The Journey of Beautiful Destinations — Richard E. Poulin III

Several years ago, sleepless nights plagued my wife, Judy, and me. This in turn allowed the fog of confusion to seep into every aspect of our life as we searched for answers regarding the mysterious affliction of our daughter, Rylae-Ann. Everyday challenges were only compounded by the emergency room admissions…

As the plane descended, my wife, Judy, and I peered out the window. We could see some city lights sprinkled across the island of Singapore, even though it was very late — or very early, depending on how you look at it. Despite the time and more than 24 hours…

Earlier this year, CheckRare, a learning platform for healthcare professionals and rare disease patients, held a panel discussion about the rare disease aromatic l-amino decarboxylase (AADC) deficiency. The panel featured five leading experts in pediatric neurology and movement disorders, including two doctors I have spoken with…

When my daughter, Rylae-Ann, was about 3 months old, she wasn’t meeting her milestones. Then came the “spells,” which we thought were seizures. These unknown occurrences were followed by misdiagnoses and several hospital admissions. My wife, Judy, and I were uncertain about the initial diagnoses. We weren’t…

The chat message came late in the evening just a couple of weeks before Christmas 2018. My wife, Judy, and I lay in bed staring at our phones, trying to figure out how we could help our daughter, Rylae-Ann. We didn’t even know what she had at the time and…

Late in the evening, a car-hailing service picked us up, and with a hurried but firm voice, we told the driver to go quickly to the emergency room. We crossed the island streets to the large children’s hospital at its center. The roads were soaked as rain continued to fall.

The taxi came to a halt in front of our house on Sunday morning. The windows were tinted, but I knew who was inside. Out she came, a thin Asian woman holding a sack of rice and a black trash bag full of clothes. This wasn’t how I’d imagined the…

Every time doctors attempted to provide a diagnosis for our daughter, Rylae-Ann, we immediately would join the relevant support communities, start discussing things with other families, and scour the internet for interventions, only to restart the process after receiving a new diagnosis. We had three different diagnoses in six months…

Singapore, a tropical island located near the equator at just over 1 degree north latitude, is known for its lush gardens, warm waters, and year-round sunshine. As idyllic as this paradise is, it was not an ideal place to raise our daughter, Rylae-Ann, who has aromatic l-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC)…

During our family’s diagnostic journey to find answers, we were prescribed various medications. After discovering that our daughter, Rylae-Ann, had aromatic l-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC) deficiency, we hoped a new set of medications would alleviate her symptoms. But administering her medication has never been…

Things change, there’s no denying that. But when you’re handed the unexpected news that your baby, who was born healthy, has a debilitating disease, change can be life-altering. But change isn’t always bad. One of the first changes that came our way after our daughter Rylae-Ann’s diagnosis was new friendships.

Once we started joining aromatic l-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC) deficiency communities, families began reaching out, offering support, and providing information. As our knowledge about the disorder grew, my wife and I began applying what we knew about education. Although we are teachers, we never sought to teach other families. Instead,…