Hunter syndrome

Mayo Clinic Health Manager

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Coping and support

By Mayo Clinic staff

Support for you and your family
The challenges for parents, families and caregivers of children with severe disabilities are great. A number of organizations offer support for families with children who have Hunter syndrome and other MPS syndromes. Joining a support group for MPS syndromes can be a great way to obtain practical information and daily living strategies from other parents in similar situations to your own. Many families often find friendship and encouragement in support groups, as well.

The intense supervision that may be needed for your child can cause you and other caregivers to become physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted. It's important to get help from other family members and to find other kinds of support.

If respite care is available, take advantage of it so that you can have a break and be more effective in the long run to meet the day-to-day challenges of caring for a child with special needs.

Letting others know
Due to a narrow airway, people with Hunter syndrome often have difficulty receiving a breathing tube (being intubated) for general anesthesia. You may wish to note this on child care or school forms so that emergency personnel can be alerted to this fact, in case your child has an emergency and you're not there. An experienced anesthesia specialist (anesthesiologist) should perform the intubation of a person with Hunter syndrome.

Check with your county and state for resources that may be available to you as a parent of a child with special needs.

DS00790

Aug. 9, 2008

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