Tag Archives: adrenoleukodystrophy

THIS is ALD #12 — Carter

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A year ago, on February 6, 2017, one boy lost his battle with ALD. Carter’s mom, Stacie, is amazing and shares his story with honesty and love.

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THIS is ALD #12 — Carter

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December 31, 2010 my youngest son was born. Carter Joseph, weighing in at 8 lb 1 oz and was 21 inches long, a healthy baby boy. Carter completed our family, he made us a party of four, and we couldn’t have been happier.

He met all his milestones, was thriving, just overall a very happy baby. Then the toddler years came, he was into everything, such a daredevil who was absolutely fearless. His personality was unlike any toddler his age, a typical boy with gorgeous blonde hair, big blue eyes that would cheer you up on your worst of days. That part of Carter never changed, but at age 4.5 things started to be different.

After many appointments with many doctors, Carter was diagnosed with ALD, “a too late” diagnosis left us with no options to save our baby, and for 14 months he battled this relentless disease. Month by month after diagnosis, Carter lost his abilities… sight, sound, speech, swallowing, walking, until he became 100% dependent on us, within 6 short months. ALD robbed Carter of everything.

It took a toll on all of us as we watched the boy who was scared of nothing, losing his biggest fight. Quickly after Carter’s diagnosis my whole family was tested, as ALD is a genetic disease… Carter was the only male affected, myself and my mother are the only women in the family and we are both carriers… while her VLCFA numbers were way higher than mine, it didn’t matter as I still passed it to Carter. My oldest son, Peyton (age 10) was not affected, and he very easily could have, as it’s a 50/50 chance each pregnancy. Scary odds, even scarier if you didn’t even know about ALD, yet were a carrier of such a deadly disease.

Knowledge is power, Newborn Screening is necessary — I’d give anything to know what I know now, and maybe, just maybe, I wouldn’t have had to watch my baby take his last breath at just 6 years old, and somehow continue living this life without him.

— Stacie (Carter’s mom)

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Unfortunately, Carter’s story is not uncommon for childhood/cerebral ALD. If you don’t know that the mutation is lurking, and are not looking for it, ALD is often diagnosed too late for any treatment. Families are faced with helplessly watching their child’s abilities be taken one by one, before they are completely robbed of everything.

Newborn screening would have given Carter’s family knowledge and power and hope.

Thank you Stacie for sharing Carter’s story with us.

 

Love, Jess

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On Sunday Anna went to New York City to meet up with some kids that are heading to Johns Hopkins in the Fall (they found each other on social media — kids these days…). She came home feeling like she had made some good connections. It warmed my heart thinking about her one day enjoying a reunion like Dan and I had this weekend.

Dan and I have a remarkable circle of friends from college (Goucher College and Johns Hopkins University), and we all make an effort to get together as often as possible. 50th birthday parties are the newest excuse to pretend that we’re still young and cool.

This weekend was another one of those parties and it was incredible. People came from all over the country to celebrate our dear friend Fuzzy (his parents insist his name is really Jeff, but I don’t believe them). It ended up being two days of constant festivities filled with live music, fattening food, wine, laughs and old friends from back in the day – before mortgages and diapers and other grown-up responsibilities.

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On Saturday afternoon, Jack joined us around the fire pit. We were all exchanging stories and drinking more wine than 50 year-olds should (FYI – I’m 48, but who’s counting). I looked over at Jack as he sat listening to all the inappropriate stories with a smile on his face. He loves being around the energy of these events. I felt so lucky to share Jack with our friends and to share our friends with our boy.

But, today I keep thinking about him sitting there.

I keep thinking about how middle-aged Anna will sit around a fire pit with old friends laughing about college shenanigans (and fascinating lectures – right, Anna?). Then, I think about Jack.

Jack’s life is wonderful and—trust me—he has plenty of friends. I walk into Horizon High School on any given day to find my son surrounded by people. It’s as if he is holding court, telling jokes — not bad for a boy who hasn’t spoken in ten years. His life is filled with people who love him and will be in his life forever, but it’s different. He won’t ever have a circle of friends from college who knew him when he was just starting his adult life. That’s where Jack should be now, but ALD stole college from him along with his speech. I wish so badly that he could be busy making his own ridiculous college memories, not sitting with his folks and their old friends talking about theirs.

I know it’s not terrible – just different. Sometimes different just hits me wrong and this is what I do. I share. Sharing helps me make sense of things so I can let them go.

I know I am still a little exhausted from a VERY long weekend and I’m already starting to freak out about Anna leaving the nest, but sometimes I really hate ALD. Tomorrow is a new day and I’ll be fine. Jack will give me one of his magic hugs and I’ll go back to just reliving the fun memories of the weekend and counting Weight Watchers points.

Love, Jess

 

 

THIS is ALD #11 — Marty

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I’m hoping that THIS is ALD is helping people better understand that Adrenoleukodystrophy doesn’t always follow the same path. There are several phenotypes of the disease – Jack’s form is childhood/cerebral ALD. There are also people with the same genetic mutation that are completely asymptomatic or develop adolescent ALD, just adrenal insufficiency, or AMN – a form that generally progresses more slowly than childhood ALD and effects adults.

I’ve wanted to share an AMN story to help show a different form of our disease. Thank you Marty for sharing your story with us.

THIS is ALD #11 — Marty

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My name is James Martin Luczak Jr. and I recently joined the fight for Adrenoleukodystrophy prescreening so nobody else needs to experience life the way I did.

I have AMN – that’s adult onset ALD. My symptoms started showing around age 25. First a struggle with urinary incontinence and then a limp – I started dragging my left leg. Suddenly, I couldn’t work an 8 hour day so I saw a chiropractor, and he said he couldn’t help. I saw a neurologist, and she took x-rays of my spine and sent me to a neurosurgeon. They saw a ruptured disc, so we fused them. Things only got worse after spending two weeks in a hospital bed and two more at home. Atrophy set in and physical therapy provided only a marginal improvement. I had left the hospital with crutches and continued to use them for over 10 years. Last year, I decided my hands and shoulders needed a break so I now use a wheelchair. From the waist down my legs are now useless. Lots of muscle spasms. Very painful and awkward. I’ve self-catheterized for almost 10 years. I had carpal tunnel surgery in both hands. I have a terrible memory and slow fragmented speech.

I’ve been struggling with these health issues for the last 20 years with no formal diagnose until recently. I was on what doctors refer to as a “diagnostic odyssey”. That odyssey was funded primarily by tax payers. 100k back surgery, multiple treatments, and visits to doctors and specialists. Treating symptoms instead of finding the root cause. Treating symptoms without the proper diagnosis can get very expensive. Conservatively speaking, My odyssey totaled over a half million dollars.

Today I’m 47. I got my diagnosis at age 44. What’s important to know is the way I was diagnosed. November 2014, my niece moved to NY in the 8th month of her pregnancy and gave birth to a baby girl. That baby was screened for and tested positive for ALD. A few months later, after reviewing a chart of symptoms, I noticed they mirrored mine and I became suspicious that I too had ALD. After testing, it was confirmed the following June.

Had my niece not moved to NY, I’d most likely live the rest of my life without knowing and continuing on an odyssey or even worse… Giving up. Having said that, I’m here today, more aware than I’ve ever been in my life. All because of people like Janis Sherwood with Fight ALD, Patti Chapman with The Myelin Project, and Elisa Seeger with Aidan’s Law. I must thank them because without them and their determination, me & my family would not know that there is a killer among us (that newborn screening test didn’t just expose my disease, but my mother, sister and niece all discovered they too have the mutation). And, when there’s a killer among you, you arm yourself. My ammunition in fighting ALD is knowledge. That’s what this fight is about. Knowledge.

— Marty

 

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Marty, Elisa Seeger and Janis Sherwood

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There’s a theme running through many of the THIS is ALD stories – newborn screening provides hope and knowledge and as Marty points out – SAVES MONEY. Unfortunately, when it comes to persuading states to add a disease to the newborn screening panel, it needs to be proved that not only will it improve the quality of life for patients and save lives, but that testing for the disease will be cheaper than NOT TESTING. Marty is proof of how expensive a “diagnostic odyssey” can be. Jack is proof of how expensive a late diagnose can me. Between his treatment, special schooling, Social Security, Medicaid, etc – Jack’s ALD has cost tax payers well over $2,000,000 to date.

Thank you Marty for sharing your story and for becoming an active participant in the fight to change the future of ALD. I look forward to meeting you in person and introducing you to Jack!

Love, Jess

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THIS is ALD #10 – The Waterman Boys

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I am heading to Brooklyn for a conference tomorrow  — ALD: Identifying Standards of Care. Looking through the agenda, I couldn’t help but get excited about once again meeting some of my heroes. Doctors, researchers, and parents who are actively making a difference in the future of ALD. For me, it’s like going to the Oscars, minus the gowns and red carpet.

Pouring through the list of speakers, I noticed a name that looked familiar. Then, I looked again at my computer. On my screen, right beside the agenda, was my next THIS is ALD story — The Waterman Boys.

Kelly Waterman is speaking tomorrow and she had just shared her family’s story with me. It’s an incredible story full of luck and love and the power of change.

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THIS is ALD #10 — The Waterman Boys

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My husband and I live in New Jersey but we both have both worked at an oncology hospital in Manhattan for many years.  I have done most of my own doctoring in New York City and I suppose for something as big as having a baby I just felt more comfortable having my children in NY.  

We were so excited when we got pregnant with our second son and that my pregnancy went so smoothly.  Our first son Jalen had been born two months prematurely four years ago and though he’s turned out wonderfully-the experience of having a preemie and the NICU was hard to forget.  Kylar was born ten months ago full term via c-section, was a beautiful baby boy and did so well we even went home one day early!

We had been home a week, had just settled in when we received a phone call from the pediatrician at 430pm on that Friday afternoon telling us that Kylar’s newborn screen had come back for something called ALD and that we needed to go get confirmation testing done to just make sure.  Our pediatrician wasn’t too sure even about the details of what we were discussing.  I quickly called genetics at Columbia and got us in for that coming Monday morning.

During that brutal weekend that felt like an eternity of googling and many many tears, I had been talking with my cousin who was a pediatrician herself in Massachusetts about what we had been told.  She then ended up discussing our situation with one of her nurse co-workers that Saturday who happened to have previously worked in clinic with Dr. Florian Eichler- an expert in the field for ALD.  She offered to put me in contact with him.  It ended up being such an amazing coincidence.

Dr. Eichler so generously spoke to me (remember this was a Saturday and I was a stranger who was half talking half crying the whole conversation) and discussed that we would need confirmation testing but that the test was good so to brace myself that my son did in fact have ALD.  He also discussed that if confirmed my then four-year-old son would need to be tested as well.

That Monday I decided that I was going to bring my four-year-old with us to that genetics appointment.  I knew that I was never going to survive waiting weeks to find out if not only the baby had this but him as well.  Thankfully they agreed to draw my older son’s blood also.

One week later it was confirmed that both Kylar and Jalen had ALD.  We were devastated.  I was already so upset that our sweet new baby likely had this but that not only had Jalen survived the preemie experience but now this.  I was grateful for the fact that I already had Dr. Eichler as a contact and we rushed Jalen to Boston where thankfully his MRI of his brain was normal.  

We also found out that Jalen my older son has Addison’s (the adrenal insufficiency that commonly occurs with ALD) and requires daily steroids as well as stress dosing and at four months that our sweet baby Kylar also already has impaired adrenal function however not to the extent of his brother yet.  

So as crazy as all this has been finding out when you have a brand new baby that both your children have a rare life threatening disease-it’s not been lost on us just how lucky we are that all the pieces to this puzzle have lined up just right to save our boys.  If we hadn’t had a second child or in NY we never would have known about either boy and certainly would have been much worse off.  ALD being on newborn screen in NY state wasn’t initiated until one year after Jalen was born so he had just missed or if they were born in our own state we reside in of NJ we wouldn’t have known either.  We also are so lucky that Jalen never went into an adrenal crisis as that can be life threatening as well.  

We try our best to live our lives full of love for our boys and ensure their happiness.  As a mom it’s hard not to always worry but we try to keep our focus on the positives and how if this had to happen just how lucky we are.

— Kelly

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Hope and knowledge should not be provided on a state by state basis. I’m thrilled for the Waterman family that they delivered their children in NY and have the knowledge they need to provide the best opportunities for their boys, BUT what about the boys born in another state?

If the Waterman boys had been born in NJ (which is not yet testing for ALD – hopefully by the end of 2018), the first time the Watermans would have heard the word Adrenoleukodystrophy would have been in the middle of a crisis – perhaps too late to do anything to help their beautiful boys.

More proof that Newborn Screening for ALD needs to happen everywhere! Wonder where the US is in the process of adding ALD to Newborn Screening?

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Thank you Kelly for sharing your family’s story and I look forward to meeting you tomorrow!!

Love, Jess

 

 

THIS is ALD # 5 — Mason

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We are busy celebrating Anna’s big news and preparing for the HoliDAZE, but wanted to take some time to introduce you to another ALD champion, Mason.

I met Mason’s mother, Tina, this fall and she agreed to share a bit of their ALD story. Tina is a remarkable mother and, I’ve not met Mason in person, but I’ve fallen in love with his smile.

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THIS is ALD #5 — Mason

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        Mason was the best baby.  He developed all milestones at or before the age he should.  He was riding a bike without training wheels at 3.    We had no concerns with his development until second grade.  He had a hard time with multiple step directions and with math (common core).  He would have a concept and then it would be gone. He would bring his math papers home and I would erase them and give it to him to practice.  He didn’t remember ever seeing these papers. 
        Mason was diagnosed with Adrenoluekodystrophy (ALD) in April of 2016.  He was 8. We were told there was really nothing that could be done.  We have an awesome support system and everyone started researching and found the team in Minnesota (University of Minnesota Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Program is a leading program for treating ALD) .  We made our first trip to Minnesota in May where they decided Mason was a candidate for a bone marrow transplant.  His Loes score (the scoring system to evaluate the evolvement of X-ALD) was on the high side, but Mason’s doctors said he was compensating very well with what the disease was doing to his brain.  They were hopeful.  We were so scared but this was the first time someone gave us hope. 
        Mason had his bone marrow transplant on July 11th, 2016.  We spent 30 days in the hospital and then we had to be in the area for 3 months (some hospitals release transplant patients to rehab centers/other local facilities once they have reached a certain milestone. In Mason’s case it was to a Ronald McDonald House near the hospital).  By this time, he lost a lot of vision, hearing and processing skills.  When we left the hospital, he was in a wheelchair and couldn’t see.  Even then he had goals…goal 1 was to get rid of his NJ tube (feeding tube) and goal 2 was to be home for his birthday. 
        They discharged us to go home on October 19th (his birthday is October 24th) and he was NJ tube free! 

        Mason is an incredible fighter.  He told a therapist when asked about how he felt about his vision loss that he’s not going to let it get him down.  That’s the kind of kid he is.  He is a very friendly guy and loves to tell jokes and make people laugh.  He does get frustrated with things he use to be able to do that he struggles with now, but he usually has a smile on his face. He is currently back in his school which he loves.  He kind of regressed a little with social skills since he couldn’t be around kids his age and was very scared around them.  Once he got back in school, he gained a lot of his confidence back.  He is learning Braille and the use of the white cane for mobility.  After stopping a few of his medicines, he got some of his vision back.  He can see and read but at a slower pace. We are so blessed, grateful and amazed by his progress.  We had no clue this disease even existed.  Awareness is so important.

(I’ve added a few details to explain terms that the non-ALD reader might not understand – Jess)

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Thank you Tina for sharing this piece. Mason’s story is similar to Jack’s in that there was not an early diagnosis. It’s important for everyone to remember how hard it is to diagnose ALD – why newborn screening is so vital to changing the future of this disease. Luckily, Mason had a successful transplant and is doing quite well. Life is complicated for him, but he seems to have the same great attitude and electric smile as JackO.

Love, Jess

 

THIS is ALD #4 – Jon

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“When you hear hoofbeats, think of horses not zebras”

It’s a quote by a professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in the 1940s. A reminder to his students that, when searching for a diagnosis, not to think of the obscure until you can rule out the likeliest possibilities. I will never forget hearing it for the first time when a pile of medical students came into Jack’s room at Columbia Presbyterian Morgan Stanleys Children’s Hospital ten years ago. One of the students tapped the young man next to him and whispered, “Dude – THIS is a zebra!”

If Jack is a zebra, then Jon is a unicorn, with purple and cyan stripes. I met him this fall at an ALD event and I kept finding myself staring at him across the table. He’s in his mid-twenties, has his degree from the Milwaukee School of Engineering, is a comedian, and has ALD.

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THIS is ALD #4 – Jon

        This posting on Smiles and Duct Tape might have a different tone than most personal ALD stories. First off, I was diagnosed with ALD at the age of 1 due to the late diagnosis of my brother at age 6. It’s a common story. One that many of us have heard before, but did you catch what was odd? Maybe you did? I did, mainly because I’m the one writing this. There it is again.

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        The story keeps going with a bone marrow transplant at the age of 6, still a pretty common age range for those who are familiar with ALD. The transplant was at Minnesota which is synonymous with ALD. I came home after the transplant, and lived a normal life. Give up yet? I, me, the one writing the article had the bone marrow transplant. After hearing everything that happens to some boys with this terrible disease, I sometimes forget just how amazing this, THIS, is.
        It may even come more to a surprise that the journey started in 1992, when I was born. ALD would hit the silver screen a few months later with the movie Lorenzo’s Oil. Six years later, and an incredibly experimental treatment lead and here we are. So this article will take a different turn than any other ALD article and I’ll share with you everything I’ve done since the transplant. Everything, that is now achievable, by any other boy who is prescreened.
        As far back as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to be an engineer. Love designing ideas in my Inventor’s Notebook and building with Legos. Even during my transplant I was building Lego kits that were 12 years old and up. I was 6 at the time. It kept me busy. Models surrounded my hospital and Ronald McDonald House rooms. The passion for engineering continued after the transplant, as I excelled in math and science classes. Getting straight A’s in grammar school while being active in Boy Scouts. Scouting let me explore many different subjects, experiences, and knowledge which I still used today. In High School, I enrolled in Honors Math and Science classes. Doing my best to continue my streak of mostly A’s with the occasional B. I had the opportunity to take a few AP classes and a college level chemistry course which helped ready me for college. Furthermore, after class, I joined the Theatre Club and found joy in performing and speaking on stage. Fell in love with it and did as many plays as I could. Boy Scouts became a large part of my High School career. I served on Summer Camp staff for 3 summers and came to earn my Eagle Scout. I was selected to be a part of the Order of the Arrow ( Boy Scouts National Honor Society). Eventually becoming the youth leader as Lodge Chief, giving service to all members in Waukesha County, WI.
        Before I even started High School, I knew I wanted to attend the Milwaukee School of Engineering. Everything in High School worked towards that goal, and my senior year, I received my acceptance letter, though I had a feeling I would. College was the best years of my life. I continued all my passions of math and science, except now it was set to 11. I kept up with theatre joining the MSOE Theatre Troupe. There I acted in 6 plays, and directed 2. But the best decision I made in college was joining Triangle Fraternity. It’ an engineering fraternity and I became best friends with all of them. I may have lost a brother, but gained 100s I know I can lean on. Still staying in touch with them and even helping me secure my after college job at Affiliated Engineering in Phoenix Arizona. Today, I design the HVAC systems for colleges campuses and health care facilities. It may not be the same as a doctor treated young boys with ALD, but the buildings I’m designing may someday find a cure for this disease. And I’m okay with that.

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I’ve read this piece a dozen times and each time I’m in awe of how little Jon references ALD. He’s just a kid who loved legos and the Boy Scouts and learning and building and theater, and friendships. ALD is part of Jon, but it’s way down on the list of things that define him.

Jon was a pioneer. Like the boys going though gene therapy now, in 1998 stem cell transplants for ALD were experimental. Jon’s family had already lost a son and chose to try something new to save Jon’s life. Not only did it work, but it worked before ALD took over. Honestly, meeting Jon you would not see any hints of our disease. It’s amazing. Inspiring. A little heartbreaking  — I can’t help but wonder about Jack and who he would have been had ALD not touched every single part of his life. It’s crazy how random this disease can be, BUT I’m thrilled that Jon has enjoyed such an incredible life and it’s just the beginning of his story!

Thank you Jon for sharing your ALD story. My dream is that, as the years and research move forward, your story will become the standard — boy gets diagnosed, boy gets treated, boy lives life.

Until then Jon — you are the ALD unicorn!

 

Love, Jess