Hailey’s Medical Story

 

Hailey is 8 years old. She became a part of our family through the miracle of Adoption January 16, 2009. She had a very difficult life filled with more obstacles than most adults could handle, before God brought her to us. I have seen Hailey overcome and fight through major issues. I have seen her change and grow. She is a very optimistic child and takes life as it comes. She truly takes the lemons life hands her and makes Lemonade. Life has handed her more than one medical issue, but she has never let that get her down.

 
Eyesight
Hailey was born with an Astigmatism, Amblyopia, Hyperopia (Farsightedness), and poor eyesight in both eyes. Unfortunately, nothing was done to help with these issues until Hailey turned 4 years old. Hailey wore an eye patch full time for one year. She is no longer patching, but still struggles with her eyesight.

ADHD
Hailey was diagnosed with ADHD spring of 2008. There were several things that lead to this diagnoses including; Inability to sit still, Lack of impulse control, overly friendly, Lack of social skills, and Extreme frustration. At the time she was attending day care and she had a lot of problems there. She began seeing a therapist for some other things and then she was diagnosed.

 
Reactive Attachment Disorder
Hailey has recently been diagnosed with RAD. We have not done any formal treatment of this as of yet. I think just providing a stable environment has helped the most.

Chiari Malformation & Syringomyelia
On 9/22/09 Hailey passed out and it appeared that she was having a seizure. I took her to her pediatricians who referred her to a neurologist. We had an EEG done and then had an MRI done. The MRI showed Chiari 1 Malformation with Tonsils protruding 10mm. She then had a full spine MRI done that showed a Syrinx from T5-T7. Hailey's headaches became a real battle for her, and after seeing a Neurosurgeon at Vanderbilt, we decided to proceed with Decompression surgery. Her surgery was performed on June 1, 2010. About 6 days after the surgery Hailey began running a fever, Mother's intuition had me take her to the local children's Hospital ER. We found out there that she had Meningitis. After 5 more brain surgeries, and a month stay at the hospital, we were finally able to bring her home. She is doing really well. As of now we will have her scanned every 6 months, and treat symptoms as they come.