Hi everyone. My name is Adam Dee. I live in Markham, Ontario. I was born with an imperforated anus. I am now 13. I guess you can say, "I've been around the block!"

     I am in Grade 8 and like sports. I play Houseleague hockey and I am a major fan of wrestling. I play the trumpet in our school band. School has been easy for me. Busy but easy. I have a lot of friends and I'm basically a normal kid. I'm 5 foot 4", 93 lbs. If you're not 13 yet, then you have a lot to go through. For me there's still more to go.

     On July 31st 1986 I was born at Scarborough Centenary Hospital at 5:35a.m. with an imperforated anus. That means that there is no connection between my bowel and my bum. I could not go to the bathroom normally. I was sent to Sick Kids Hospital immediately! During the first couple of years on this planet, I had about 5 surgeries.

     During the spring of 1996, I went to Sick Kids for a cat-scan. I had a series of bad headaches in the past year and I wanted to check it out. I wondered if I had a small brain tumour. Thank God I didn't, but...I found out that I had a piece of fat growing around my spine. Apparently kids with an imperforated anus can have other problems and this was one of them.

     On March 18th 11:16a.m., the doctors at Sick Kids took me into the O.R. The surgery was successful! I don't know what it was like because they put me to sleep. My back doctor, Dr. Rutka, told me that as soon as they got the fat off, my spine perked up like a spring and it was free. Over those four hours of surgery, I must have grown a couple of inches. I thought that was pretty cool since I was already one of the tallest kids in Grade 5. I wouldn't grow up to a hunchback. I had to stay in the hospital flat on my stomach for one week without moving. That was quite amazing since I'm such an active guy! At least I didn't have to do my enema that week! I was so excited when it was time to head home. I got to see my cuddly dog, Barney. My parents helped me a lot. I made the days go by, by spending time listening to music. On April 1st, I sure fooled my teacher and came back to school. After that, the year got very interesting. Here's why...

     In early May of 1997, Scholar's Choice, a school supply store was having a contest for all of Markham kids under 12 years of age. The rules were to write an essay, at least three pages long, about something in your life. I decided to do it about my whole life since I had a pretty hard time during the past year. I entered, I qualified and I won. I couldn't believe it! The lady from Scholar's Choice came directly to our classroom and said that I had won. Everyone in my classroom was excited! I got a $200 gift certificate to Scholar's Choice and so did my teacher. The school got $500 too! Our whole class got a free pizza party! A bad year suddenly turned to a great one. Me being me, I went ahead right after school that day and spent every cent I could on anything in the Scholar's Choice store.

     I have been fortunate to be one of the first group of children to benefit from the research done on the C-tube. In the past 3 1/2 years I have had 4 buttons implanted in me. The last one I had was about 1 1/2 years old. Dr. Chait told me that you should change your button every 18-24 months on average. He said they didn't have the old buttons with the balloon. I was worried about getting a new kind of button but I didn't have much choice. They said this new one didn't have a balloon and would take about three seconds to put in. And it did. This one I didn't mind at all.

     Helen Richards, Dr. Chait's assistant, has been a great resource at Sick Kids. She's helped me get through my surgeries and answer all of my questions. Neil Lucy, owner of Ontario Ostomy (in Scarborough) has also helped me a lot since I was a baby. (getting the right equipment I needed)

     Since I have had the C-tube I only have to do my enema every OTHER night instead of EVERY night like I use to. I also don't seem to get the bad bubbles and cramps like I use to get. The newest button is flatter and doesn't catch on my clothing too badly.

     Now that I'm getting older, it sort of bugs me that I can't always go out with my friends when I want to but you get use to it. We try our best to work around special events and school work. Only my three best friends know about my condition and are very supportive. I keep a bag of diapers ready in my locker at school in case anything happens. Since this newest button went in I have had very few problems.

     On November 11th, 1999, I was running in gym for our usual warm-up excercises. About every half hour I check on my button just to make sure it's where it should be (that's a very good habit to get into for safety reasons). So anyway, I was running and then we stopped and the teacher started talking to the class. I thought that it would be a good time to check on my button. It's a good thing I did because it was about three inches to the right from where it was supposed to be and it wasn't attached to my body any more! That freaked my mom out when I called her from school, but I stayed calm like nothing had ever happened. My mom picked me up and we went off to Sick Kids. Thankfully, Dr. Chait was there. It was very busy but he fixed it quickly.

     Now you've read about my physical, medical and mental health! Writing this essay has helped me look back at the last 13 years and realize how successful I have been coping with my condition. I hope reading my story will help you to get through your difficult times. I know there will still be more to come for me but with family and friends and the doctors at Sick Kids, I know I will make it and so will you!

Adam Dee
Markham, Ontario