About Collin
Collin Doughty was born November 2006. We knew before he was born that he would be a special little boy that may have struggles throughout his life. During our pregnancy we found out early on that he would be born with a neural tube defect called Spina Bifida, and a very rare genetic disorder called Tetrasomy 18p (see links page). We spent a lot of time researching, preparing, and praying for what would happen when he was born. There was many discussions of whether Collin would make it to term, and if he would even be able to survive when he was born. The one thing we knew was that if he would made it to term, he would require immediate surgery to repair his Spina Bifida.
An amazing and miraculous thing happened when Collin came into this world. All the concerns and issues that we had talked about being potential problems for Collin were almost nonexistent. He underwent surgery on his back for his Spina Bifida within 24 hours of birth, and only spent 10 days in the hospital before going home. This was the best possible scenario we could have ever asked for. He basically told all the doctors that no matter what they thought, he was going to stick around, and prove them all wrong about what they expected from him.
The following four years have involved some of the expected developmental delays that coincide with a genetic disorder and with Spina Bifida. These include physical delays, like walking, and mental delays, like talking. However, he has also shown us that although these things are delayed, they aren't unattainable. He was getting closer and closer to walking and talking, but just on his own time frame. We often compare him to a turtle that likes to take things really slow. He may not be speedy like the Hare, but eventually he will get there, like the Tortoise. Although he is slow and struggles with certain things, he has always been very healthy.
He also has a joy of life and a sparkle in his spirit that you just can't ignore. His laugh is absolutely contagious, even at the age of 9 months with ripping paper, or at the age of 3 years when Dad is falling down in the snow (see laughing videos). His determination is an amazing thing. Once he gets an idea in his head of what he wants, you can't get it out (especially when it comes to playing in any form of water: see Hawaii sand scooting video and 2009 Alaska and Hawaii pics).
At the end of January 2011 things changed dramatically for Collin. We checked on him at 10:30pm on a Monday night before planning on going to bed ourselves. We found him having a seizure for the first time in his life and when the medics arrived at our house 5-10 minutes later he had a temperature of 106.5 degrees Fahrenheit. He was immediately rushed to the hospital. The seizure lasted for approximately an hour from the time we found him to the time we finally got it to stop. The days and weeks following included discussions of his body going into shock, liver failure, kidney failure, brain damage due to lack of oxygen, and several other rare issues that had never been a problem previously. The amazing thing is that through the love, support, prayer of his family and friends, and hard work of doctors and nurses he surpassed all the odds. Once again Collin showed us and all the doctors that he could surpass and handle what was happening to him. His body just needed time, patience, and a lot of assistance in the form of medicine, love, and prayer.
We could have never guessed that we would be spending over 2 months in the hospital fighting for Collin's life. Collin has never made anything easy, but he has always persevered and been our little miracle boy. He is still and will always be that. Time and time again he has proven to us that miracles do happen. That when the doctors think that he won't survive, he proves them wrong. He baffles us and the doctors everyday of his life. We don't know what the future holds for Collin, but we hope and pray that his brain recovers at least a little bit from whatever happened in the past couple months. All we know is that he has made it this far, and we are going to do all that we can to help him get even farther.
This is nice for updates. We'll see how it looks for updates.