Fall 2005                                                     CARES Foundation, Inc.
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Warners Speak at Newborn Screening Press Conference

by Susan Warner

 

      Newborn screening saved my son’s life.  Bradley, now a healthy, happy 6-month-old, was the only child in California to have been diagnosed with CAH through a private screening test.

      It’s a miracle we caught it in time.

       Bradley, my husband Matt and I have just returned from an exciting trip to the State Capitol in Sacramento to tell our story.  At the press conference we attended, state officials announced that California will now be testing all children for 75 metabolic and genetic disorders, including CAH.

       Bradley was one of the “stars” of the show along with three other families with other disorders.  While waiting for the cameras to roll, we met another child with CAH, several people from the March of Dimes, members of the press, and representatives from the Department of Health.  Bradley gave his best full-body smile to all the new people he met, before spitting up all over my new pink shirt. Luckily, I told our story with only one hiccup: trying to say Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia with my heart beating fast and Bradley pulling my hair.  Since then, our story has been in several news papers and on the evening news! We even saw the “Governator” walk through the hall of the Capitol! (He’s not as tall as I thought he’d be.)

       We feel lucky to have the CARES Foundation, which has created a community for those of us who have children with CAH and helped mandate newborn screening throughout the country. It’s wonderful that now every child in California will be screened like Bradley.  Hopefully, the recent publicity regarding the new law will help alert and educate parents about early screening for genetic and metabolic disorders.

Susan, Matt and baby Bradley Warner spoke at the press conference kicking-off California's expanded NBS.

       

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