Olivia's Thank You

Hi my name is Olivia Palermo, I am now 3 ½ years old and thank you all ………..

For those of you who do not know my story I am a little girl who was born with the unknown. I am almost 4 years old and still go undiagnosed by doctors at the Montreal Children’s Hospital. I was born with congenital heart defect which was repaired successfully on May 1, 2008; I was FINALLY assessed at the Autism Clinic after being on a waiting list for over a year to be told that I do not fit the criteria for the Autism Spectrum, not to mention all of the Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy that I do every week. All this is great but does not answer the questions that parent’s have as to why I am not able to walk or talk and cognitively understand certain things but not all and why my fine motor skills are at the level of a 9 month old.

With all of your help last year my parents were able to get me the help that I needed in order to achieve the goals that I have attained. I was not able to stand on my own and take steps and now I AM, I was not able to sleep due to absent seizures that made me cry continuously with an increase in behavioral aggression for hours on end and now without anymore medication I am able to say that I now have INACTIVE seizure activity as per an EEG done in Feb 2009. I attend daycare 4 days a week and integrated very well with the other children and the educator. My fear and hypersensitivity are much better but still need improvement. I still have a long way to go but with your help I am on the right road.

Olivia is beginning to come out of her shell, slowly but surely we are confident that with time and therapies she will be able to reach her goals. Olivia has come a long way since last year, what may seem trivial to others are giant steps for Olivia. Olivia laughs and smiles all the time, she loves to be hugged and kissed and has so much love to give everyone around her.

Please help my parents help me to get the treatments and therapies that are not covered by our medical system. My parent’s will do everything in their power to help me even if that means taking me anywhere in the world to try experimental treatments. No doctor’s are able to help in telling us what is wrong with me, so I am sure that any parent in the world would do the same for their child.

Thank you to all who helped and contributed to my getting the treatments and therapies necessary in order for me to be where I am today. Thank you for my smile, for my sleeping, for me being able to stand on my own, for being able to hold by bottle and for making me aware of what is going on around me every day. Help me to continue to get everything that my parents are trying to give me.

Olivia Palermo

(If you do not require tax receipt)

Fondation Minorite inVisible

(If you require a tax receipt)

3245 Hector Lussier

Laval QC H7C 2S4

Thank you
Francesca, Luigi & Olivia Palermo

www.helpushelpolivia.com

Fundraiser 2009

Hello All

We would like to inform you all that we are organizing Olivia's 2nd Annual Fundraiser event on October 3, 2009. The details and where and how much will be established by the end of this week. We hope that all who attend last year will join us once again and all those who were not able to attend will do so this year.

You all donate from your pockets as well as your hearts to help us help Olivia attain the goals that she needs in order to be a normal almost 4 year old child with the unknown in medicine.

we will keep you posted on the progress of the event.

Franca, Luigi & Olivia

Olivia May 2009

Olivia is doing well and climbing everywhere and getting into everything. Although she is not able to walk on her own yet, she finds ways to get around the house. We are very grateful for the progress that she has made and we are hopeful that she will continue to progress.

We have seen great things happen with Olivia since her treatment that we have decided to take her for another treatment in June 2009. I am so confident that these treatments are what is giving her the ability to pull to stand, and climb the steps on her knees and just the vibrance in her. Lets not kid ourselves Olivia still goes through nights where she doesn't sleep and her wake up time is 5am every morning. Olivia does not speak therfore making communication very difficult, what she does is whines most of the time, but I guess that is a form of communication for her, but drives me and my husband crazy.

We felt that as parents we could not wait until October to take her back to the DR, therefore we are jumping the gun and hoping that the next fundraiser will help us. Olivia will be screened once again for ANGLEMAN SYNDROME and we will see where that takes us. She was already tested but the reasearcher feels that we should have further testing done. We take it one day at a time and enjoy every second that she makes us smile and cry...