Golden-Har Syndrome
My beautiful son, Joseph Caleb Brady was born on a beautiful day in September in the year 1999. The 2nd day of the month, in fact. It is a day I will never forget. His father was actually in Bradford for drug rehab and I was there for the family weekend when to my surprise, my water broke, at 38 weeks. I was terrified. Being from Montgomery, I was 80 plus miles from home and on top of that, my water, when it broke was discolored. Come to find out, my little man had a bowel movement inside of me. Well, I was rushed to Baptist Montclair in the back of an ambulance. Not fun being big around as a barrel and lying on this stretcher that is maybe 3 feet wide. Well, after arriving at the hospital at 8 am and laboring all day and not dilating anymore than 3 centimeters, the doctor decided to do a cesarean section to take my baby boy out. So, a little after 6pm our first born was here, weighing in at 6 lbs, 12 ounces. Well, my husband, Chris Brady got to carry him out for the family to see before getting to carry him to the NICU since he had to be monitored due to the bowel movement. Well, his mom noticed his left ear being folded over (due to the golden-har) and told Chris to unfold his ear and Chris said you can’t, there is something wrong with him but he is going to be ok. Well, I finally got to meet my beautiful bundle of joy at 10 pm. I was so sad. I wanted to meet this precious baby I had been carrying inside me for 9 months now. So, the nurses had to push me to the NICU, stretcher and all. The doctor is there telling me EVERYTHING that is wrong with my baby. Golden-Har? What is that? It means the asymmetry of his face is 'off'. He had cleft lip, cleft palate, malformed left ear, malformed left jaw bone, shallow left eye socket, and torticollis. Also his ribs on the left side were fused together. Wow, a lot to take in. The doctor asked me if I had any questions and I said, "yes, when can I hold my baby?" I loved him no matter what the doctor said, or how different he might have looked. He was my son and nothing was going to make me love him any less. Well, we finally got to meet Dr. Grant, his awesome plastic surgeon in October of 1999. And he had his first surgery at 6 weeks old to repair his cleft lip. By the time it was time to be operated on, we had gotten so used to it, it was so cute and it was him. But, we wanted to give our son all the opportunities he could have so, we put our faith in Dr. Grant and he has not let us down yet. Caleb just turned 9 years old and is the joy of everyone's life that he comes in contact with. He is such an inspiration to me and so many others. He is a straight A student, in the 3rd grade and loves sports. He is a huge Auburn fan. He is very active, doesn’t let anything slow him down. His father passed away in September of 2005 so, it has been hard on the whole family. But, I know Caleb is a ray of light for me everyday. He knows when mom is having a bad day and will give me hug and tell me everything is going to be ok. I love my Caleb and we love Children's Hospital for everything they are doing and will continue to do for us. Children' Hospital is such a blessing to our family. My baby was born with Golden-Har Syndrome on September 2, 1999. And we had our first appointment with Dr. John Grant in craniofacial Team in October of 1999. My baby had his first surgery when he was just 6 weeks old to repair the cleft lip. One that I had gotten so used to when he smiled, the way it split. Then, 4 months later at 10 months old, he had his palate repaired. These 2 surgeries made such a huge difference in his eating and he really started putting on the weight and looking healthy. We have had many tubes in the ears. Hearing tests due to the malformed left ear. We have had baha surgery several times. We have just in the last year opened up that malformed ear and it looks wonderful. Dr. Grant is a true artist of a doctor. He is so talented and so compassionate. I would not trust anyone else with my son. We are blessed in the fact too that my son has no internal or mental delays. Thank God for that. I am a firm believer in that God is never going to give anyone, anymore than they can handle, ever. And I know that Children's was put here on this earth to help our precious babies out. And that helps us out. Everyone in the whole hospital is so nice and caring. I have never had a bad experience at Children's. When they say where children are the center of our lives, they truly mean it and you can see it in their every action and thought and words. I can not say enough good things about Children's. They have truly been a blessing to my son and family. And I am proud to say we are affiliated with them and my son IS a child of Children's
