Child Research

I would like to share a personal story about the positive effects of research. My husband Bill has a muscles disease call VLCAD. You may be wondering how his muscle disease has anything to do with children and research. Well, 13 years ago while climbing Mt. Saint Helens Bill was airlifted to St. Johns Hospital after suffering from an episode from his illness. At that particular time he did not know he had a disease. He was a state swimmer in high school, a United States Marine who served his country, and an avid runner. While in the service he was given IV's after strenuous activity, his urine would turn dark brown a sign of dehydration. The problem with that was he was not dehydrated his muscles were breaking down and all of the "junk" from his ripped muscles were going through his body damaging his liver and kidneys.

 

After many doctor's appointments one doctor from Kaiser remembered hearing about a childhood disease called VLCAD and sent Bill to a children's hospital in Portland Oregon called Dornbeckers located at Oregon Health and Science University. Bill was tested and sure enough he was diagnosed with a childhood disease that children die from at birth and while sleeping. Bill’s disease was often mistaken for stillborn deaths or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

 

Bill is currently a part of a research project. The research will last for three years. Last spring he stayed at the hospital for 5 days running tests including physical tests, full body scans, blood tests, and so on. He now takes “medicine” that helps him process long-chain fats. Part of the subjects in the study take medicine that they know helps and some take medicine they think will help more. None of the subjects know which they are taking. The hope is that the drug being tested will work to help people that suffer from the painful disease VLCAD.

 

Research helped the doctor’s understand that people live with VL-Cad, that there is medicine to help, and that children that have VLCAD do not have to die from the stress of childbirth or kidney failure in their sleep. Bill had to suffer through some tests and experience pain from slight muscles breakdown however the risk was worth the benefit. The outcome of the research project may be positive for children with VLCAD.

 

Josie Zbaeren

Personal Research Journey

 

I chose the topic of parental sensitivity and infant-father attachment. I chose this topic because I am interested in knowing the difference between infant-mother attachment and infant-father attachment. I want to know what is already known about infant-father attachment and how it has changed over the years. More dads are staying home with their children than ever before. I want to know what the benefits are, if any.

 

I know I loved my dad so very much. I also know that my daughters are very close with their dad and I feel it has made a world of difference in who they are. They are great girls that feel good about whom they are, that are confident, passionate, loving, and that follow their instincts. Did a secure attachment with their parents (dad) aid in their development?

 

My personal experience honestly is a lot of questioning myself. I love what I am learning however I am concerned about processing everything correctly. The hardest class I took for my undergraduate degree was statistics and this class gives me the same anxiety.

 

I think all of the information is useful. I think it is important for us to be able to read scholarly research and make sense out of it. The guide to reading research is a lifesaver!

I will take any advice my classmates can give me. Please send me some wisdom! :)

 

Josie