A laptop computer; a block of butter; your favourite paperback book; newborn baby, Violet Yoder. What do they all have in common? All weigh less than 2lbs. Baby Violet was born in January 2006 weighing only 1lb 13oz. at just 28 weeks old. The odds of a premature baby at Violet’s birth weight living were very low because of underdeveloped organs and the difficulties breathing.
Read More...
|
Air. Water. Food. All three are essential to grow and survive. But for 10-year-old Stormy Stevensen, all three have been a struggle since birth. Stormy was born with numerous, complex medical issues. A partially closed throat, an esophagus that was not attached to her stomach and damaged, underdeveloped lungs have meant eating from a feeding tube since birth – she couldn’t even take a bottle. Air and anything swallowed, including saliva, would back up into her lungs, which were not completely connected to her airways.
Read More...
|
Imagine your five-year-old child telling you, “I’ll be fine – just don’t make me laugh.” This was the saddest thing that Dr. Allan Becker, head of allergy and clinical Immunology in the department of Pediatrics at Children’s Hospital in Winnipeg, had ever heard. His patient, Hayden Keast, had been diagnosed with allergies and severe asthma at six months old, and his parents were quick to take it seriously. His mother had lost family members to severe asthma attacks.
Read More...
|
When Brittney Fox was three years old she didn’t ask Santa for a baby doll or a princess outfit for Christmas. All she wished for was to go home. For the first few years of Brittney’s life, her days were spent inside the walls of a hospital hooked up to IVs and a gastronomy tube, surrounded by doctors and nurses at Children’s Hospital in Winnipeg.
Read More...
|
Monster trucks, Barney the Friendly Dinosaur…and the famous daytime TV host Ellen? These are just a few of the things five-year-old Kaden Morris is a self-claimed expert on and loves to talk about. “Ellen likes to dance you know,” Kaden says just before breaking into a perfect imitation of the talk show host. Watching this energetic young boy, you would never know he had a serious disease.
Read More...
|
By her first birthday, Jordyn was toddling around like any other child but at 18 months of age, Chrissy noticed some curious changes. Jordyn had a tendency to flap her hands and hum to herself. She rarely made eye contact with those around her. A trip to the pediatrician around that time also revealed that Jordyn’s vocabulary was stunted. She spoke only 10-15 words, while children her age were typically speaking 300. The most distressing fact: she could not convey her most basic needs. Chrissy and Jordyn were referred to Children’s Hospital, where they met with a caring team of doctors and staff. Jordyn was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Read More...
|