Lily’s big sister, Makenna loved her before she was even born. She was actually the one who chose Lily’s name. Their bond only grew stronger when Lily was born with a rare chromosomal abnormality requiring specialized treatment and extra help at home.
“Even though Lily is different than Makenna and her brother, Ethan, they just see her as their sister,” says mom, Danielle. “They’ve helped Lily learn sign language and practice pronouncing words.”
Lily’s entire family has been involved in her care from day one. Makenna, age 11, would regularly tag along to Lily’s physical and occupational therapy sessions. She was keen to learn how she could help take care of her sister. She watched closely as physical therapist Cathy Lopez taught Lily how to move her body, and occupational therapist Lauren Newhouse taught her how to eat solid food (her favorite is avocado).
Seeing the way CHOC’s rehabilitation services team cared for Lily and the progress she made in therapy inspired Makenna to give back.
Makenna’s fundraiser
When Makenna’s school hosted a fair for students to showcase causes important to them, she chose to honor CHOC. She and a few friends watched YouTube videos to learn origami and created dozens of animal and emoji-themed bookmarks. She quickly sold out of them and donated the proceeds to the rehabilitation department at CHOC.
“Raising money for CHOC is the least I can do to thank them for taking such good care of my sister,” Makenna says. “Whenever we are there for an appointment, all the doctors, nurses, therapists and security guards are so nice to us.”
Organizing this fundraiser has inspired Makenna to continue her philanthropic streak.
“It was feels good to do it and it was so easy. It makes me want to do more to raise more money for CHOC,” she says.
Lily’s diagnosis and early days
When Danielle and her husband, David, found out they were expecting their third child, they were thrilled. A few months into Danielle’s pregnancy, a blood test showed that Lily had Turner Syndrome, a genetic condition affecting a female’s growth and fertility. That turned out to be a false positive, but a follow-up amniocentesis correctly diagnosed Lily with Mosaic Trisomy 12, a rare chromosomal abnormality about which not much is known.
Lily was born full-term via C-section at a local hospital. Immediately after birth she had trouble breathing and turned blue, and she was quickly whisked away to that hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
Lily needed a ventilator to help her breathe. She also required use of a CPAP, also known as continuous positive airway pressure, which helped keep her airway open. Danielle pumped her breastmilk so Lily’s care team could nourish her through a feeding tube.
Just outside the hospital, CHOC geneticist Dr. Neda Zadeh was starting to make her way home for the day when she heard about Lily’s condition.
“Dr. Zadeh was on her way out, but she turned around and came back to the hospital to run more tests and get a better idea of what was affecting her,” Danielle recalls. “Dr. Zadeh is amazing.”
In the first few days of Lily’s life, her parents weren’t sure if she would make it or not. When she was 3 days old, she was transferred to CHOC’s NICU for a higher level of care.
Lily spent the next 24 days in the NICU. When she learned how to breathe and eat on her own, she was ready to go home for the first time.
While the family spent much of their daughter’s first month in the hospital, NICU nurses made sure the family didn’t miss out on their first holiday together — Father’s Day. With her nurses’ help, Lily created a special Father’s Day craft for David using her footprints.
These days, Lily sees a mighty brigade of pediatric specialists at CHOC on a regular basis. Although not much is known about her Mosaic Trisomy 12, her care team remains fully committed to ensuring she is safe and healthy. In addition to Dr. Zadeh, Lily is under the care of neurosurgeon Dr. William Loudon, endocrinologist Dr. Timothy Flannery, and otolaryngologist Dr. Nguyen Pham. She also sees a neuro-ophthalmologist at UC Irvine.
Danielle is proud of the progress Lily has made during therapy at CHOC and seeing how that progress sparked Makenna’s giving spirit makes her proud as well.
“Makenna probably doesn’t realize this, but Cathy and Lauren at CHOC really cared for our entire family, not just Lily,” Danielle says. “The entire rehabilitation team at CHOC was incredibly supportive to our entire family. They were the weekly and sometimes daily reminders that we could do it. They impacted our entire family in a way that words simply cannot express. When we look back on Lily’s first years, they are in our memories and always will be!”
