Quinn's Story
Quinn Madeleine Linzer was born on May 16, 2012, the youngest of three children to Brett and Eileen Linzer. Quinn was a beautiful baby, and held a very special place in her family as the only girl.
From the start, Quinn had trouble keeping down her feedings. At just two weeks old, Quinn was in the ER for lethargy due to constant vomiting episodes. Though she was released that same night, blood tests showed Quinn had a very high level of indirect bilirubin – indicative of a larger liver issue.
At 19 days of life, Quinn landed back in the hospital – this time for a five night stay – for failure to thrive. After innumerable tests, the only resolutions were to thicken Quinn's formula and to do more testing.
The thickening eventually helped Quinn keep her feedings down more often, allowing her to gain some weight. Her hepatic panels, however, continued to display some issue with her liver function and on July 19, 2012, Quinn was admitted again to the children's hospital – this time for a liver biopsy.
The biopsy was meant to rule out a number of issues, and was not expected to be diagnostic. Unfortunately, diagnostic it was.
On August 16, 2012 – Quinn's three month birthday – Brett and Eileen were summoned to the office of Quinn's pediatric gastroenterologist, where they were given Quinn's grave diagnosis – Niemann-Pick Disease, Type A. An enzyme assay confirmed the results just eight days later.
After researching and exploring the few options available, the Linzers hunkered down and decided that the best revenge was to live well.
Quinn spent the next 11 months of her life Living. She loved and laughed – and yelled and got mad. She sucked her thumb something fierce and giggled at her brothers. She loved the feeling of a breeze on her face and was most content at the beach. She was an old soul who inspired more good in her 14+ months than most folks do in 90+ years.
Quinn Madeleine was an incredible little girl who will live on forever in the hearts and minds of all those who knew her, and many of those who didn't.
You can read more about Quinn and her life at her family's blog – Linzer, Party of Five.
