A little about me and why i'm here.

My name is Annette Brennan. I am the mother of 2 wonderful little girls. The oldest is 4 the youngest is 15 months. I have been with my husband for 18 years now. Sometimes it feels more like 80 though.

My daughter's names are Arieanna & Katie.When Katie was 7 months old we found out she had a stroke. The doctors believe she had it while I was still carrying her, they have been unable to determine what caused her stroke. I imagine you are probably saying to yourself "I didn't know babies could have strokes" neither did we.

I am hoping to help raise awareness about this very important issue.
Anyone can have a stroke! Any age,Any race!
Infant have strokes,Kids have strokes,even unborn babies have strokes.

Since I found out about Katie's stroke, I have found a support group online for parents just like me. Since I joined the group I have found that many of the parents don't know why their children suffered a stroke either, and most had never heard of Infant & Childhood Stroke.

That is why we need more research into the causes and best treatments for childhood stroke.

Most of the money spent on stroke research is spent on adults.
While that may also help children, we need research that is geared at child survivors directly.

Child survivors have many issues that are the same as adults, but also many more that are totally different. If a adult has a stroke when they are 70 the causes will be very different than what may have caused my unborn baby to have a stroke. The treatments will also need to be different.
In a 70 year old woman you want her to recover as much as possible and survive as long as possible, but even in the best of circumstances that is maybe 20-25 years.
My daughter will be dealing with this for the rest of her life. I hope that will be 80 or 90 years.
When you look at it that way, it is a very big difference.

2/3 of the children that survive a stroke will have neurological deficits or seizures.

While we have been blessed and Katie is not having any seizures at this time. we will have to worry about one striking her for the rest of her life. Stroke survivors can start having seizures at any age, not having them as a infant is no guarantee that you will not have them later in life.

Katie's stroke caused her to have Spastic Cerebral Palsy Hemiparisis and Microcephaly.
What that means in non-medical terms is that Katie has weakness in her right side, trouble controlling her hand, arm, leg and foot and a smaller than average head size.
We have been lucky so far and it looks like Katie is only mildly affected by the stroke, she is now walking and learning to talk.

That is not the case with many other children. Some can't walk or talk or even eat without choking.So much more needs to be done to help these special kids.That is why I am trying to raise awareness and funds for Childhood Stroke.

Maiden Voyage

Welcome Parents!


My name is Shannon, and I am the founder of Minds that Matter. Some of you I know well from other support forums, email lists, and long phonecalls. And while those things can never be replaced, I am nevertheless excited this day is here!

The reason for this blog is mainly to keep you informed of periodic discoveries. You will see blogs from me, volunteer parents and employees , including pictures and video. If you want us to post something for everyone to see, we've included e-mail addresses at the bottom for you.

I am most excited to tell you about our discussion board, also launching soon! Though I belong to other wonderful listserves, discussion boards and the like, some of them may limit the material allowed to be discussed.

Since we are of the opinion that most parents are here for health-related information to help our children, we will try not to regulate content (unless it is inappropriate or offensive). It is through this interaction and discussion that we'll all get the information we need to help our children grow; even those of us who don't post will often read and learn.

Just go to our main page, http://www.mindsthatmatter.org/ and click "parent pages." You'll be redirected to sign into the discussion board.

The discussion board is a Google product; you will be required to have a Google password, (you keep whatever e-mail address you have) in order to sign in. Only members can post or reply, but anyone can read. Your e-mail addresses will not be revealed when you post (unless you elect)! We totally understand if you want to sign in and just do a test message at first.

Lastly, contact us at information@mindsthatmatter.org or webmaster@mindsthatmatter.org if you find flaws or need to report inappropriate content. We will have interns, volunteers, and concerned parents help moderate the page until we hone it down to a workable science, so please, keep making those suggestions!