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Cheryl Hartwig
- Female
- Everett, WA
- United States
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Profile Information
- About me:
- Live in Everett, WA
Office Manager for an Environmental non-profit
- About my family:
- One Amazing Husband, and Two Wonderful, Smart, Handsome Boys
- Name(s) of child(ren)/individual(s) with Duchenne:
- Jacob
- Age(s) of child(ren)/individual(s) with Duchenne:
- 7-12
- City:
- Everett, Washington
Cheryl Hartwig's Photos
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hi cherly this kimmy waters i am so sorry i have not check in with you but my old computer was not working so i have now a beautiful new one. how is your son doing.kimmy
cheryl i am sorry mindy colby are very good friends of cher burke. mindy son has duchenne. i am also a very strong advcoate for her son is also name jake. i am working on doing the seattle rock and half marathon in june to help rase money for a cure. kimmy
cheryl your son is so cute are new to parent project, welcome . i very good friend of mindy colby. how is everthing going. kimmy
won't be a very long email. I just wanted to say hi and give you a few things
that might help...
don't feel sorry for themselves or wish that their lives were different. That
was a huge comfort to me, and I try to think of all the rays of sunshine I can--
that he is not in chronic physical pain, that he can still laugh, that he
doesn't have mental illness (my husband's boss has a son with schizophrenia,
which has no cure and treatment is really hit-or-miss). I know families that
have raised children in perfect health, but the child committed suicide before
they even reached adulthood.
is to notice everyday miracles along the way and be grateful for each one. We
don't know what the future brings, and each case is so unique (I know of 2
brothers with identical deletions: one died at 15, and the other is still alive
at 45). There are treatments, and even cures, being researched and developed.
But there is no guarantee.
from DMD is to force me to examine my spiritual beliefs. And I really do
believe that some greater power (call it the "Spirit of Creation", or the
"Mystery of the Universe" or whatever it is, put you together with a DMD son
because you are the one he needs, and perhaps he is the one that YOU need.
Cheryl, I found it--
MDA support group meets the last Tuesday of every month, so there's one coming up on September 27, from 11am-1pm. They said that the location is "TBD". I got the email from this address: rlee@mdausa.org (her name is Reda Lee). I could go with you if I can get somebody to babysit my kids (I work part time 2-9pm on Tuesdays).
I am thinking of you-- Love, Ruth
Dear Cheryl--
I know, it is hard to comprehend. Whenever I see info about the progressive
stages of Duchenne, I just kind of shut down, so I take it one day at a time and
that's how I can manage. It's been about 9 months since our diagnosis, and
Jason's been on Deflaz since January. His body has changed so much because of
the steroids. Sometimes this is very sad to me but I try to focus on whether he
is happy, and he seems to take everything in stride, thank goodness. EArly on
with the Deflaz, it was awful -- his behavior was really bad and we wanted to
stop-- but after about 4 months it improved and he is doing a lot better now. I
hope your Jacob is doing well. Thanks for posting his picture, he is darling.
My little boy is 5-- will be 6 next month. He has pretty significant
cognitive/social delays, though. It is kind of strange-- I also have a 3 year
old daughter and they seem to be just about on par, developmentally (well,
verbally very similar, but she actually has much better fine motor control).
I met with Jeni Ward (Lynnwood, has son Colin who's 6, maybe 7 now) and met
with Char Burke (Seattle, son Will may be 9? 10?) and both of those boys have
DMD but seem totally without any delays, either physical or cognitive. I was
really hoping that my son would be playmates with those boys but he is in such a
completely different developmental stage that they couldn't relate (but
both Colin and Will are real sweethearts, and their mothers are too. If you have
a chance to meet with them, it might be helpful.)
I had the same experience with Jennifer at MDA. After I met her in person at
a hospital visit, I could see she was a helpful person and very kind, but
initially she never responded to my emails or phone calls, so my first
impression was disappointment. I think she has wanted to have a get-together
for DMD families but hasn't been able to yet. She wanted to do a pizza night
but I told her that some families are restricting what their DMD sons eat, esp
salt & fat, and maybe I discouraged Jennifer too much because the pizza
night never happened. I would let my son eat pizza but I have to get him to eat
a lot of veggies and fiber most of the time because the deflaz and the DMD make
him get constipated.
Does Jacob have any delays, or is he in regular school? My son is in
developmental Kindergarten instead of standard.
I just want to reach out and give you a big hug because I know how awful this
is. I am so glad you found PPMD because I think it is very comforting to have
that connection.
This doesn't really have any bearing on anything, but just thought I'd let
you know that I'm an adoptive mom (caucasian) and my son and daughter are
Korean.
Anytime you'd like to get together, please let me know. I would really like
to meet. I would be happy to make a support group of 2 with you if you'd like
one. I know MDA has one but it meets on a workday afternoon and I can't go.
Cheryl, I will try to find the last newsletter I got from Jennifer Martin and
send it to you-- the newsletter tells when the MDA support group meets.
Would you mind giving me your home email? If you'd rather not, I understand.
Love, Ruth Griffith
No, Colin does not take it. I don't know much about that one yet. I am still trying to figure out if we are going to get him going on protandim.
I am a little more conservative with what I give him, mostly because I have not had the chance to research everything, I probably can't afford most of it, and I don't want him to feel overwhelmed by all the stuff he has to take every day. I try not to read the posts too much, because it is very overwhelming. One bit at a time... let me know about where you guys live in Everett, and a time you want to meet on Sunday.
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