Nicole B Murphy

Hello! My name is Nicole Murphy and I am the Author of Hirschsprung's Disease - Solving the Puzzle. My son Kellen was born with the disease in 2003 and we were handed a small brochure on the topic. While this provided a start to understanding HD, there was so much more to know.

Kellen became ill with multiple bouts of enterocolitis after his pull-through operation. Because we live in a small town three hours away from the nearest Children's Hospital, running him over to see his surgeon at any hour wasn't an option. My husband and I have never been so scared as we were during that time. We just didn't know what to do for him and it seemed like the doctors didn't either. It was a very stressful.

As a science teacher, I had some knowledge of the medical terms but wanted to know more about my son's disease. During his illness, I had to renew my teaching license in Health and Biology education so I chose to research Hirschsprung's disease. I talked with doctors, nurses and other experts to learn as much as I could. For six years, I researched articles on the internet to try to make sense of this disease.

In this book, I combine thorough medical research with my own supportive insights from my experiences as a mother of a child with Hirschsprung's disease. I know the importance of accurate and helpful information and am now able to share my incredible wealth of information with other families coping with HD.