Mitochondrial Disease Awareness Week!
As most of you know...Mito Disease has affected my family in such a terrible way.
My son Devin was diagnosed several years ago with this terrible disease. He missed most of 6th, 7th, and 9th grade...all of 8th grade and now most of this 10th grade year. It is terrible. He is pretty much homebound this year too. Mito truly depletes your body of ALL the energy. What most people find as easy tasks are completely unbearable for Mito patients.
Devin wakes up every morning trying to live a normal life, eat breakfast, take a shower, go to school, hang out like most (almost) 16 year olds do. Not for my son, mornings are unpredictable. Showers are sometimes the hardest task, and by the time we leave for school...his energy is gone. Which means back to bed.
His friends are able to play sports which he was forced to quit. They are able to hang out at the mall, movies, parks, or at each others homes, but not for Devin. Thankfully he has the BEST big brother ever! He works 65 hours a week but spends every second he can at home and making Devin feel "normal".
I can't explain how necessary a cure is! I was also diagnosed a year after Devin with this same disease. Although I can do things that he can't, Mito affects everyone differently. It's still very hard to run an entire household on my own and some days feel too tired or sick to handle it.
Mito is linked to Autism, Cardiac disease, Liver disease, Diabetes, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's, so on and so on. This is not a disease that should be overlooked.
We NEED A CURE! I have boxes around our local area. The picture is of one of them that are helping raise awareness and raise money towards a cure. Although it will not be likely that you will see one of these boxes. It's only for Mito week! You can always go to UMDF.org and donate to the cause and most importantly PLEASE raise awareness! Help families like ours!
Every 30 minutes a child is born that will develop Mito. More children die from this disease than all childhood disease combined!
Help us CURE MITO!
