“It would clear up on its own – it was nothing to worry about.”

When Jessica’s daughter was around six years old, she began to notice little yellow bumps on her knees. “She had them for almost two years,” says Jessica, “Her pediatrician said it was molluscum and it would clear up on its own – it was nothing to worry about.” When it didn’t, Jessica took her daughter to a dermatologist for more answers.

“Kids at school were asking what was on her knees,” explains Jessica, “She hated them.” The dermatologist gave her daughter two treatments for molluscum, but they weren’t going away. That’s when the physician’s assistant at the dermatologist’s office suggested a biopsy to better understand what these bumps were.

“He’d had children in his practice with high cholesterol, but never that high.”

When the results came back, the office called Jessica and asked if high cholesterol runs in the family. When Jessica said yes, the dermatologist suggested her eight-year-old daughter have a lipid panel done. The bumps on her knees were xanthomas – cholesterol deposits in the skin.

When the results of the lipid panel came back, Jessica knew it wasn’t great news because the pediatrician called on his day off. Her little girl’s cholesterol was in the 800s. “He said he’d had children in his practice with high cholesterol, but never that high.”

This was when Jessica’s daughter was diagnosed with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH).

“Who would think bumps on the knees would lead to this?”

With this knowledge in mind, Jessica started researching. “I started Googling and freaking out,” explains Jessica, “and my friend suggested I get on Facebook to find other moms who might have more information.”

That’s how she came across the Family Heart Foundation. She made a post on the Foundation’s Facebook page and a member of the Family Heart team reached out. “The day she called me,” says Jessica, “I was in my bedroom bawling my eyes out because I went for seven years thinking I had a perfectly healthy child. Who would think bumps on the knees would lead to this?”

“It’s good because we’re ahead of it.”

Despite her anxieties, Jessica was proactive with her daughter. “She’s had all the tests, the echocardiogram, and a cat scan to check her arteries and everything is good.” There was no sign of early heart disease. “It’s good because we’re ahead of it.”

Her daughter is on a treatment plan that includes statin and ezetimibe. She will be nine years old this year and is eagerly awaiting her tenth birthday when she’ll be eligible to start a PCSK9 inhibitor.

“At first I was just so afraid of the unknown,” explains Jessica, “and I feel so much better now having answers, having a plan, and knowing things are working.”