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Serving to Better-Connect Communities in New Brunswick’s Upper St. John River Valley
Volume 3 Issue 4
RIVER VALLEY SUN April 15 to May 15, 2021
FREE ONLINE @ www.rivervalleysun.ca
HELPING BABY ZANDER GET ON HIS FEET Friends seeking financial, emotional, moral support for Woodstock family BY JIM DUMVILLE
I
t’s Wednesday. Another trip to the IWK hospital in Halifax and back home to Woodstock. Another day of fatigue and wondering when the trips can stop, and the situation improves. But, Wednesdays are just another day of pain and discomfort for eight-month-old Zander and another day of stress and worry for his Mom and Dad, Kishawna Pollard and Matthew Laskey. Zander’s pain and his parents’ stress became the daily norm since the baby’s birth on June 24, 2020. Zander was born with bilateral club feet. At least that was the immediate diagnosis. His treatment took several twists and turns since Zander spent the first five days of his life in the natal intensive care unit at Dr. Everett Chalmers Hospital in Fredericton. Zander was only two weeks old when doctors placed the first casts on his tiny legs and feet. Over the past eight months, the Woodstock parents of four, including Zander and another on the way, shouldered the financial and emotional burden as their baby’s treatment showed progress, then fell back. Kishawna described diagnosis and treatment to date as “hit and miss.” She said obstacles and
relapses often intervened to hinder Zander’s progress. Meanwhile, the loving parents’ stress levels and financial burdens continue to climb. Erica Arbeau watched her friends face the daily burdens and recognized the need to provide the two loving parents with emotional, financial and moral support. While amazed by Kishawna’s and Matthew’s resolve and strength, Arbeau knew they should not have to deal with the situation alone. “She’s a supermom,” said Arbeau. Still, she understood even supermoms have limits. Arbeau convinced Kishawna and Matthew to allow her to launch a GoFundMe page on their behalf to support the financial challenges of the regular trips to Halifax and the cost of special equipment, especially the specialized boots and bars Zander requires. “I am a friend of theirs, just trying to help as much as I can,” Arbeau wrote on the GoFundMe page. “This baby boy has a long, difficult road ahead of him.” She then detailed some of the medical challenges Zander faced and continues to face. In Fredericton, two
weeks after Zander’s birth, doctors began trying six casts, leading to a pair of boots and bars on his feet. Unfortunately, the doctor decided Zander did not appear ready for the casts, telling his parents he may need tenotomy surgery, referring the family to an orthopedics doctor at the IWK Children’s Hospital in Halifax. The specialist in Halifax believed a few more casts might begin correcting the problem. The weekly trips from Woodstock to Halifax every Wednesday started. Once again, the family, on doctors’ recommendation, attempted to try the boots and bars. The effort again proved unsuccessful. In December 2020, after trying three different sizes of boots and two types of bars, Zander’s family travelled to the IWK, where medical staff designed removable custom splints. Baby Zander had to wear the splints 23 hours per day, allowing only one hour of free time, Unfortunately, explained Kishawna, one of Zander’s feet did not tolerate the custom sprints. She said the doctor told them Zander’s right foot, which he described as metatarsus adductus, a deformity of which
Zander still manages time to smile. His mother Kishawna says he deals with the pain and discomfort as much as a baby can, but “he definitely wants to be held. (Submitted photo)
sometimes does not require treatment, could be left untreated for some time. For a while, the family’s hopes began to rise. In mid-January, the expected trip back to Halifax to get a new set of splints custom made for the growing baby hit the COVID-19 roadblock. With the Red Alert Level in place, only medical emergencies qualified for trips to the IWK. Unfortunately, Zander’s struggles didn’t fit that description. Left untreated for two months, which included the COVID delay, Kishawna said Zander relapsed. “Baby Zander is back to square one,” she said. See ZANDER on page 2
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