Now that you've met Camden, lets look a little closer at how Hirschsprungs has affected her specifically. This disease affects each newborn child differently. We will share photos and videos of our journey. Please keep in mind, some of the photos and videos here can be difficult for people to see. Click the arrows on the photo to see how this all began.
As stated previously, Total Colonic Aganglionosis is a relatively uncommon form of Hirschsprung's disease. Of the 1 in 5,000 births world wide affected by HD, this form occurs in approximately 2-13 % of cases. It involves the entire colon which is aganglionic but may extend into varying lengths of small bowel. This is true for Camden. Camden had no ganglion nerve cells in her colon (large intestine) in addition to the first 45 cm of her small intestine (at birth). This disease affects males more so then females. Camden represents one in 50 girls born each year in the United States with this exact diagnosis.
The whole family together
Looking over Camden after surgery.
During Camden's two month stay in the hospital, Andrew helped pass the time by making music slide shows. Sorry for the poor quality but the words are beautiful.
After nearly two months, Camden was finally coming home. Check out how excited she was.
This next video was extremely difficult to make. When we first came home from the hospital, many thought Camden was "fixed", or at least "better". What most people didn't know, was what happened at home each and every night for the first 15 months. Because Hirschsprungs Disease is not a "visible" disease, people tend to forget about the daily struggles. Please know this video contains graphic imagery and also disturbing sounds of Camden crying in pain. I felt it necessary to include her crying because it had a profound impact on our entire family.