Saggital Synostosis - 5 Years Later

Five years ago this week my daughter, Kate, had surgery to correct the shape of her head. She was six month old. She was born with a condition called saggital synostosis, a condition where the bones in her head were fused together. Had we done nothing, her head would have continued to grow with a serious deformity. The cure was invasive surgery in which they removed over one quarter of the top skull.

We were fortunate, through our network of contacts, we found the doctors at Children's Hospital of San Diego, who are amongst the best in the world. Kate has made a full recovery. She has blossomed into a phenomenal young girl, and has no memory of the ordeal. Her mother and I will never forget.

Each year until she is grown we must go to San Diego for a check up. We fly 2000 miles to see her pediatric neuro-surgeon and her pediatric plastic surgeon - - - hoping to hear the words "she looks great, we will see you next year". That is what they said!!! (I am always a bit nervous before these check ups!). She looks great, and will hopefully never have any more problems.

We feel very fortunate as we watch her continue to grow up with no side effects. As I wrote about in this blog earlier in the year, my family has made a pledge to donate a percentage of the money that I earn from speaking to corporations about the topic of networking and the power of business relationships to charity. It is our small way of giving something back.

In that regard, we have started "The Kate Singer Endowment For Cranio-Facial Surgery" through the Children's Medical Center Foundation of Central Texas. Earlier this year the new Dell Children's Medical Center opened in Austin, Texas. They have hired top-tier doctors (not the doctors we had in California, but great ones just the same) who specialize in the conditions like we faced five years ago. Hopefully our small donation will help them excel in their research to benefit others whose children face this challenge. We chose the hospital in Austin because this is our home town, and we wanted to support the local community.

If you would like to make a donation, send it directly to:

Children's Medical Center Foundation of Central Texas

4900 Mueller Blvd

Austin, TX 78723

Note in the memo section of your check: "Kate Singer Endowment for Cranio-Facial Surgery".

Have A Great Day.

thom
http://www.thomsinger.com/

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