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Dorothy Hardy “doesn’t walk, she dances,” says her mom, Carrie. “She just waltzes around the house, singing songs she makes up. She’s not to be stopped.” In fact, when the little girl injured her leg at the playground, she taught herself to dance while wearing a cast. It’s a resilient, determined attitude that Dorothy — now two-and-a-half years old — has had since she was diagnosed with jejunal atresia as a newborn. …
Fighting for the next family: Mom’s experience inspires nutrition support guidelines
As Michelle Marti watched her twin sons, Nicholas and Max, run around the playground, she worried. To a stranger — like the representative of their local school’s Planning and Placement Team (PPT), there to evaluate the boys’ eligibility for special needs services in kindergarten — they looked like any other kids having fun. But their playfulness masked a serious illness: short bowel syndrome, the result of a condition called Hirschsprung’s disease. “They look healthy on the outside because all of their medical differences are under their clothes,” admits Michelle. …