| "IT's A GIRL!" Those three words were the words we had waited to hear from the day we found out I was pregnant. My elation soon turned to concern as I noticed the troubled look on my practioners face as she first turned my newborn from one side to the next. "What is it?" I asked sitting up. Our Doctor looked into my eyes as she explained my daughter had Downs Syndrom charecteristics. I panicked for the next two days until a peditrician sent us home with the assurance that Leigha did not have Downs Syndrome and that her ackward head shape would eventually round out.....If we would have only known then of a condition known as craniosynostosis things would have been less complicated. |
| How it all began |
| My Info: Please email me with any questions |
| Life is full of little miracles |
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| Melanie Harper |
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| Our first surgery was scheduled for March 29, 2001. Much to my disappointment the anestesiaologist called Leigha's surgery a no go all because she had a runny nose. I had spent months bulding up the courage to face that day and I suddenly found myself having to start over by facing another wait. I left the hospital in tears but my friends at CAPPS and the Cranio and Plagio boards at yahoo helped me through this trying time. -That Date was May 1, 2001- |
| SURGERY The morning started pretty early. We had to be at the hospital at 6:30 so that ment getting everyone up and around by no later than 5:40(luckily Children's Mercy Hospital was only a 20 minute drive.) Getting up that early was not a pleasant feat especially after not sleeping well the night before. We got to the hospital a little early but the staff got us in fast. Starving infants are not happy waiting around. Leigha wasn't allowed to eat anything after midnight the night before but she actually was doing real good. They gave her some medicine to relaxe her- I like to call it funny juice- and I was asking for some for myself. We had a few giggles over Leigha as she started to act dopey. My heart was breaking but she still had me laughing. While waiting for things to get underway I heard Dr. Colyer asking where his little girl was, and at that moment I knew Leigha was in good hands. After talking briefly with anestesialologist, the neurosurgeon and Dr. Colyer the nurses were ready and took Leigha from me at 8:30 a.m. I didn't get a call until nearly 9:30a.m. to let me know that they had just started the operation. That was the longest day in my life. The actual surgery lasted about 6 hours but it was a lot longer than that just to see her. Dr. Colyer was real good having checkups called into us about every 45 minutes. The neurologist, Dr. Gall, came and talked to us after his part was done some time after 12:30p.m. Leigha was then being put back together. I breathed a little easier knowing the worst was over. Reconstruction took just about as long as the first half of surgery. Dr. Colyer finished about 3:30p.m. to let us know how things went. Leigha had 2 blood transfusions during surgery but pulled through marvously. Her poor surgeon looked beat and my heart went out to him. Leigha was almost another 2 hours in recovery and those seemed like the longest hours of the day so far. I paced the hallways thinking only one thought... "I JUST WANT TO SEE MY BABY!" |
| HAPPY VALENTINES DAY Leigha was officially diagnosed by Dr. Jeffrey Colyer with bicoronal craniosynostosis on February 14th, 2001. A surgery date of March 29th was set that same day. In a little over a month Leigha would undergo CVR(cranial vault reconstruction) surgery with front orbital advancement. Little did I know then that this devestating event would bring so many blessings into my life. |
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| Some say I was born with a funny shaped head, I like to think it is where God kissed me instead. |
| All images have been used with permission if you know of any of these that violate copyright please let me know and I will pull them |
| LEIGHA's INFO SHEET PRINT ONE OUT This is a Guide to reconizing craniosynostosis and some of the warning signs that can be ignored by peditricians. It is a simple 2 page overview with information of both craniosynostosis and positional plagiocephaly. Please print it out and pass it on to your friends. This is something EVERYONE should know |
| Born July 22, 2000 |
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| Preschool Pic 2005 4 yrs old For more pics go to family picture page |
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