Mom Opens Up About Her 2 Year-Old Daughter Being Diagnosed With Dementia

The tragic disease is not limited to the elderly

There is hardly anything more tragic than a young infant child being diagnosed with a serious, life-limiting medical condition. Unfortunately, it happens every single day, and in this particular case, it’s a condition that one would not expect a toddler to suffer with.

A mother from West Lothian, Scotland has been opening up about the tragic ordeal she has been forced to endure since her now-two-year-old daughter first started developing dementia from the age of one, the Mirror reports.

The condition is usually associated with elderly people, but has tragically already taken its toll on two-year-old Mirryn, according to her mother Vicky Cunningham.

According to the 34-year-old mom, Mirryn is unable to stand without assistance, and has little choice but to lay down for most of the day, as a result of “half her brain” being “eaten away by a chromosome disorder”.

The toddler was diagnosed with a very rare condition known as CLN1 Battens. The illness attacks the sufferer’s nervous system and causes a steady decline in their vision, mobility and their ability to think.

Mirryn was a premature newborn, and arrived into the world at just 31 weeks and two days and weighing just 3lb 2oz. Following her premature birth, Mirryn stayed in a special care unit for the next two months, and was also treated for jaundice.

After the two-month stay, it initially seemed that baby Mirryn had recovered extraordinarily well and that she would grow to be a healthy child.

“She was developing normally. She would gurgle and smile. She was really lovely and had a cheeky personality developing,” her mother said.

Sadly, this optimism didn’t last for very long. When her baby was about 10 months old, Cunningham started to spot some worrying signs in her child’s development.

“She was no longer gripping properly,” the 34-year-old recalls. “She seemed to be weakening in general and I just instinctively knew something was not right.”

Following numerous trips to the doctors’ office, Mirryn was referred to a specialist unit at St John’s Hospital, and after various tests, the two-year-old was diagnosed with childhood dementia in January of this year.

“It’s heartbreaking to see,” Cunningham added in her interview. “She should be starting nursery but I know it will never happen. There’s so much she will be missing.”

Due to how rare the condition is, very little research has been conducted into the area, and there is currently no cure to speak of.

Unfortunately, this means the mental and physical abilities of Cunningham’s baby girl will only continue to decline in the future, and the heartbroken mom fears that she could lose her any day now.

I can’t even begin to describe how sad it makes me to hear about this poor child’s condition. I guess the only comfort is that she obviously has a great mom who will do everything she can to give her child the best care possible.

We are all praying for Mirryn, her mom Vicky, and the rest of the family at this trying time. AAx

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