A mum has revealed her one-year-old daughter was diagnosed with dementia after initially taking her to the doctor to check her limp.
A one-year-old girl was diagnosed with dementia PHOTO Shutterstock
Abbe Baker first noticed the limp while playing with Bella in a park near their home in Gympie, north-east of the Sunshine Coast, on June 25.
Abbe and her husband Joshua took the little girl to Gympie Hospital for X-rays, which showed no sign of a fracture or sprain.
Doctors urged them to take Bella to Sunshine Coast University Hospital for further tests, but were warned they probably wouldn’t make it to the ER until the next day.
The parents decided to keep her home overnight and see how she felt in the morning, only to find Bella in a much worse condition.
He had become increasingly limp and began to lose strength on the left side of his body, while having periodic and painful muscle spasms.
The Bakers rushed Bella to Sunshine Coast Hospital, where neurologists quickly admitted her to the ward to monitor her for the next 24 hours.
They believed that the baby was suffering from a viral infection affecting his nervous system and that he would recover soon, but his health continued to deteriorate.
Bella underwent MRIs, blood tests, a lumbar puncture, and genetic and metabolic tests at the hospital to try to find out what was causing her stroke-like symptoms.
None of the tests came back positive, while Bella’s strength continued to decline and she was forced to eat through a feeding tube, which Mrs Baker said was “horrible“.
Within two weeks, the child lost her ability to speak and became a shell of her former self.
“She was a very intelligent little girl, saying five-word sentences at the age of oneMs Baker told Daily Mail Australia.
They thought he might have Segawa syndrome – a rare neurotransmitter disease that causes dopamine levels to drop – and enlisted the help of a family in Western Australia whose child suffered from the condition.
They put her in touch with a local doctor who specializes in the field, and the family was able to travel across the country to see her with the help of Mr. Baker’s parents.
The doctor immediately told them that Bella did not have Segawa syndrome, but that she most likely had one of the more than 100 conditions that cause childhood dementia.
“The doctor said he definitely has a regressive neurological disorder, which is basically another term for dementia,” said Ms. Baker.
With a narrower range of tests, Bella underwent another round of intensive tests to determine what type of dementia she has.
The results will be presented in November, and parents will face the daunting task of exploring palliative care options.
The sudden appearance of this serious disease of “completely changed” the life of the young family.
“We’re going to have to think about selling our house and moving back to the Sunshine Coast to be closer to the hospital because every time she gets sick she collapses so quickly”said Ms. Baker.
The heartbroken mother said she is in a “hell” and that he got used to his daughter’s affections.
“The fact that we had to become desensitized to our child’s pain is just appalling,” said Ms. Baker.
“Blood tests used to make me cry for her, but now I’m so immune to them because she’s in pain 24/7. It’s non-stop”the woman said.
A GoFundMe fundraiser has been launched to support the Baker family in their battle for Bella’s health, raising more than $13,000 in less than a week.
