Pages

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Where it started for us...

Since I still haven't managed to get my backside in gear to finish the blog about Caitlin's experiences over the last few weeks with assesments from Early Start, I thought I'd repost for y'all the blog I posted to MySpace a week after Caitlin's diagnosis, long before I knew any of you all. I swear I'll have the other one up soon! Yes, Jaime, I know you beat me... it'll be there soon! LOL

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday, November 12, 2007

My daughter, the little person!
Current mood: happy
Category: Life

So for those of you who don't know yet, which is probably most of you, Cherylle and I discovered last week that Caitlin has Achondroplasia, or "dwarfism" in English. Achondroplasia is the most common form of dwarfism, anyway, and accounts for over 70% of cases. It's still pretty rare, though, and only occurs in one out of every 25,000 births or so. One author I read recently, in a book he wrote about his daughter with the same condition, likened it to Ed McMahon showing up on your doorstep with a check.

What this means, realistically, is that she likely won't ever be taller than 4 feet, and will have different proportions than the kids around her.

That's it.

Sure, that's enough for most people. Looking different than everybody around you is often enough for any kid to deal with growing up, especially in junior high. Not being able to see over the counter at the bank kinda sucks, too. Still, considering all the disabilities that Cherylle sees every day in her job with Easter Seals, that ain't that bad. There are no serious health risks associated with achondroplasia; no shortened lifespan or lower IQ come along with it. In fact, people with dwarfism have a slightly higher IQ on average than the rest of society.

So, all in all, that ain't bad. If any of y'all have any questions, please let me know - while I'm still far from being an expert, I've already read enough that the National Geographic channel's special on dwarfism the other night was old news, and I'd be glad to help out. And if you know of anybody that's affected by dwarfism, or has a little person in the family, please feel free to point them in my direction.

Till next time!

Currently listening :
The Real Thing
By Faith No More
Release date: 15 June, 1989

5 comments:

Alex said...

looks like you handled it really well! Much better than I did. She is very lucky to have a father like you. The pride and love you have for her wil help her get through the challenges she might have to face in te future. :) Our kids will be strong, I know that!

Juliane and Lukas said...

I agree that you seem to have the perfect attitude to raise your daughter, and that is a great asset for her as she grows up. Our son Lukas (born Feb.2007) also has achondroplasia, and we are also very proud of him and pretty sure that the phyiscal aspect is the only thing to set him apart from everybody else. Though I have read up a lot, I was unaware of the higher IQ issue - good to know :-).

Jaime said...

I'm not holding anything against you for not getting the assessment blog up and going. :) Caitlin is so lucky to have you and Cherylle as her parents. As for the IQ fact, my Caitlyn just proved it in her assessment, more to come in my own blog about all of that.

Charlene said...

Hi Mike & Cherylle,

Just stopping by to see if there have been any new updates.

As for the IQ thing-
Time will tell. : )
I never knew that about people with dwarfism either. Pretty cool!

Btw, I just found out that a lot of my friends from High school have started blogs so I decide I might as well graduate to the blogging world too!
Feel free to check it out:

http://thelifeandtimesofcharlene.blogspot.com/

Unknown said...

You are so blessed to have Caitlin and she is just as blessed to have such caring and loving parents who accept her the way she is. I know so many parents aren't that supportive and only look at the negative.