Yasmeens First Post

by Brad Gyger - -

Yasmeen is Born

On September 25th, 2013 our amazing daughter, Yasmeen Kumi Gyger was born. From the moment she was born we knew there was something special about her. And after now, what is almost four months later we know…Achondroplasia

What does that mean?

Reality, I don’t think has quite set in yet for us. Ultimately it means she’ll be a little person but we’re still trying to process the full implications of that.

The Road thus far

Luckily we’re in close proximity to Stanford and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital (LPCH). It’s a great facility but I always have mixed emotions when it comes to teaching hospitals. While you can, in some instances, get world-class care providers. Other times, you get “students” and many of them, at once trying to use your child as a learning exercise. And while, I’m all for the growth and advancement of medicine, I’d like my family to contribute one care-provider at a time, and not four-at-a-go. But I digress.

The Laundry List

So far here’s a quick laundry list of the Care Providers we’ve amassed in the, oh two or so months we’ve been actively visiting LPCH:

  1. Genetic Counselor - To aid, navigate and generally help us on our journey.
  2. Genetic Specialist - An M.D. that specializes in Genetic Diseases & Syndromes
  3. Gastrointerologist - All things Digestive since Yasmeen was vomitting and aspirating in the really early days
  4. Radiologist - For X-Rays and MRI pictures
  5. Anesthesiologist - Because MRIs on infants require full anesthetic
  6. Occupational Therapist - Because her aspirating (swallowing down her wind pipe) needs to be rectified with proper feeding technique
  7. Neurosurgeon - As there was a risk she developed either/both craniosynostosis or hydrocephalus. Luckily both were negative thanks to the MRI
  8. ENT - Because her breathing, since the day she was born has been shallow and labored with constant congestion
  9. Any the list goes on for as yet scheduled providers…
  10. Physical Therapist - To check her spinal and extremity development
  11. Sleep Specialist - to correlater her breathing with potential sleep apnea

The Road Ahead

Short answer, who knows. But we love our baby girl, we’ll find our new normal. And keep on keepin’ on. I’ll do my best to chronicle things here. And generally be more active in blogging. While I’m a published author, I’m not a blogger by any stretch, so we’ll see how this goes.

Stay tuned.

/b