineering, Noah's Ark, Struble/Ragno, attorneys at law, Ramsey Corp., Smoke Rise Service Corp., Sadem Industrial Products, Vans Automotive Repair, Hometown Pharmacy, Colonial Concrete, Excelsior Lumber, Extreme Graphics, Diemar Construction, Binder Machinery, Whritenour Construction, Karl Flutter Construction, GWR Construction, Pompton Plumbing and Bob's Barbershop.
Anyone wishing to make a donation to the family can mail it to Love Three-Fold at PO Box 307, Butler, NJ 07405.
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