Chase W. 

Our son Chase was born March 19, 1998.   He was our second child and my husband and I were so excited because we were having another boy and Kyle, our older son, was going to be a big brother.   We had no idea what was ahead of us.  Chase’s story is so familiar to all PA families.   By Chase’s third day of life, I knew something was not right.    He would not breastfeed and his breathing was very labored.  I also noticed an odd smell on him when I held him close.  It was late at night and I alerted the nurse, but she just thought I was tired.  I insisted that he be taken to the nursery for the doctors to check him out.    I remember calling my husband telling him Chase was very sick and this was before anyone told me what was wrong.  I just knew something was wrong with him.  As a mom, you just know.  Sure enough, the nurse came back, and told us that his temperature had dropped to 95 degrees and he was acidotic.  Of course, I did not know what that meant.  Fortunately, we were in a very good hospital and they immediately started giving Chase medicine that would help him, especially with his ammonia.  They did have to transfer him to St. Louis Children’s Hospital, but by Chase’s fifth day of life, the doctors at Children’s hospital were very sure he had Propionic Acidemia.   My husband and I, of course, had never heard of it.  I just remember asking God to please spare our son so my son Kyle could have a little brother. 

Now Chase is 10 years old.  We can’t believe it sometimes.  In the beginning, the doctors were very guarded on Chase’s prognosis because he had an early onset case of PA and not a lot was known.   He has been hospitalized so many times we have lost count, but as he has gotten older, those hospital admissions have decreased.  He has just recently started having seizures again, but besides that his PA is very much in control.

Chase is such a sweet boy, he brings so much joy to our lives.  He is developmentally delayed, but he is making strides every day.   He really lives up to his name, by the time he was walking at 18 months, we were definitely “chasing “him around and have been ever since.   We are so thankful to all the OAA families and the PA families for all the support and advice.  With this disease, you can really start to feel alone, but it is such a blessing to be able to connect with other families.     This past year, we went to our first PA family day, and we had such a good time.  It was so nice to be able to talk to other families about g-tubes and other stuff and know that other people totally know where you are coming from. 

We would love to talk to other families, so please feel free to e-mail us at jakewrkmn@aol.com

God bless you,

The Workman Family,

Amy, Jackson, Chase 10 PA, and Kyle 14