Cayden’s Story

fter a difficult pregnancy and an early arrival at 33 weeks, we knew our life with Cayden would be anything but normal. However, we were never expecting or prepared for the rare disease diagnosis we received when he was only two weeks old. Cardio-Facio-Cutaneous Syndrome comes with a list of health concerns and disabilities. We were immediately thrown into referrals to specialists and medical tests for life with a medically complex child. Included in that was access to Boyer and their team of therapists. We started with Sara (family coordinator) and Linnea (OT) soon after Cayden came home from the NICU at three months old. Later we added Amy F. (PT), Ellie (Speech), and Alix (Vision) to Cayden’s care team.

To say they have been influential in Cayden’s development and well-being would be a gross understatement. But more than that, they have been a support to me and my husband as we navigated not only parenthood for the first time, but an incredibly difficult diagnosis and life looking differently than we ever expected. The support from our team has been invaluable and we are forever grateful. They have helped us navigate how to best support Cayden’s development through therapy recommendations, feeding tips and tricks, medical equipment insurance submissions, and the list goes on and on. All to make sure that Cayden reaches his fullest potential. I would be lying if I said I haven’t already grieved Cayden turning three when he graduates from this program because his team has become part of the family.

Cayden works so hard, and it is an honor to see him put in the time and effort to reach his milestones. He is defying the odds every single day. And a lot of that is thanks to Boyer. We can’t thank Boyer and his team enough for being in his corner (and ours). We don’t know what we would do without them.”

-Mairin, Cayden’s mom