He has a big, heartwarming smile. He has a full mop of adorable curly blond hair. He has chunky cheeks and beautiful hazel eyes. He is Ian Abercrombie. Ian entered the world March 19, 2010.Ian kept his parents and the doctors busy from the beginning! When he was born, he stayed in the NICU with Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension and had to be intubated. Ian had a brain bleed and a very large head size which prompted an MRI. Through the MRI, his family found out he had bilateral perisylvian polymicrogyria. Along with PMG and Pulmonary Hypertension , Ian has also been diagnosed with hydrocephalus, Megalencephaly Capillary Malformation (M-CM), dilated vessels of the heart and strabismus.
Ian came home from the hospital when he was 8 ½ weeks old. He immediately began occupational and physical therapy. When he was 16 months old, his mom, Shari, was able to add speech to his therapy line-up.
Ian sees an Osteopath for Cranial Sacral Therapy. He also sees a homeopathic doctor for homeopathic remedies. A nutritionist helps his family decide what are the best nutritional supplements are best for his development. Shari is in the process of switching to a Functional Medicine doctor to help with his nutrition.
Ian and his family have had a rough road the past 27 months. They’ve had many hospital stays and many doctor visits. They see doctors at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles as well as at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles. He has a g-tube due to feeding difficulties before leaving the NICU and a shunt due to a brain bleed and fluid buildup. Ian’s pulmonary issues continue to cause his parents great concern and will for a while.
With all the doctor’s visits and therapies, Ian is doing amazing. He is making steady progress and is developmentally about a year behind his peers. He crawls everywhere and climbs up on everything. Shari says he has been cruising for 6 months and it seems as if he’s just on the verge of walking. He has had some words and lost them – Momma and Dadda have come and gone but Ian is still able to communicate with his family in his own way. He has strong fine motor skills and has always been a strength for Ian. Now Ian’s g-tube is used for medication only. His feeding issues have been resolved.
Ian has a typically developing big sister who is 5. As with many families with a special needs child, the Abercrombie’s try to balance their time between Ian’s therapies and doctor’s appointments and making sure they give his big sister the love, time and attention she needs and deserves, too. Shari says, “So far (knock on wood) she is still in love with him and he with her!”
When Ian came into the world, the doctors told the Abercrombie’s that his outlook was bleak. It has been a rough couple of years for Ian and his family and they’re not out of the woods yet – especially due to his pulmonary issues. But as they’ve worked through it all, Ian’s mom wants other families to have hope. With all he’s been through, Ian is strong and happy and doing great! Shari says, “Ian is a generally happy guy. He’s the sweetest love of both or our families’ lives. We all adore him and he brings so much joy to us every day. His smile brightens the day of anyone he meets. We are so fortunate to have him in our lives and for medical technology to have come so far to allow him to be saved at birth.”
