Here is Colbie's story, as told by her mom:

Colbie was born six weeks early.  As time went on Colbie did not eat well and threw up all the time. When she was three months old she had a fever of 104.9 and we rushed her to the ER yet again. At this point she had her first of about 50 urinary tract infections. She ended up with about ten hospital stays and more catheterizations than I can count.

She also had multiple ear infections, which required surgery before she was 11 months old.

By 13 months she needed surgery to reroute her ureters and hopefully stop the urinary tract infections. The surgery worked, but our problems were only just beginning. At 3 years old, she began having up to 200 petit mal seizures  per day.

Eventually, we got the seizures under control, but Colbie had to stay in special education classes with a one-on-one aide, due to her developmental and social delays.

Now Colbie has a G-Tube for feedings and she probably has Mitochondrial disease. The doctor has given us a prognosis of six months to two years. She is continuing with school on days that she is able to, but she may not be able to continue,  as she is very weak and cannot focus on things for very long.

Colbie is has lost so much muscle and tires so easily that she can't do most of the things she used to enjoy.  She is withdrawn social and spends her time on the couch alone, coloring, reading, or listening to her I-Pod or playing with stuffed animals.

I hope that all of you will pray for Colbie and keep her in your thoughts along with all other mito families, as this is not something that anyone can get through without the help of family and friends. We are hoping that someday there will be a cure.

We are struggling with all this, but we realize we have to face the facts and move on with our lives. In addition to the all of her medical stuff, Colbie also suffers from severe developmental delays, ADHD, a low IQ, failure to thrive, social and emotional problems, and she is in a special education classroom because she can not function in the regular education rooms. 

She functions at about a four-year-old level.  She can stand and walk, but she tires very easily and doesn't play much outside.  Because of her seizures, she can't play with toys such as pinwheels or anything with flashing lights.

For CURRENT UPDATES on Colbie, visit our updates page.