Zoe Jane Elizabeth Duggan
Zoe Jane Elizabeth Duggan was born December 9th 2009, weighing in at 7 pounds 6 ounces. After months and months of waiting she was finally here, and she was perfect! We were so thrilled to be first time parents and Zoe was such a good baby. We felt so truly blessed. Zoe reached all her milestones on time up until her first birthday when we started to become puzzled that Zoe wasn't pulling to stand like the rest of the children her age. Taking her to doctors became top priority and after hearing again and again that she was a "lazy baby", we knew something just wasn't right. Finally after 6 months of questioning, researching, arguing with secretaries, and a lot of tears, we were finally given Zoe's diagnosis on May 31st, 2011, at the age of 17 months, that she had something called Spinal Muscular Atrophy.
I'll never forget that ride home from the hospital that day. Our little girl had this devastating condition and there was nothing we could do, and no cure. Only grief. It was still so hard to believe that our perfect baby girl's muscles were slowly wasting away.
It was not right away that we started looking on the Internet, but when we decided we wanted to, it didn't take long before we stumbled upon Families of SMA Canada and the Rebecca Run , and we quickly signed up and decided to dive in head first and meet with and talk with real people dealing with SMA just like us. It's through these people we've met and through Families of SMA that we've learned the most about SMA, the good and the bad. I kept hearing about how we're now part of a club that nobody wants to be a part of, and no truer words were ever spoken, but I'm really glad they're there.
Zoe will be 3 years old this December, and we are so proud of our little girl. She attends part time daycare and is making lots of friends. She is learning so much so fast and she really is a bright child. She makes us laugh every day with her amazing sense of humor, and she loves to laugh and sing and play, and just loves her life. She has been so inspiring to us and she truly still is our perfect baby girl.
-Mandy, Matt and Zoe
2016 Update
I'll never forget that ride home from the hospital that day. Our little girl had this devastating condition and there was nothing we could do, and no cure. Only grief. It was still so hard to believe that our perfect baby girl's muscles were slowly wasting away.
It was not right away that we started looking on the Internet, but when we decided we wanted to, it didn't take long before we stumbled upon Families of SMA Canada and the Rebecca Run , and we quickly signed up and decided to dive in head first and meet with and talk with real people dealing with SMA just like us. It's through these people we've met and through Families of SMA that we've learned the most about SMA, the good and the bad. I kept hearing about how we're now part of a club that nobody wants to be a part of, and no truer words were ever spoken, but I'm really glad they're there.
Zoe will be 3 years old this December, and we are so proud of our little girl. She attends part time daycare and is making lots of friends. She is learning so much so fast and she really is a bright child. She makes us laugh every day with her amazing sense of humor, and she loves to laugh and sing and play, and just loves her life. She has been so inspiring to us and she truly still is our perfect baby girl.
-Mandy, Matt and Zoe
2016 Update
