Blumenau, Santa Catarina, Brazil - Full Trisomy 13
Speaks Spanish

Update 11-7-07
11-6-07

I speak both English and Spanish. I have been talking to come parents who have found our story on Orkut, on a page a did for Karla.

Karla is so big now! She is a very happy girl! She is wearing a kind of waistcoast brace (to correct her spine...or we are at least trying) And we are also doing physiotherapy and horse therapy. She really loves it.

Nathalia (her sister)

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Update 7-25-07

I´m sending a new foto of my sister!
She´s riding a horse now.
Kisses and hugs

Nathalia

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Update: March 2006
Karla is doing great right now, She is doing horse riding therapy and also going to school every day, she is loving it.
The kids are always playing and talking and she really loves to have all the attention... Right now I'm talking by mail with one of the other kids mother, her name is Linda  - Taylor's mom.  Everyone that I know that doesn't know about the "disease" -  I tell them they should visit your page... they usually say it was wonderful to start this web support site.
Kisses and Blessings,
Nathalia Coutinho - Karla's sister

Hello,
 
It's really amazing talking to you.
We are a Brazilian family, my parents names are Tania and Carlos.
My name is Nathalia I'm Karla's sister, she was born in December 11. 1997.
We live in Brazil, Santa Catarina (State), Blumenau (City).
I'm sending a picture of her when she was about 6 months and she hasn't done the surgery yet, in the other one she is already 6 years old. The other two, she is with my mother and me, my father and me, and on her seventh birthday.

She is really a blessing in ours lives. And every year she has a made more progress, It's fantastic. The home page you and the families created gives hope and faith for people who think they lost it.
 
PS: It's really a shame that this syndrome it's not studied as much as others like T-21, specially in Brazil.
I wish you could tell us how it works in EUA.
 
 Thank you very much,
 Nathalia Coutinho dos Santos Silva (sister)
kartan@uol.com.br

My sister's full name is Karla Luíza Coutinho de Azevedo, she is full
trisomy 13 (Microftalmia, leporine lip (correct on her 8 months and the second surgery was on her 4 years old), coarctation aorta (corrected), foot horse, Polidactilia (corrected when she was born), epilepsy (but she never had a convulsion) and when she was born the doctor's said she was supposed to be left in the hospital because she going to die, my parents didn't care "if she is going to die, she'll die in home".
"Sometimes I wish I could find these doctor's with no heart and show them she is here and she is amazing". It was the greatest day of my live, you know it was my ten years birthday and my little sister was coming home. I remember I wasn't caring that she was different, but when my parents told me she was blind I remember to feel sadness, I cried a lot, and also asked questions to God, that later with her kindness, happiness and joy started to be answered. She is always laughing and her smile conquest everybody and she is a busy little girl.

On Monday's afternoon she goes to APAE (Parents Association of Friends and Exceptional) On Tuesday's in the afternoon she has normal school (preschool) and later goes to hydrotherapy then she comes home and listen to music or listen discovery kids, she just love the Barney's songs. On Wednesday's in the morning she goes to a special school for phonologist e visual stimulation and in the afternoon she goes to APAE. On Thursday's n the morning she goes to a special school for phonologist e visual stimulation in the afternoon she goes to the normal school. On Friday's in the morning she listen to the cartoons on Discovery Kids and in the afternoon she goes to APAE. Next year she will be going every day to the normal school, because this year she doing an adaptation with normal children and she loving.
Since she got into the normal school, she started to be more active.
Above all that she has some favorite foods and things like bananas, Quaker oats, pasta, beans, she eats a lot of vegetables and health things, and she loves to listen to music, play with some of her toys (rattle, ball), and she never miss a episode from Barney.

Since she born I've became a better person and also my family, I think that knowing different people who has difficulties it's important to your character. It's just impossible to describe how great is to be with them.

Thank you and Blessings,
Nathalia Coutinho dos Santos Silva