Zoe's Journey with Microcephaly
"Life is not a matter of milestones, but of moments"-Rose F. Kennedy
Welcome to Zoe's website. Zoe was born on Sunday March 25, 2007 at 5:25pm. Our perfect angel weighed 6lbs 6.5oz, 18.5in long and was perfect in every way imaginable. Over time, things began to change in Zoe's personality and development. Our worst fear was autism, so we began feverishly researching and learning all we could, trying to anticipate such a diagnosis. However, we were very unprepared for her diagnosis.
On June 25, 2009, Zoe had an assessment done for autism. The pediatrician ruled it out quickly, but went over documents from her past visits with him. He proceeded to measure her head, our son, Isaiah's head, and our heads as well. As it turned out, Zoe's head was half a centimetre smaller than her then 6 month old brother, Isaiah's. Her head circumference, as of July 6, 2010 is 44cm, which falls into the 0.1% percentile, or approximately -3.5 standard deviations for her height and weight of girls her age. She was diagnosed with microcephaly.
On December 16th, 2009, Zoe had a test done called flourescence in situ hybridization (or FISH) to look for a rare chromosome deletion called 22q13 or Phelan-McDermid Syndrome. The test took eight weeks and finally came back on February 8, 2010. The FISH test showed that Zoe did have the chromosome deletion, 22q13.3. Then in April, we saw her pediatrician who said the test came back negative. According to the report, the lab accidentally tested her for 22q.11 deletion, DiGeorge Syndrome. A repeat test for 22q13 deletion was performed the same day, which 3 weeks later revealed a negative result. After a phone call placed to the lab, it was admitted the lab accidentally performed a regular blood test rather than the FISH test. We are as yet unsure what has caused of her Microcephaly, as we are still waiting for her metabolic tests to come back. Please watch for updates soon.
On June 25, 2009, Zoe had an assessment done for autism. The pediatrician ruled it out quickly, but went over documents from her past visits with him. He proceeded to measure her head, our son, Isaiah's head, and our heads as well. As it turned out, Zoe's head was half a centimetre smaller than her then 6 month old brother, Isaiah's. Her head circumference, as of July 6, 2010 is 44cm, which falls into the 0.1% percentile, or approximately -3.5 standard deviations for her height and weight of girls her age. She was diagnosed with microcephaly.
On December 16th, 2009, Zoe had a test done called flourescence in situ hybridization (or FISH) to look for a rare chromosome deletion called 22q13 or Phelan-McDermid Syndrome. The test took eight weeks and finally came back on February 8, 2010. The FISH test showed that Zoe did have the chromosome deletion, 22q13.3. Then in April, we saw her pediatrician who said the test came back negative. According to the report, the lab accidentally tested her for 22q.11 deletion, DiGeorge Syndrome. A repeat test for 22q13 deletion was performed the same day, which 3 weeks later revealed a negative result. After a phone call placed to the lab, it was admitted the lab accidentally performed a regular blood test rather than the FISH test. We are as yet unsure what has caused of her Microcephaly, as we are still waiting for her metabolic tests to come back. Please watch for updates soon.