Meet Layla
Layla loves going to the playground, programs at the library, going to school with her friends and playing with her twin sister, Laura. After a cerebral palsy diagnosis and multiple hospital admissions, Layla’s family is grateful to have the Stollery right in their backyard.
When Layla was about four months old, her parents noticed she was fussier than her sister, and she was having a strange “startle reflex”. Layla was referred to a neurologist, but ended up going to the Emergency department at the Stollery Children’s Hospital where she had an EEG to scan her brainwaves. The neurologist on-call diagnosed her with infantile spasms, a rare seizure disorder.
While Layla was admitted to the Stollery where she had an MRI, bloodwork, genetic testing and swallowing studies to further understand her condition, her identical twin Laura had no medical concerns. Layla started taking medication to help control her seizures. The medication was helping to reduce the frequency of her seizures, but they were still happening every day. Layla’s neurology team worked hard to find the right medication to control her seizures. By the time she was six months old, Layla’s seizures were under control.
Further testing and investigation continued to understand why Layla was having medical concerns, but her identical twin sister was not. When the twins were two and a half years old, it was discovered that at a very early gestation age, Layla had brain damage that led to cerebral palsy and caused the infantile spasms she experienced as a newborn.
Thanks to the experts at the Stollery, Layla’s family has been able to discover, treat and manage her multiple medical conditions. Layla is a medically complex kid who will need ongoing access to the world-class care only the Stollery can offer.