The Calendar …

Published on November 11, 2021November 11, 2021 by beatingcowdens4 Comments

My birthday is a tricky time of year. This week is emotionally charged always. Emotions are right at the top. I simultaneously love and abhor my connection to dates. It is a blessing and a curse that I constantly strive to strike balance with.

I never thought much about my birthday growing up. There were often sleepovers and cake with family, but I never thought too much about it. Not about the day, or about the blessings of family, friends, and gifts galore. Somewhere in my youth, I thought it would last foever. I was always taught gratitude, and have penned my own thank you notes from a young age. But, I meant the matter-of-fact way things just happened. My mom worked 2 jobs. She worked hard all the time. But, she made time for those things as if it was effortless. I am pretty sure I might have missed some thank yous to her along the way. She never skipped a beat.

As a teen things changed a little. Our immediate in house family grew with the additions of Ken and little sister Kathi. Older sister Lisa was at college. But, still, I never gave the day much thought.

My cousin Meghan was born in May of 1985 when I was in 6th Grade. She was the absolute apple of my eye. She was the first child in my large extended family that I was ever old enough to babysit for. We spent a good deal of time together.

Meghan’s leukemia diagnosis came when I was a freshman in High School. The next 4 years for her were a perpetual whirlwind of remission and relapse, treatments, bone marrow transplants, and smart, silly kid time. She was wise beyond her years and loved on her little sister with everything she had. She loved our Grandma’s dog, and so many people loved her.

As a growing teen, I wanted nothing more than to be tested as a possible bone marrow match for Meghan. I was turned away, even as a first cousin, and told to revisit the possibility when I was 18.

The summer before Meghan died she gave me this picture after an afternoon at the local Children’s Museum. It hangs in my house still.

I left for college in August of 1991. I called and spoke with her as often as I could in the “pre-cell phone” era. And then our stories above became forever intertwined on 11/12/1991. A call to my dorm, on the morning of my 18th birthday, brought the news that Meghan had gained her angel wings. I was never going to know if my bones held the marrow that could have saved her life. That was a bitter pill to swallow. I was broken-hearted as I headed home for formal goodbyes, but I was buoyed by the fact that no matter how many years went by, her passing, and the celebration of my birth would be remembered the same day.

I never lost the feeling of connection to this spectacular, tenacious 6 year old whose ability to converse with those well beyond her years, to express her thoughts, and to bring joy to those around her was utterly epic. I never ever forgot New Year’s Eve together, setting all her dolls out on the couch, or the MILLION times we watched Lady and the Tramp.

Meghan was still in my heart in the summer of 2003 when I asked my aunt and uncle if I could name my child after theirs. That is Meghan’s name story. She was named after a warrior whose spirit she possesses. Their struggles differ but their giant hearts and no-nonsense speech sometimes are intertwined in my memories.

Our Guardian Angel wears a gold ribbon. The power of this has also not been lost on me. Childhood cancer is it’s own kind of hell, for the parents and the children. We, as Cowden’s Syndrome patients have astronomically high cancer risks. Ones that can get into your head if you’re not careful. But we have what is not given to most. We have a warning system. And through that warning system our cancers, if they occur, can be easily managed most often. We have a gift others were not given, even in this messy road.

The story of our Meghan has had so many twists and turns these last 18 years that many blend together.

Through those years we said goodbye to many grandparents. Among them, my father, Ken’s father, my mom’s father, and my dad’s father. That group of veterans were life-shaping as well. And, with Veteran’s Day being this week too… sometimes the proud, and the grateful, and the sad get mashed together.

And November 10th, the birthday of the US Marine Corps fits right in here as well. I do not profess to fully understand, but watching my Dad reach out to every Marine he was still in contact with on 11/10/2014, a month before cancer stole him, it imprinted on my heart.

I’ve never been a big fan of fall. Or, maybe I was when I was a kid. I don’t remember. But, somehow the darkness and the dreariness and all the memories seem to feel heavy this week.

So I try to think of the joys that have intertwined with the sorrow. I think of 11/12/2014 when Meghan received “Kid of Achievement” award at a very special ceremony.

I think of my little second cousin Mackenzie, my birthday twin, just a TON of years later, brought into this world no doubt with some careful guidance by Angel Meghan and some others, whose memory Mackenzie’s mom and I both hold dear. That precious girl, born after tragedy had already touched her life, has the most magical smile. Oh, I wish I saw her more.

And last year, we took the day as a family of three and had a delightful senior photoshoot for our one and only, also on 11/12.

All of these memories are somehow connected to this week. And as I think about my birthday I am grateful for another journey around the sun. The numbers don’t flip me out. I will scream loudly and proudly that I am 48. I am a mother, a wife, a sister, an aunt, a cousin, and a cancer survivor. I am grateful.

This year though, on the 30th anniversary of the passing of Angel Meghan, I pause a little extra.

Some people come into your life only for a season, yet they leave an imprint on your heart that lasts a lifetime.

As I head into my 49th year, I am grateful for those I have loved and lost, and for all I have learned. I look forward to more adventures. I hold my dearest close. I shed the nonsense. I avoid the drama as best I can.

I am far from perfect. Perhaps my biggest life lessons come from basking in that imperfection, embracing those I have loved and lost, and those I still love today. Taking the lessons learned from all and carrying them forward.

Time waits for no one. Semester one at college is almost in the books. My girl is where I was the year my Guardian Angel left this earth. 30 years since I started college. Life keeps moving.

Honor the lost. Embrace those that are near. Live in gratitude and be full of grace as our God is to us. Lead with compassion and a kind heart.

May the fall be full of blessings for you.

We remain #beatingcowdens.

#beatingcowdens Goes to College!

Published on August 25, 2021August 25, 2021 by beatingcowdens10 Comments

There are normal feelings I have right now. Like when I look at my adult packing for college and all I see is this.

I have all the normal swings of emotion of watching your baby grow up. I feel all the things you feel after you give them roots, and by God’s grace they grow the most beautiful wings. There is normal anxiety, about them making new friends, and finding their way around and starting a whole new life. Without you. During a global pandemic. After at least a year of abbreviated, altered and just not quite right classes and other human interaction. In all of this I am in good company.

Then, there is the added layer of letting your medically complex child free.

This is the child who screamed with colic for over a year while people told me it was just normal. This is the child who had her first surgery at a few months of age, only to have a baffled surgeon come out of an operating room to tell me the hernia “wasn’t there.” That was just a preview of things to come.

This is the child who was so overwhelmed with GI pain she became a sensory overloaded mess. This is the child who missed milestones, and who had early intervention services of OT, PT and Speech that eventually graduated into an IEP that only terminated in June. Yes, June of 2021.

This is the child who needed a timer to move from one side of the room to the other in PreK as her loving teachers guided her.

This is the child who wanted to run like the wind, but could not ever figure out why it hurt. This child we would later find was managing an arteriovenous malformation in her right knee. That knee. Seven surgeries on that knee. Years with the best Physical Therapist in the land. But, we did stop soccer, and dance. And maybe that was for the best. Maybe she has her mother’s coordination.

This is the child who the kindergarten teacher told me in November was “pretty far behind.” I told her to encourage but not to push. I would be just as proud of her as long as she did her best. Then, that same child got glasses. And with the nurturing love of that kindergarten teacher, combined with God’s GIFT in paraprofessionals she soared. This same child, by March had had her first knee surgery, recovered, and was sitting with the top quarter of her class. This child does not like to be kept down.

This is the child, who spent years sick with chronic viral infections. This child hung with me through mainstream and alternative treatments. She pushed me to push forward for her. This child and I went through hell together. We learned each other on the Belt Parkway and the BQE. And somehow we found beauty on the journey.

This is the child, diagnosed with Cowden’s Syndrome at the age of 8, whose diagnosis prompted mine. This is the child, my angel on earth, who saved my life with her diagnosis, as my breast cancer was caught oh, so early.

This is the child who never quite found her way with other kids. They just didn’t “get” each other. Some were so kind, but couldn’t connect. Many were terribly mean and maligned and belittled and tortured and tormented her soul. This is the child who would not break. Trauma after trauma. Surgery after surgery. Medical procedures layered on top of one another. This is the child who sometimes cried in my arms and other times locked it all behind walls. This child. This medical life. There are experiences that shape you, that make you who you are.

This is the child who chose her high school. Deliberately. She wanted to be with kids who were more in touch with real life. This child grew, through love and resilience and inner strength and therapy to learn all about herself. This is the child who found her way to God and a few special friends, finally, and not at all accidentally, right about the same time.

This child waited years for the service dog. The one to manage the needs that had developed through a medically complex life. Ella and she met in January, and the love in their eyes tells me it was worth the wait.

I abbreviate the tales of this child and her journey. I do that because it would make it too overwhelming for you. I do it because the chronicles mostly sit in the last ten years of this blog and sometimes the gut wrenching journey need not be relived in intricate detail. I abbreviate for my sake, because I can appreciate that God’s biggest gift to me is allowing some really traumatizing memories to fade just enough that I can actually breathe as I recall them.

If you ever want stories, I have them for weeks. If you ever need to tell your tales, I am here.

This journey to college has been a long time coming. My college athlete and scholar got there on “Gratitude, Grace and Grit.” That full academic scholarship- that took the resilience to overcome 17 surgeries, remain in top honors, and recover the body every single time to return to the water. Through it this child turned her experiences into compassion and a desire to care for others. As she puts it, she wants to “do better” for people like herself. And there is room. Plenty of room to do just that my girl.

This journey took learning how to manage to moment to moment pain of Arteriovenous Malformations, as a new one has developed in her thigh, and channel that pain into usable energy. To look into the eyes of your baby, the eyes of your one and only 18 year old baby, and to know they will likely never be pain free, is a special kind of torture.

This child, now an adult, will have one more virtual visit, with one more new doctor, before we load the cars. And we have all the fun stuff, favorite sweatshirts, and a pretty comforter. We also have daily pill cases, morning and night, set for 4 weeks. Along with a literal bucket of the “just in case” medications to get her through. There are gluten, dairy and soy free snacks. There are toys and treats for Ella.

There is a whole lot of new.

My heart is full of hope. While the medical problems travel with her, she has reached an age where many kids have seen life, and are generally more tolerant of humans. My heart is full of hope for new experiences, for laughs, and friendships that will form.

My child leaves with less experience in some areas, and so much more in others. And my hope, my prayer is that in this place there will be balance.

I am with all my other mother friends, leaving their children at college.

My heart is with my mother friends who will never have the privilege to experience this “going away to college.”

My heart is with my mother friends whose babies no longer walk this earth, but cover us all with their angel wings.

I have learned from all of you.

And as I cry, because I will cry, I will also absorb the magnitude of the fact that this is happening.

As we told her doctor many years ago… “every step of the journey IS the journey.”

We remain #beatingcowdens

Patient Blaming

Published on July 14, 2021July 14, 2021 by beatingcowdens12 Comments

May of us cringe when we hear “victim blaming.” It happens often to make us feel better. somehow we are able to convince ourselves that that horrid crime, often domestic violence or assault happened because of what the victim was doing. Somehow this can make people feel safer, like it can’t happen to them. I never quite understood.

This week I have been thinking that “patient blaming” is just as real. It can come from a doctor, a family member, an acquaintance or even a friend. In my estimation “patient blaming” has decimated my spirit more times than I can count.

We saw a doctor on July 1 for the AVM in Meghan’s thigh. She was supposed to be “the best,” a term I know is used too loosely. She is a hematologist who many years ago prescribed an off label drug that quieted the AVM in Meghan’s knee for a good stretch of time. There was a GI bleed that hospitalized her about 8 months after. Maybe it was the drug. Maybe it wasn’t. We can’t seem to keep a doctor on the team long enough to have a long term understanding. However, it definitely worked to quiet the AVM because almost 6 months to the calendar after the medication was stopped, the AVM had a bleed of it’s own and left us with Thanksgiving week surgery.

This doctor knew we were coming to seek another drug being used off label for AVMs in our population. She took basic information via MyChart and seemed eager to help. We got the scan. We saw her. She spent a good hunk of time analyzing and criticizing Meghan’s regimen of prescriptions and vitamins. I asked her which ones she would cut. She had no answer, but used that medication list to tell us that there was no way Meghan could take the drug we sought.

I told her that in the absence of a solid multidisciplinary team I took us through every highway and backstreet alley in this city to get my kid functional. I worked with many doctors and put together a combination of prescriptions and vitamins that had allowed my kid to complete school with a full college scholarship, and be an athlete and community leader. She was unaffected. And, she told us that Meghan would not be a drug candidate prior to reviewing the MRI/MRA as she “does not read scans” and the report from our AM visit was not up that PM. She also made sure to tell us rare disease patients are “a lot of work.”

That evening she sent a message with articles cited for PTEN screening. NOTHING more.

But the report came up on 7/2, and I viewed it alongside the images. And I still want to talk to someone about the drug. I sent her a message on 7/3- no reply. NOTHING.

Ten days passed and I did this…

This morning we had this exchange…

Now, I had to maintain my manners, but I just about lost it. “I just sent generic guidelines???”

And WHAT exactly would you suggest we do next? How are you feeling about the report. What does it say to you?

I waited weeks for that appointment. I timed it right after school ended for the year. And again, a waste of time.

Time after time this scenario plays out.

I have lost count of the number of doctors we have seen that have come with promises of being “the best.” I have scheduled, and rescheduled. I have driven hours. I have spent ridiculous sums of money on tolls and parking. I would do it all a million times, but sometimes the feeling you are in the hamster wheel is all you have.

There is no one who knows me who would consciously say I have been anything less than a mouthy and stellar advocate for my girl.

Yet, inevitably this is where the “patient blaming” finds it’s way across the lips, of the doctors who can’t help, of those I love, and those I just tolerate.

“Why are you on all those medications?”

“Does it really hurt ALL the time?”

“Well, did you try doctor ____ in _____? They are THE BEST.”

“I took my child to _____ and that is the only person I would ever trust.”

“Everyone has pain.”

“You asked THEM? WHY?”

“What did you do differently today?”

Sometimes it is subtle. Sometimes people don’t even realize it. Other times, I’m not as sure.

Do people realize we are all doing the best we can?

Do they realize we have jobs? And insurance restrictions? And children who NEED for their mental health to have LIVES that do not FULLY revolve around waiting for doctors who MAY care enough…??

Do they realize even when we call, after HOURS on the phone, sorting out all of the above, that it may be MONTHS before our jobs, which allow for the insurance to pay for these exams can free us? Because there is NEVER EVER one issue at a time.

We are all juggling spears. All the time. There is no rest.

We are 11 appointments in over the last 2 weeks. We are far from through with the summer cram.

There is no place in my world for patient blaming. There is no place for parent/ caretaker blaming.

We in the Rare Disease Community must build each other up. And know when to speak.

Is it true?
Is it necessary or helpful?
Is it kind?

And as Grandma used to say, maybe if it isn’t we should just keep still.

My whole heart and soul is with a Cowden’s sister across the globe. The desire to wrap my arms around her in a giant hug is so strong. She has done all she could for her daughter. And despite all that, it may just not be enough.

Sometimes there is no one to blame. Sometimes it is scary. Sometimes it is close to your heart.

Lead with love.

If we don’t help each other – no one will.

So, we pray. We research. We learn. We rest. We pray. We seek balance.

We remain #beatingcowdens

The Medical Bell Curve – Where do you fall?

Published on July 1, 2021 by beatingcowdens2 Comments

Our healthcare system is broken. It is so desperately broken that I am not sure it can be repaired. But, I truly hope we are somewhere grooming a generation who will try. It is broken in so many different ways, but in the way we know best in this house, it is hanging by a very frayed and thin thread. And, truth be told, so are we. The question we ponder is what are we holding on to?

We have created sections, and subsections of care. I avoid the term “specialty” deliberately. We have crammed the status quo down the throats of exhausted and overworked doctors who are frequently jaded about their career choice before they have had the opportunity to size up the gargantuan pile of student loans they, or their credit, may never recover from.

Their jobs, at major hospitals have them double and triple booked for meager insurance payments. They are pushed to see more patients, and to do so faster. There is not time for inquiry, or for research for a particular patient. They are taught, “when you hear hoofbeats think horses, not zebras.”

And I get it – to a very minor extent. When I was in college I learned all about the bell curve, and how the vast percentage of the population, 68% fall within one standard deviation of the mean, or average. Which means the study of “normal” medicine answers whatever questions 2/3 of the population have.

If you take it a little further, by contending with some “odd” presentations, you have covered about 95% of the population by the second standard deviation, the bell part of the curve.

**While this did not come off of a statistics site, you get the point.**

What if you have a zebra? What if you are rare?? What if it is a way of life for you? Then what? Or what if you land in “mythical” and you have yourself a “rainbow unicorn zebra?” Do you want to know what happens then? “Medical Professionals” are so uncomfortable because you exist that they try to make you go away.

We live in a big city. We have always lived here. We have been dealing with my own medical challenges long before we knew of “Cowden Syndrome.” My girl came into the world a medical anomaly and little has changed. Except the unrelenting quest for answers brought us to a diagnosis of PTEN Hamartoma Tumor Syndrome, and hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, and a Mannose Binding Lechtin deficiency, and and AVM in the knee, that on it’s own accounted for 7 surgical procedures, and one in the thigh, and a VM in each palm, and a lumpy thyroid that needed to be removed, and the same for the tonsils…. and…. and….

So, it’s summer. And while others are complaining about their jobs, we are doing ours. We are checking in with countless specialists as Cowden’s is a syndrome of constant monitoring. It is our job to catch cancer before it catches us. There are games I prefer. But, this is ours.

Over the years we have sought counsel from the most prominent, and the most “off the beaten path” doctors we could find in this city. And as my confidence grew I checked them. I checked their credibility. I learned more chemistry and biology than my 9th and 10th grade teachers could have imagined possible. I listened, I tried, I added and subtracted. And there grew a complex combination of prescriptions, vitamins, and compounded off label medications that make up a daily regimen in this house.

Do I have proof? No more than they do.

Monday and Tuesday we saw two of the best this state has to offer. One is a pediatric endocrinologist who looks at my child as a WHOLE PERSON. The other is an orthopedist who has seen her at her best and worst, and genuinely takes pleasure at helping her reach new heights.

Today. Let’s just say today I could have done without.

As a newly diagnosed PTEN patient Meghan was sent to a “specialist” who knew more of this disease. She was the one many of the others in our circle, (HUGE CITY, SMALL CIRCLE) referred us to as the guru. At the time she prescribed a medication that seemed to do a lot to slow the AVM under the meniscus of Meghan’s right knee. For a good stretch of time there was a respite from the vascular embolizations. We were on a good track. Then, there was that time she ended up in the hospital with a severe gastric reaction. It was assumed that reaction was from Celebrex, the drug with the off label properties that seemed to be slowing the progress of the AVM. Her esophagus was raw, and whether it was to blame or not, it was the likely culprit. I was cautioned we’d know within 6 months if it had been working.

Almost 6 months to the calendar there was a bleed in her knee that caused an emergency surgery. It was the AVM. And that time, enough blood sat there long enough to complicate a few more things. Had we been “Robbing Peter to pay Paul?” we would never know. The Celebrex left our life and knee surgeries resumed.

Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos, undoubtedly an issue since birth, made nothing easier. The pain of constant subluxations was taking its toll. We added what we could to provide some relief.

Ella, the service dog joined us finally in January after a 3.5 year wait. Ella provides her own medicine.

But a few weeks back I thought, let’s revisit this PTEN “specialist” from yesteryear to see if she could offer advice on an off label treatment for the newest AVM in the upper right thigh, dancing with the sciatic nerve, too deep to remove, deep enough that the effectiveness of additional embolizations are questionable.

Her office insisted on new scans, and MRI/MRA with contrast prior to the visit. We had to schedule them both the same day as the office visit so we could discuss the new scans.

So, for the third time in 4 days we left for an all day medical journey. We left at 9:15, started the scans by 11, finished by 12:15 and waited till 12:45 for the CD which, even though they told me I didn’t need, experience has taught me that, yes. I do.

This was the first time, after well over 40 MRIs that Meghan was in the room alone. Ella was mine to care for in the waiting room. Mixed emotions everywhere.

The pouring afternoon rain showers seemed to add to the gravity of the day.

Having not seen this doctor since 2014, we caught her up on the surgeries since then. She is new to the facility we were at, although not new to the field. She immediately began to question well researched decisions made by a doctor who left the facility last year. The hairs on my neck began to stand.

She knew we were there about the AVM in the thigh, and we were looking forward to hearing her take on the scans. Imagine our shock to learn the images mean nothing to her, and we were waiting for a report that was not destined to arrive that day.

She reviewed the medication list and openly criticized it. But, she would not speak to what she thought was excessive. In a few sentences she managed to demean and demoralize. We asked about medications for AVM, and she mentioned one we are well read on. But, she then dismissed it because Meghan will be at college next year. “It is hard to monitor. I don’t monitor it. There is another doctor who does it. And I don’t know if you’ll be able to do it remotely, or if you can even get the blood work in Pennsylvania. Plus, we don’t even know it works.”

We asked again about the Celebrex, but she was reluctant to try it again.

At which point Meghan, who had been so quiet, let the doctor know she was instilling zero confidence with her list of “maybe,” “possibly,” and “probably not.” Meghan was accused of seeking pain medication. Which she was CLEARLY not. Trust me. This kid values above all things having her wits sharp.

I expressed our frustration with the carousel, or rather the teacups is a more accurate description of this ENDLESS ride. As she began to mention more doctors I shuddered. I asked her if she understood the physical, mental and emotional toll on the patient. I asked her if she understood by the time we leave appointments like this we are unable to accomplish much. Hours in traffic and the emotional turmoil of more questions than answers, we are exhausted.

She felt compelled to remind me that the process is slow, and I must be patient.

Again, I am not in a small town.

I am in a huge city. With great insurance. Which is useless because I can’t seem to get much covered anywhere but here. And who wants to see us anyway?

She made sure to remind me the hardship it is to take on Rare Disease patients. She reminded me about the paperwork. Yep, I know.

I reminded her that I have pretty much lost track of all casual contacts trying to keep my head above water.

Either she didn’t understand, or she didn’t care. She was too busy telling us Meghan is a success BECAUSE of doctors like her. I guess, technically she’s not wrong. Meghan is a success and will continue to be her best self because she knows she wants to DO BETTER and to BE BETTER, for all the Zebras, and the “regular” people too. So yes, she is a success, not because of those like this doctor, but in SPITE of them.

I’ll mail the CD to the ortho. In case we have something we have to do. In the mean time I will continue to teach and empower Meghan to manage her care as best she can. She is amazing. She never stays down long.

What are you doing this summer?

We will be here…

#beatingcowdens

Beating Cowdens – Ten Years 250K Hits, and Counting

Published on June 5, 2021June 5, 2021 by beatingcowdens7 Comments

Spoiler Alert- Rare Disease DOES change you

I watch the traffic counter on our blog click real close to 250,000. A quarter of a million hits on little excerpts of this messy road. It blows my mind actually. I may never understand why people read. But, I do know why I write.

Ten years ago someone nudged me to tell our story. I told them there was no story to tell. Except in reality there was. My undiagnosed kid, my medical mystery, had gotten her diagnosis at the age of 8. The pieces started to make sense. And, my diagnosis followed later, connecting more dots, and solving some long standing questions.

So in May of 2012 I jumped in with both feet. I typed. I hit publish. And I never looked back.

Through the years people questioned whether it was wise to tell Meghan’s story before she was old enough to tell it herself. They didn’t realize she was telling it; hosting fundraisers, speaking at events, and even being honored as a 2016 NYS Woman of Achievement. She has also always said she would do it all again if it could help this complex diagnosis make sense to one person, to one family. If it could give someone hearing “PTEN Hamartoma Tumor Syndrome” or “Cowden Syndrome” for the first time, an image of people living with it, living through it, and doing their best to make life happen, then it was worth it.

Because really, at the end of the day, what we all need is hope. Well, hope and one or two rock solid internet support groups.

When we were first diagnosed Meghan’s therapist liked to tell her not to let Cowden Syndrome “define” her. She had an active Arteriovenous Malformation creating havoc in her knee. He had her draw a smiley face on the knee to imagine the pain was gone. He didn’t last long after that.

The truth is, that between us there have been over 30 surgical procedures since 2003. The smiley face on the skin, well, it doesn’t help.

What helps is determination, faith, tenacity, prayer, and support. Because being friends with people who are always in the operating room, or in the middle of surgical recovery, or medical drama, is exhausting. It seems they are always talking about something medical. It seems they are self-absorbed.

People say “don’t let it define you” because it makes them feel better. Maybe a more appropriate sentiment is to be cognizant of how it changes you. Because if you are just starting your journey I can guarantee you one thing. It will change you.

I mean a decade changes all of us, right?

The thing is when you are in the middle of the ocean, trying to avoid the sharks, it’s so hard to focus on anything other than swimming for your life.

Everyone has their own lives though. Everyone has their own crises. Everyone has their own problems. Yours seem constant. They are hard to keep a handle on and they can drive away even those with the purest of intentions.

I used to have hobbies. I don’t really exactly remember what I used to do. But I am sure I did.

I used to go places. With people. For fun.

But, now I often survive. And most days that is plenty.

There may be time to figure out those hobbies again, or to reconnect with those people. The 8 year old is turning 18 and is off to college in a few short months. Life keeps moving.

So 10 years into this blog, what are my take aways for a new family reading?

It will change you. Check yourself.

Enduring life with a rare disease can make you:

Angry or kind

Miserable or compassionate

Self- absorbed or philanthropic

Question God, or praise Him

Isolated or connected

Overwhelmed or focused

Complacent or driven

At some times in the last decade I have seen each of the above in me. I never made the decision to bring Cowden’s Syndrome into our lives. It did change us both.

Last week Meghan mailed out Thank You notes to people along her educational journey, from her elementary school paraprofessional to her high school principal. These people changed her for the better. She, from a life of medical struggles has learned that kindness matters. We say, “No kind word is ever wasted.”

Today Meghan left a training session at a local gym to tell me her trainer has a child with vascular malformations like the one in her knee. She gave him the number of our genetecist.

We learn to use the situations we are in to push the limits of what we are able to do. We hold our faith close.

Our identity as rare disease patients is tightly interwoven into the fabric of who we are and who we continue to become. But, even within the diagnosis there are choices. We can not control what happens to us. We can only control what reaction we have.

As a dear friend once told me, “When God closes a door, praise Him in the hallway.”

We remain #beatingcowdens

Two Valium and a Swig of Wine-because sometimes deep breaths are just not enough.

Published on May 21, 2021May 21, 2021 by beatingcowdensLeave a comment

It has been that kind of a ~~week~~ ~~month~~ YEAR. Life continues to happen at a pace that has me barely keeping my head above water. I often feel like it’s a dance around the land mines. All day. Every day. Mostly I make it.

Tuesday I went to a high end NYC orthopedic hospital to continue the journey to diagnose the foot injury from hell. I taught my 27 fully remote 4th graders until 11:30 and took the afternoon off. I traveled in for my diagnostic nerve block. If this nerve block eliminated my foot pain for 6 hours, we would be closer to eliminating it forever. At least in theory. (Spoiler alert- NOPE, that wasn’t it.)

I arrived home from the procedure at 3:20 with instructions to log my pain hourly until 8:30. I was also to walk several miles during that window.

Except, April, our sweet as anything oldest girl hadn’t been feeling too good in the morning. Food had been tough for a few days, but normally I could cajole it into her. Not so much that morning. So, I wasn’t messing around and I opened a can of chicken salad from Costco. The smell would have had her jumping in place. Except I had to bring it to her. She took a bite or two and turned away.

I called the vet, pleased that our favorite was on call. The description of “distended abdomen” prompted “bring her in now.” He knew April well as he had set us up for her surgery just this past March. I paced the parking lot in between his calls.

“I’m worried. Her belly is hard. I am afraid it’s a tumor, but I want to be sure.”

“Yes, you can take x-rays.”

More steps on a foot that was anything BUT numb.

“It’s not good news. I see a large mass, possibly connected to her spleen that seems to have burst. Her abdomen is full of fluid. There is not much we can do except keep her comfortable.”

My head. My heart. My April.

Two hours later she passed peacefully in my arms.

I collected her leash and collar, and whatever resolve I could muster.

That was fast. They all hurt. This one had hurt coupled right alongside shock.

April, my girl. She was by my side during my foot injury and in my 4th grade “classroom” every day this year. April, who saved Lucky who unraveled after the sudden loss of her companion Allie a few years back. April who took to Jax immediately. April who joined us through a bizarre adoption on a January Tuesday in 2015, had quickly left on a May Tuesday in 2021.

I was home barely long enough to put her leash down before I had my sneakers on to torture myself through the approved number of steps to complete the failing foot experiment. No time to pause. Game face.

I asked why it feels like we are living life on the Indy 500. No one had a straight answer. Clearly we are traveling above all posted speed limits with poor safety restraints.

Cowden’s has been largely minding it’s business for now, and after some sloppy surveillance, with covid seeming to be in retreat, we are getting caught up with regular screening.

And, with every appointment comes the question of how they will monitor Meghan while she is in college. We are trying to make real plans to stay on top of things, because Cowdens doesn’t take vacations. I believe it takes naps. But, not extended vacations. And college. Yep. Sneaking right up on us.

The psoriasis in my ears isn’t linked to Cowden’s. I don’t think. But it does add some more doctors to a very full plan. Plus, it’s itchy. And gross. BLAH!

Senior year? Nah. Not really.

Meghan will be confirmed in the ELCA Church in Plainview where my brother-in-law is the minister this coming Sunday. That is a happy day, a long time coming.

They promise me graduation will be some time late June. I’ll take it as it comes.

For now, the usually low maintenance medical one in our house is looking at oral surgery for a raging infection in his mouth. This following 5 days inpatient with Covid in March and he’s becoming a contender for appointments of his own.

“I’ve tried to take things one day at a time, but lately several days have attacked me at once!” was a sign that hung in my parents house for many meaningful years.

This year has been unlike any other with its own set of unique challenges. Yet, I don’t remember the last time it was “calm.” You probably don’t either.

Today I finished school on time. I am set up for Monday. I haven’t had many weekends this year. Usually during a school year this feeling of being settled in comes around Halloween. We’ve got 5 weeks left.

Today I went to the cemetery to clean up my Dad’s grave. It needed a little TLC. I swung by my grandparents at another cemetery and thought about how much I miss them all. Time keeps moving.

Joy. Sadness. Laughter. Pain. Chaos. WIns and Losses.

And that my friends, is a little tiny, carefully edited piece of how the title came to be what it was.

Hang in there, all of you.

We’ll be here

#beatingcowdens

We also have wine. In case you come by!

Covid in the House

Published on April 4, 2021April 4, 2021 by beatingcowdens5 Comments

Sometime early March I had decided I was going to schedule a vaccination against Covid-19. I am not sure what made that decision crystalize. I have been teaching 4th grade remotely this year, deemed “high risk.” I have spent a large portion of the last year in my house. But, not the whole year.

I have ventured to grocery stores, and even to visit a handful of family members. We took a cautious trip to Indianapolis to pick up Ella in January. But, largely my winter coat is barely dirty and my biggest excursions were around my first floor, or to play chauffeur.

The decision to take anything, a medication, a supplement, or a vaccination, is never made lightly here. We have seen the real effects of all things on our bodies, and we are cautious. We walk a fine line of risk/benefit analysis which can be exhausting.

I live and work in a suburban community near the heart of New York City, where the rules keep changing, conspiracy theories run amok, and liberals and conservatives are often so focused in their own views that no one sees a middle ground. I live in a city that a year ago rushed to close everything, that never tried a gradual opening, and now, a year later sits with numbers that are pretty much exactly where we were last year.

Numbers that if you ask me, are still disturbing.

We are exhausted. We are in dire need of normalcy. On this my neighbors and I agree.

So, as the weather started to show signs of spring and I drove past droves of unmasked clusters of people everywhere, I committed. I understood then that for me, the risk/benefit had been decided. I would get the vaccine to try to protect myself from what felt like inevitable exposure as local numbers continued to climb.

I have long since given up rational conversation on this emotionally charged, over politicized, yet very real health issue. You might be surprised in a conversation with me to learn where I stand. You might assume you know. You’d likely be wrong. But, I digress. If you ever want to chat it out like grown ups, we will FaceTime, or zoom, or sit on my deck. Whatever you’d like.

But, like all of the best laid plans, my plan to vaccinate came to pass a little too late.

As I was seeking an appointment at a site closer to my house, I came to learn that securing an appointment for a vaccination rivaled seeking concert tickets for my favorite artist back in the day. I kept it open in a browser window for almost 2 weeks.

On March 12th I was 6 days into a self imposed “Facebook Break,” exhausted by the some of the drama I was struggling to scroll past. And, if I might add, just generally exhausted.

Felix came home from work that night and just did not look well. He was a little warm and tried to tell me that he had a bit of food poisoning from a bad turkey sandwich. I sent him to bed with 2 tylenol. He asked if I was coming. I carefully set my bed up on the couch. I knew. I just knew.

By the next morning I arranged a covid test for him and was far less than surprised when he was positive on the rapid, and already symptomatic. Meghan and I tested negative later that day, with a PCR sent out to be sure. He alerted his shop that he was positive and would be out of work 10 days. We set ourselves up to quarantine. I was internally terrified.

We geared up with lysol wipes, hand sanitizer, double masks and the like. We separated as best we could. And, even as no one in his shop came up positive, he was certain NYC Transit was likely his exposure spot, as unavoidable as it was. He was doing ok. We thought it was going to pass through as no big deal. Right through Monday we were even ordering dinner.

Tuesday Meghan didn’t feel well. Aside from some minor stomach upset I was feeling well. But, I decided to take us both to be tested again. As we were waiting for the rapid, the initial PCR came in negative. And, almost as soon as I was swabbed my rapid had a positive. Meghan’s followed a few moments later.

Tuesday night, we called the doctor for Felix. But, they don’t see covid patients. They don’t have video visits. Just a phone call. They ordered a lab panel. But, the earliest appointment to get the labs drawn was still a week out. No one was willing to help. They wouldn’t give him any meds. We were on our own. Maybe I should’ve known the office would respond this way. But, I didn’t. And honestly, 10 years into this rare disease world, my expectations of the medical community are quite low. Sadly, often with good reason.

Tuesday, Wednesday, and probably Thursday I cried an awful lot. This is the kind of thing that everyone wants to “help” with, but you can’t bring a single person anywhere near you. As I yanked on my big girl pants and did my best to keep things together. I shortened my day and taught my class each morning, figuring I needed them as much as they needed me. Plus, there are no subs in this remote world. So, I thought moving all that air around just might help my asthmatic lungs.

Meghan slept most of the time and she and Felix felt terrible. By Thursday though, youth was winning and Meghan was coming around. Felix, on the other hand seemed worse. He just couldn’t get around much at all. He was having a hard time eating just about anything. He was having a hard time walking from the bed to the couch.

In the spirit of keeping things interesting April, our older dog had surgery on Friday the 19th. It was a full disclosure surgery with next to no exposure on hand off Thursday, and pick up Saturday.

I can not begin to recreate the weekend. It just happened. One minute at a time.

Maybe I should have been afraid earlier. Maybe I should have pushed earlier. Maybe our doctor’s office should have stayed in touch. But, eventually we knew what had to be.

I brought Felix to the Emergency Room on 3/24, 11 days after his positive test. That was a hard ride. I left him with his phone, a charger, and a copy of his health care proxy paperwork. I pulled over to gather myself a few minutes outside of the facility and he texted me he’d be there “at least a few days.”

I heard a lot of things in my ear the next few days, the most helpful came from my pastor, my brother-in-law, who by virtue of this remote world has been able to fill both rolls for us here. Mostly though, Meghan and I just functioned.

The fear had been for us. The fear had been for me with my asthma. The fear had been for Meghan and I with our Cowden’s Syndrome. The fear had not been for our larger than life Felix. The one who NEVER EVER got sick. And yet, there was the world, on its ear.

Felix came home on Palm Sunday. We will all get more lab work than usual the next few months. We will hope this thing is not going to stick around to make life more complicated. But, as with all things, you just never know.

So, this virus is not nothing. That we can tell you.

What to do with that information is really not an easy thing. Nothing is linear. There are no simple answers.

What I can tell you is that it looks a lot different inside your house.

It was hard to tell our parents we weren’t doing ANY indoor gatherings right now. It was hard to tell them we were not adding any more risk into anyone’s world. It was hard. It was uncomfortable. Because we had gotten VERY comfortable taking few, if any precautions with our families. Fortunately, it worked out. I shudder to think…

We are exhausted. We are healing. We are grateful.

We believe in God. And we believe in prayer.

And I can tell you this virus, however you want to feel about it, is a potentially deadly weapon.

We won’t be clear for our vaccines for a few weeks.

We will be on line and ready. Because if this thing comes after anyone I love, I HAVE to know, I did EVERYTHING I could to stop it.

I can tell you for sure after Covid in the House – it is a different perspective here….

Happy Easter folks! And, nope, we do not iron when we’re home alone! 🙂

#beatingcowdens

Remote Teacher…

Published on February 25, 2021March 6, 2021 by beatingcowdens2 Comments

My heart aches for the kids. Everything about my mom self is so painfully aware of what they have missed. There is no age group, from Pre-K to College, that has not suffered great loss. I have no answers. I have only thoughts about children in their living rooms, staring at screens, and thoughts about children learning masked in gyms and auditoriums. I hurt for their parents that had to decide which horrible option was better, and for the kids who fear things that are too heavy to be carried on young shoulders.

I cry real tears for my senior. My class of 2021 girl who has no real way to celebrate her full scholarship to a private university. There have been 12 days of school, since March of 2020. There will be no prom. I am not sure that there will be a graduation. I find it unlikely there will be a yearbook.

Global pandemic.

I get it. I truly do. Nothing is as it should be.

But, I have to talk about something we don’t talk about enough.

We are angry. We are looking for a place to but blame. So we throw it around anywhere we can. And often. Way too often. It lands on the teachers.

I know. Before you stop to tell me. I know. I know about the teacher who logs on for 30 minutes a day. I know about the teacher who doesn’t know her student’s names. I know about the one who is in Aruba. Teaching on a beach. I know.

But the ones we don’t talk about are the other ones. The dirty little secret of the educational debacle that is this pandemic.

There are so many teachers that have gathered all their resolve and put themselves in front of a camera every day. There are teachers who sit at that camera from 8-2 with minimal breaks, and then turn the camera off only for the real work to begin.

Sometimes we need to talk about the teachers who had a change of assignment so drastic they had to relearn curriculum for things they haven’t taught in over a decade. Those are probably the senior teachers. The ones that don’t cause trouble. The ones everyone is sure can handle everything.

Those teachers probably began the year with student copies of books that their kids don’t have. So they can take pictures and post slides for the kids to follow along, while they lecture students on things that really will only sink in when they are demonstrated, touched, and played with.

Those are the teachers who didn’t know what Google Drive was. Who taught themselves through YouTube videos. Those are the teachers who then taught the kids to navigate a digital notebook. In a house where they aren’t allowed to print. And no one is home. And their grandparents want to help, but they don’t know what to do. And the language barriers preclude even a conversation with an adult in many cases.

Those are the teachers setting up science experiments at their desks. Under a subpar document camera they bought on Amazon while creating google forms, and slides of everything.

Those are the teachers who are trying to make things easier for the kids while checking on the mental health of those same kids, which their heart and their mind and their soul and their eyes tell them is failing.

Those are the teachers setting up virtual classrooms and trying to motivate kids in any which way they can. Those are the teachers who feel like they are teaching in shackles.

Those teachers. The ones trying to make it ok, they hear you.

They hear you when you talk.

They hear you when you say to stop paying the teachers. They hear you when you malign and belittle an entire profession for the sins of a few. They read the words because they are so cut off from people. Until they sometimes have to just turn off the news and the social media and isolate themselves further.

They hear you. They see you.

They don’t answer you. Because they are sitting. At their computer.

Ignoring their health. Many are where they are because of very real health issues.

They are tired.

They are neglecting their families. And doing what they can to save the children in their care from the loss of an instructional year.

They are there for HOURS. Reading the words your children type. Providing the feedback your children need. EVERYTHING takes FOREVER.

Those teachers are hurt. And they are hurting. They are in an impossible situation. They are lonely. They are alone. And they will not give up.

They would not want that for their own children.

They got into this profession to do better for the children. All of the children.

So I will leave you with a message from all these teachers. It is the same lesson we are giving the children. But, I think the grown-ups need it more.

Be kind. Always.

You know that teacher who you are really grateful to have in your world right now? Reach out to them and tell them.

Trust me. They need it.

They don’t need money. They don’t need gifts. They don’t need fame.

They need to know that their work matters. They need THAT fuel.

And, please. Stop. Think before you speak. Or type. We are all that we have.

#beatingcowdens

Exhale…

Published on January 31, 2021January 31, 2021 by beatingcowdens4 Comments

Meghan and Ella have been settling in so well together. Jax and Ella are fast friends. April and Ella will be polite acquaintances. Ella is playing, running, eating, and sleeping. She is adjusting to life in our home and seems to be enjoying it.

The most prominent lingering fear surrounded the lump on her side.

We gathered the notes from the vet in Indiana. We put all her paperwork together. The entire Ortega kennel had vet appointments today. So, we headed out for the first time as a party of 6- 18 legs, and 3 tails.

Our veterinarian is thorough. He has treated our dogs well. April needed some lab work for a persistent problem we’re working on. Jax needed to be caught up with some shots. And, Ella, well, that pretty girl needed to get started in her next phase of life.

The vet took her in and did a complete exam. He read the sparse notes we carried with us from Indiana. He looked at the photos of the lump on her side.

He called to tell us that we should start her vaccinations, as he could only verify rabies. He told us he did a heartworm test that was negative for heartworms. He drew blood. That “should be nothing” later this week.

And, since in these Covid times, all news comes via phone from outside the vet’s office, the three of us sat quietly while we waited.

“And the lump?”

“It’s her rib.”

Collective exhaling throughout the car…

“Her RIB?”

“Yes, if you trace along the bone it’ll take you to her spine. Most people never feel it. Ella is very lean.”

Fist pumping and smiling took place for a few minutes.

We live in a worst-case scenario existence. It is so rare that it goes well. And, yet, today, was a win.

Nerves shot for no reason. I have no idea what happened in that office, or why the vet said hernia 750 miles ago. But this is a win. I’ll take it all day every day.

It looks like the rest of life really does start now.

Meghan and Ella… onward.

#beatingcowdens

And it’s a…Hernia!

Published on January 25, 2021 by beatingcowdens1 Comment

Now that I have your attention, I promise, you’ll get to the end of this episode of “You Can’t Make it Up!”

The day started with another successful training for Meghan and Ella at Barnes and Noble. They are ready for their Public Access Test, and I am optimistic they will do well together before we get on the road to return to New York tomorrow.

We waited over 3 years for this dog. There were many days we thought she was not meant to be. There were honestly more days of feeling defeated than hopeful.

Early in the process Meghan interviewed via FaceTime in my car, before a swim meet, with Jennifer, the owner of Medical Mutts. During the process we worked with Eva, director of client services.

Early in the process Meghan read everything she could get her hands on. As the years went on she put the books away until they gathered dust.

In between there were countless emails between myself and Eva. There was always a quick reply, and kind reassurance. Although as I travel back through three years of email I can see more clearly now where there were some lapses in our communication. Meghan is a very different human than she was in 2017. Because of that, her needs changed. At one point her dog was to also be capable of mobility assistance. Over time, we dropped that piece as her legs got stronger. The one thing, the biggest thing that never changed, was TOUCH.

Meghan needs to sleep holding something she can feel breathing. For a while it was me. Then I was able to sub in some dogs, first April, then Jax. The biggest thing, the first thing we wanted a service dog for was the sleeping. A dog to sleep with her, and to help her wake to an alarm, would give her the first major steps towards independence.

During this past week many things have become evident. Some were expected, and others unexpected. Some were awesome, and others were just not.

One thing that has been solidly evident is that Ella’s trainer, Michelle, is true to her word at all times. Michelle did not present as warm and fuzzy. (Actually her intelligent, focused presentation reminded me a great deal of Meghan.) She has proven to be awesome, and utterly effective. As the week has gone on every thing that Michelle said she taught, every single behavior has become evident. Michelle has gone above and beyond this week to make sure that Meghan and Ella pair effectively. She has come to the hotel to practice elevator and long lead walking. She has met us on her days off. She made it her business to meet up to being Ella closer to the touch Meghan needs. Today she brought a blanket for Ella, talked through a plan with Meghan and once again amazed me with her genuine sincerity.

Michelle taught all she was told to teach. And I’ll leave that right there.

Somewhere there was a breakdown in communication above her that led to confusion on Meghan’s needs. It could have been due to the length of time, or the changes. It could have been a mistake. It could have been any number of things. But it happened. Meghan will succeed building the rest of the behaviors Ella needs. Over time.

And to some extent that time is normal. No service dog team goes home fully functional. They need to learn each other. It is an arranged marriage where the partners need time to learn what generates happiness in the other.

So while we have mixed emotions about a bunch of things, HOPE prevails.

Even today. Today I spoke to Jennifer, the owner, for the first time since 2017. I spoke with her out of necessity.

By the third night we had Ella she was allowing touch. It didn’t take Meghan long to point out the lump in her side. We mentioned it. We were told to wait. We mentioned it again. Attempts were made to explain it away. We mentioned it again and finally today we were connected to their veterinary facility.

The vet said it is likely a hernia. He seemed unaffected. After a physical exam, and quite physical by Meghan’s description, he told Meghan to massage it, and take her to our vet if it got worse.

That was the icing on a slightly undercooked cake.

I spoke with Eva, who directed me to Jennifer. And that is how we ended up back on the phone today. Odd bookends to this experience, really.

I received the reassurance that Ella had been thoroughly checked by their vet. I internally contemplated his ability to be thorough. I was promised that the facility will pay for any medical bills related to the hernia diagnosis.

Ella meets our vet on Sunday.

This is not exactly the homecoming we were hoping for. Maybe our vet will see something different, or be able to offer some reassurance.

My mind can’t go too much past that.

I’ve got three years to reflect on, a public access test to cheer my favorite team through, and 750 miles to drive before we introduce Ella to Jax and April.

We will continue to take this journey, as we have done so many others, one day at a time.

Ella, you’re one of us now. Hernia or not, whatever comes your way, we’ve got you girl.