04/15/2025
What a perfect day to open up this page and spread awareness about Pompe Disease.
Happy international Pompe day! ππ
Levi was diagnosed at 13 months old with Infantile Onset Pompe Disease (IOPD). For this disease, that was incredibly late for diagnosis as his heart was already severely enlarged. Typically those with IOPD that don't start treatment will pass away by the age of 2 from heart failure.
We were incredibly lucky that an abnormal fever brought us to the ER and had the pediatrician on site questioning his heart in the x-ray they took that day.
He immediately contacted McMaster hospital and we were sent there by ambulance to investigate what was happening. After spending a few days and having many many tests done we had a visit by the neuromuscular department head and after just looking at Levi he told us it was Pompe disease. This doctor and his incredible knowledge about Pompe disease saved Levi's life. He set us up to begin treatment a couple of weeks later right there at McMaster hospital.
Now we had known something was wrong for a while but we had been dismissed as these were things he would simply "grow out of". The first indicator the doctor at mac noticed was one I had asked about at every single doctor's appointment Levi had since bringing him home. The bi-facial muscle weakness caused an open mouth posture and his enlarged tone was always sticking out. This caused issues with feeding and breathing. He also had a severe decline in muscle tone. In March of 2023 Levi could stand holding on to the bars of his crib... By May, just two months later he could not even straighten his body and was always in a sitting position when lifting him up.
Levi's treatment is an enzyme replacement therapy in which every other week he gets an infusion through his port to put that enzyme that he does not produce on his own into his body. As of now this infusion takes about 5 and a half hours every other week! We have seen incredible improvement in the year and a half he has been on the treatment. His heart has completely recovered, you would never have known there was an issue! His skeletal muscles are still slow to build up but he is definitely one determined little guy so we are hopeful one day he will be able to stand and walk on his own!
This is a progressive disease that will require him to continue treatment for his entire life. We are hopeful for the wonderful doctors that have already made so much progress in continuing to make the lives of those with pompe disease better!
ππ