Monica’s HH Journey Monica was our second daughter, born full term on October 2, 2011. We were so excited to have 2 little girls to love! Our first daughter was a content baby and we didn’t expect anything different with our second daughter. But it wasn’t long until we realized something was bothering her. Some…
Logan’s HH Journey Logan was born on August 11th 2014 coming into the world at 7.3 lbs and laughing to the surprise of not only us but the doctors and nurses at delivery. We all thought this was very cute especially hearing of the death of Robin Williams that very same day, so we called…
A Hypothalamic Hamartoma Journey of Discovery The Beginning of Knowledge – Finding the Hypothalamic Hamartoma I entered the world as a work in progress after only 32 weeks. Several personal anatomical anomalies, including extra digits, required correction then and throughout the following years. I reached developmental milestones in my own time but eventually caught…
My partner Martin and I had difficulty getting pregnant; we opted to have IVF. My pregnancy was normal besides having to watch my blood pressure. In week 18 I was diagnosed with placenta praevia marginalis. However, this didn’t cause any further problems. I gave birth to my beautiful, wise boy on the 31st of July…
Becoming an Advocate Let’s start by defining an advocate. An advocate is someone who raises awareness, pushes for change, and makes facts known for those who are not fully being heard. When your loved one is diagnosed with autism, it is essential that you advocate for them to help their voices be heard. In…
Coming to terms with a Rare Disease diagnosis and Autism When you find out that your family is going to be growing by two more hands and two more feet, you start daydreaming about all of the “perfect” memories, right? You start to think about all the peaceful nights, the cuddles, endless love, and…
Parenting from Different Points of View When your child gets diagnosed with both an ultra-rare syndrome and autism, many mixed emotions are bound to arise between you and your child’s loved ones. I want to bring your attention to this because I feel as though it’s not talked about enough. When my son was…
Overlapping Characteristics of Hypothalamic Hamartoma Syndrome and Autism Spectrum Disorder When considering if an individual has an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in addition to HH, there may be some (or a lot of) overlap, and it is very possible to have both of these conditions. The art of diagnosing ASD comes from a trained professional…
Differential Diagnosis for those with Hypothalamic Hamartoma Syndrome and autistic characteristics When observing suspected autism characteristics, how does one know, “Is this neurological from the seizures? Or is this autism?” Both autism and HH are spectrum disorders and naturally, there may be a great amount of overlap. For example, both autism and HH may…
First Signs of Autism Spectrum Disorder in an Individual with a Hypothalamic Hamartoma I’ve written and shared my son Brett’s HH story, but his most recent diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, given just a week before the age of two, is its own story. Before sharing the story of his diagnosis, you’d likely be…
My husband and I found out that we were pregnant with a baby boy and were ecstatic! There were no complications in my pregnancy besides that our baby boy Jaxon was frank breech, so we had an ultrasound at 35 weeks pregnant to determine if I could deliver naturally or would need a c-section. At…
Rare Syndromes That May Occur With Hypothalamic Hamartoma Syndrome A syndrome is defined by a large group of symptoms and/or other conditions that consistently occur together. Hypothalamic Hamartomas have become known as a rare syndrome, based on consistent comorbidities (symptoms and/or syndromes that consistently occur together) of epilepsy, endocrine dysfunction, as well as cognitive…
