Wednesday, 14 July 2010

Downs Syndrome.

Boy with Down Syndrome assembling a book case.Image via Wikipedia
Children with Downs Syndrome are far more likely to have Pulmonary Hypertension than other children.When I was a baby I was suspected of having downs syndrome.In those days which is over fifty years ago now there were no tests and you were monitored during your early life to see if you showed traces of downs or if your development was not what it should be. I spent the first year of my life attending the childrens hospital Great Ormond Street but they did decide after a year that I did not have downs.
I was not told about this until I was an adult and then I was told alone by my mother and told not to say anything to my dad. I still do not know to this day if my father even knew the full story.In those days attitudes were different and disabled people were treated differentely and people often viewed it as something to be ashamed of if you had a disabled child. Crazy and wrong I know but we always  have to try to understand that times were different then.
I have always felt a strange bond with downs sufferers even before I was told about events when I was a baby. I find it strange  to be suffereing from something now that I may well have been born with if life had been a bit different as a baby.
I told my doctor about this and he said that although I don`t have downs I may have some sort of mysterious syndrome or a genetic fault that may have been caused by the fact my parents were first cousins.
Its strange the way life can work out sometimes!
Enhanced by Zemanta

No comments:

Post a Comment