We are proud to donate $100 from every mortgage closed to SickKids hospital.
My wonderful daughters inspire me every day, and when they needed help, SickKids was there. Here are their stories of crisis and recovery:
Paige Lillian
Paige was welcomed into the world on Nov 29, 2014 and we instantly fell in love, just as we had with our first-born. Paige appeared healthy, but there were some signs that something might be awry. She struggled to breathe on her back, had muffled breathing when held upright and didn’t appear to latch properly when breast feeding. Two days after discharge, Paige was jaundiced and we took her back to the hospital. We were not prepared for the news we heard. Paige was diagnosed with Pierre Robin Syndrome and a cleft palate. Neither of us were aware of the prognosis, but a new realization hit us—nutrition for Paige would be a challenge.
The condition would require us to use special feeding bottles for a year as we waited for the surgery that she needed to be able to eat and babble like every other baby. We struggled through an entire year of pumping breast milk, filling prescriptions and managing endless hospital appointments. When the surgery date finally came, the procedure was four hours long. I clearly remember waiting outside the operating room, pacing with my wife as we tried to keep our minds from wondering off to the worst-case scenario. In the days that followed the surgery, Paige required braces on her arms to stop her from touching the stitches in her mouth. Nutrition was again a challenge until her mouth fully healed.
What helped us get through the ordeal was the support of the entire multidisciplinary team at SickKids. Not only did they provide the surgical and feeding expertise that brought Paige back to health, but their follow-up care was also amazing. Our tenacious daughter navigated four years of speech therapy and made a full recovery. Today she’s a ferocious reader, an animated storyteller, and a Raptor’s fan. You’d never know the stresses of that first year. But we remember and we will be forever grateful for the fantastic care we received at SickKids.
Hartleigh Grace
Hartleigh was a thriving seven-year-old in May 2018. She loved playing with her friends, did well in school, and had an extremely unique and spunky outlook on life. Normally, she was packed with energy, but that May she started to feel nauseous and had a headache. We kept a close eye on her, but her nausea increased and she was developing a sensitivity to light. We were still hoping it was just a stomach bug when we took her in for a second time to the emergency department at SickKids. The next day I was taking Paige to gymnastics when I received a call from Susan that Hartleigh had had a massive seizure. Code Blue!
When I arrived at the hospital that day, I saw a different girl. Hartleigh had been placed into a medically-induced coma. She looked so small lying on the hospital bed compared to the medical equipment surrounding her. Our family felt helpless as we sat with each other and hovered close to her bedside. She remained in ICU for four days, and in the hospital for ten. It took a while but she was eventually diagnosed with Post-Viral Encephalitis. Hartleigh had to learn how to walk again after she left the ICU, and we had to take it day-by-day hoping that her progress would continue. While she was doing new things each day, the mental and emotional struggles were real as there were changes in her personality and she struggled with math for a year once she returned to school. As her parents, we were there all the way, but at times it felt like we might not get back the Hartleigh we knew.
Again, it was the entire team at SickKids that helped us through, from the quick thinking ICU doctors who saved her life, to the dedicated post-recovery teams who helped and encouraged our precious Hartleigh as she braved two years of recovery. Today, the girl I tuck in to bed at nights doesn’t look anything like that sick child she was—she’s a leader among her peers, a skilled swimmer, and a reader grade levels above her own. But we remember and we are so grateful for her care.
