MomofBabyThalMajor,
Yes, I believe that your baby will be very normal and able to do anything that other children can do. Regular transfusions and chelation will keep your child healthy and indistinguishable from other children his age. In fact, most parents say that they tend to forget that their child has thalassemia other than when the have to go to the hospital for transfusions.
The depression that you are feeling is normal, it is part of the normal cycle of learning about your child's thalassemia and the changes that you will need to adapt. My son is 10 years old - and like other thalassemia children his age he looks and acts just like other children his age. He does well at school, plays several sports (ice hockey, basketball, soccer) and is a happy child. If children are adequately transfused they will not sustain any changes in their bones or facial structures. Proper chelation will protect them from damage due to iron overload and also allow them to grow and develop normally.
Personally, I don't believe in ports - I would not allow anyone to put a port in my child, I would rather have him get a poke when he goes to the hospital once a month rather than altering his body with surgery. Also, ports put patients at risk for infection and strokes. But it is a decision you must make with your doctor.
Fetal inducers are an option - hydoxyurea and butyrate are some possibilities and several others are being investigated. It depends on how low your child's hemoglobin drops, also these inducers work better for some patients than others but it is impossible to predict who they will be effective for.
Bone marrow transplant is an option as well, and the best outcomes are with very young patients. However, one must be ready for the risks and possible complications of BMT. There is a risk of death or developing graft versus host disease which is far worse then thalassemia. BMT is also a long and arduous procedure and there are no guarantees of survival or remission. Over time safer and less toxic methods of BMT are becoming available, and these options should be considered. Dr. Krishnamurti has produced a less toxic method of BMT that may be an option for your baby.
There are also other possibilities that may be available in the near future such as gene therapy - we are all hoping that gene therapy will be successful in the near future and be available for our children. Gene therapy consists of removing some of the patients own bone marrow, infecting it with an inert retrovirus to introduce the missing beta gene into the patients marrow, these cells containing the proper beta gene is then transplanted back into the patient. Hopefully this therapy will be successful in curing thalassemia over the next few years.
In the mean time, rest assured that your child has a chance at a very normal life. My son received his first transfusion at 3 months of age - and he has learned to do very well with his treatment. As your child grows we can help you with supplements that are vital to his well being.
Once again, be sure to have genotype testing done to ensure that this information is available when his blood is crossmatched before a transfusion. I hope that you have had a chance to look over the threads that I have mentioned in my above post - you can click on the threads to read over them - I think that you will find some very useful information.
Best of luck and congratulations on your new son - god bless him, and may he have a long and healthy life,
Sharmin