Kaela Says Goodbye To Her Pre-School Class

Kaela is truly blessed to have so many wonderful people in her life making her upcoming trip to Delaware for surgery a little easier to bare. Kaela’s last day of pre-school was last week and she got to say goodbye to all of her classmates. Her teachers had said that they were planning a surprise for her but we had no idea that there would be such a large out-pouring of support. Kaela received a stuffed teddy bear from her teachers along with a scrap book with pictures of all her classmates. The parents of kids in the class also sent lots of goodies in for Kaela on her last day. She will now have tons of stuff to keep her mind preoccupied on the trip to Delaware and during her long stay there. Sarah and I are so grateful for the generosity that people have shown.

Dear God, GIVE KAELA A BREAK!

We noticed some strange puffiness around Kaela’s private area in recent weeks and decided to take her in to see the doctor today. It turns out she has a hernia and needs surgery to fix it. The first time we noticed this was a few weeks ago but it seemed to disappear so we thought maybe we were just imagining things or that it was just the way she was sitting. Her pediatrician confirmed it though and we are now waiting for a surgery date. Poor K already has so many surgeries ahead of her that we were a little dumbfounded that this came up. Fortunately she is not in any pain right now though the doctors said if she complains of pain in the area to bring her into the emergency room immediately. Sometimes I feel like Kaela has to carry all the health problems in our family on her tiny little back.

October Is National Dwarfism Awareness Month!

Its October 1 and for those of you that didn’t know, today is the start of National Dwarfism Awareness month. Awareness of the many forms of dwarfism was reserved for October by the LPA (Little People of America). This is an annual chance to promote education and awareness of dwarfism which is often misunderstood. We would love to take this opportunity in honor of our daughter Kaela and the many people who are touched by dwarfism to talk about some interesting facts.

• 80% of people born with dwarfism have parents, brothers and sisters of average height.
• In 2009, the word “midget” was declared offensive. Alternative terms and phrases to describe a person with dwarfism are: having dwarfism, little person, LP, short stature or the medical terminology of the person’s type of dwarfism. Of course these terms and phrases are less preferable to just using a person’s name.
• There are over 200 forms of dwarfism with the most common form being achondroplasia.
• There are about 681,000 people worldwide living with some type of dwarfism.
• The official organization that represents people with Dwarfism is the LPA which has 6500 members belonging to one of 70 active chapters in the United States.

For more information about dwarfism and National Dwarfism Awareness Month visit the LPA website.