Brody’s Story
Brody was born happy and healthy in February 2008. For the first week, he was great- a great eater, great sleeper and a very happy baby. Then, when he was seven days old, we got a call from his pediatrician telling us to bring him in to the Emergency Room- that he had failed a newborn screening test. The doctor who checked him out there said that there was no way he could have Classic Galactosemia because he was growing and eating well and he was not fussy. They ran some tests, including his liver levels, and sent us home, telling us to continue breastfeeding as before.
Four hours later, we got a call back that his liver was on the brink of failure. Seven days, three hospitals, one blood transfusion and many collapsed veins later, we were able to bring him home again.
At 13 months, Brody went into speech therapy and continued until he aged out at three. He is now four and a half and doing very well. He knows what he can and can’t eat and is very good about eating correctly and not getting upset that he can’t eat what everyone else is. We bring his own treats to birthday parties, have found a place that can serve pizza that he can eat, and always make sure he has non-dairy ice cream around, so he doesn’t feel left out. At home, we all eat his meals and though we teach him everyday about his diet, we try not to make it an issue.