Meet Owen

Owen was born hypotonic after a normal pregnancy and delivery. He continued to develop normally until age 4 months when he stopped developing in every way a baby his age would develop. The pediatrican was hesitant to diagnose him and instead opted to wait to see if his condition improved. It did not and by 8 months old he was clearly delayed. He could not smile, hold his head up, sit, roll, and he did not appear to be much aware of his surroundings. I, as his mother, pressed for a Lyme Disease test for him and the whole family as I had been bitten by a Lyme-infested tick as a 17 year old but was later told that there was a chance that this illness could become chronic and could be passed on to one's children. All 6 of us in our family's blood results were positive for the Lyme bacteria. Owen then had a brain MRI performed at 11 months which showed neuromigrational disorder and moderate brain malformation. He was then diagnosed with Lissencephaly, Lyme Disease secondary, but probably the cause of his neurological illness, in utero as an infection. Lissencephaly means "smooth brain" and clinically means seizures, shortened lifespan, breathing problems, and general development not passed 2-3 month old. Owen has done so much more than the MDs thought he would ever do. Owen has since been on antibiotics and has made much improvement, he can sit up, roll over, and is very interactive and responsive to others and his environment, giggling, holding objects, attempting to feed himself, enjoying his baby einstein videos, cooing. The brain malformation is permanent but with proper physical therapy and Lyme Disease treatment, his prognosis for working around his brain impairments are fairly good. He is now 18 months old and is functioning at a 10 month old level.