Before Ziya was born she measured small. Her doctor said she had a growth restriction. She was born 2 weeks early.
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nDuring birth, her heart rate started dropping and it stopped for a while. She suffered brain injury because of that. She was in the NICU for over a month at St Charles in Bend.
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nZiya’s parents didn’t know what to expect. Her mom was a first-time parent. This was a scary time for them. Tests revealed many things were going on with Ziya. She has cerebral palsy, hearing loss, and visual impairment. Thankfully she is currently not having seizures.
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nZiya will turn 2 in April, and she is still not speaking.
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nZiya now goes to Early Intervention. She is being helped through physical, occupational, and speech therapy.
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nZiya has many doctor appointments for her ears and eyes. Her eyes are crossing, so they have been patching her eyes. She wears an eye patch over one eye for one hour a day, to help strengthen the muscles. Then the next day she wears the patch for an hour over the other eye.
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nShe can sit on her own but is not crawling or walking yet. Her parents don’t know yet if she will be able to walk on her own. At physical therapy, she uses a gait trainer and a stander to help her as she learns to walk.
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nZiya is typically a happy little girl. She just gets frustrated when she can’t communicate with her parents.
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nZiya loves books and being read to. She also likes music very much. Watching Elmo on Sesame Street makes her happy.
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nZiya will be adopted as a Sparrow to La Pine High School. Students will have the opportunity to work hard to raise money for Ziya’s ongoing treatment through sponsored community service.