Meet Riley
Riley Elizabeth Dempster (“Riley”) is the youngest member of the Dempster Roster…
She was born on April 1, 2009 — to proud parents Jenny and Ryan — in Arizona (while Ryan was just starting the 2009 baseball season.) Mommy Jenny was hospitalized with Riley early and had to remain in Arizona for her arrival. Riley was born with DiGeorge Syndrome, which is a disorder caused by deletions within the 22q11 chromosome. Although there are many different variations of this disorder, the doctors treating Riley focused most in Riley’s ability to feed and swallow. At only a month old, Riley took her first plane ride, to her hometown Chicago, to reunite the family all back in one place. She settled in to Children’s Memorial Hospital for more testing; physical, occupational and speech therapy; and a surgery to put in a trach and a g-tube for feeding, as well as a procedure called a Nissen Fundoplication (to reduce reflux into her esophagus.) But, Riley was one tough little girl. After 12 long weeks of fighting and working hard, Riley was able to go home with the family. Riley had a great summer, even attending a few Cubs games (with nurse Carol nearby, of course). She is doing great– celebrating her 6th month birthday in October–and the family is looking forward to evaluations in the off-season and traveling together.
Please check back in for updates here at the Dempster Foundation website to keep up with Riley’s progress… and thank you for all of the thoughts, prayers and well wishes!
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