Hello,

My name is Tina Persels, I am a Parent Consultant at Utah Family Voices Family to Family Health Information Center, and this is my first post to this blog.

I have been with Utah Family Voices for almost 7 years. Working with this organization has been a blessing in my life. I have had the opportunity to meet and assist so many wonderful families and professionals.

Helping families to navigate the complicated world of special health care needs is what we do at UFV, and I love it when I can help a family find a resource or answer to what challenge they may be facing. I know what it feels like to be the parent of a child with special health care needs, and I know what it feels like to not know where to turn with some of the challenging issues we face with our children. That is why it is our goal at UFV to assist families and also to let the know they are not alone.

My husband and I are the parents of 2 great kids. Both are 12 years old and full of wonder. Adam, my son was born early, at 28 weeks. Following his birth, he went through a lengthy stay in the ICU (367 days) and multiple surgeries. When he was finally discharged from the hospital, 2 days after his first birthday, he came home with a multitude of special health care needs. At that time he was diagnosed as medically fragile, with cerebral palsy, chronic lung disease, hydrocephalus, and developmental delay. Four years later we would also learn that Adam has Autism as well. Our daughter does not have disabilities, and she is the best sister ever. She adores her brother, and he adores her.

In the future months I will be blogging about life with a child who has special health care needs, and also posting great resources I might come across. Please feel free to comment and give us feedback on our blog!

Hello!  Let me take this opportunity to introduce myself.  My name is Christine Evans, I am a parent consultant for Utah Family Voices and I have worked here for 4 years.  I have been married for 16 years to a wonderful husband, father and pretty darn good handy man.  We have 4 children; Cassidy,14, Caitlyn, Camryn, 12, and Luke, who is 8 years old.  Our journey starts with the birth of my sweet twin girls, Caitlyn and Camryn in December of 1999.  They were born at 23 week gestation and both were pretty big for how early they were, 1lb 8oz and 1 lb 15oz, respectively.  Unfortunately our twin A, Caitlyn, passed away when they were 2 weeks old due to the complications of her premature birth.  Camryn, however, was a little fighter in the NICU and, after a long stay of 5.5 months, she came home and so we began.  Camryn was a pretty sick little baby, she was in and out of the hospital for the first 2 years of her life, spending her very first birthday in the hospital. She now is a sassy little 12 year old girl who just started Junior High!  She does live with some pretty complicated disabilities; Cerebral Palsy, Epilepsy, and Hydrocephalus, along with a whole host of medical equipment and supplies; Wheelchair, G-tube supplies, Stander, walker, bath chair, communication system etc, etc.  All that being said, she is considered total care and as hard as it may seem, she has been the biggest blessing to our family!  I love working at Utah Family Voices!  This opportunity to be able to work with families who are going through similar struggles related to having a child diagnosed with a disability or special health care need, has been so wonderful.  My favorite part of the job is talking one on one with the parents and helping them navigate this complicated system.  I also have loved teaching our newest project the ABC's of Autism!   I have included some pictures of my family.  The most recent  picture is our family and another picture of Camryn and our family beagle.  Then I also included a picture of my oldest and youngest hugging because we all know how "loving" siblings can be toward one another :)  All kidding aside siblings is one of my passion when talking to families because I realize all to often how hard it is for those siblings of our special health care kiddos.  Thank you for visiting, we hope you are having a wonderful day! - Christine